A Farewell to Arms
About A Farewell to Arms
On the Italian front, American ambulance lieutenant Frederic Henry (Gary Cooper) meets English nurse Catherine Barkley (Helen Hayes) during a bombing, in the company of his friend Captain Rinaldi (Adolphe Menjou). They become lovers. Catherine gives him a St. Anthony medal, then is transferred to Milan after Rinaldi arranges the separation. Frederic is wounded, reunited with her in a Milan hospital, and goes through an unofficial wedding. She becomes pregnant and leaves for Switzerland. Rinaldi has their letters stopped. Frederic deserts, finds her in Brissago, and reaches the hospital as she delivers a stillborn boy by Caesarean. She dies at sunrise in his arms.
Cast & crew
More about A Farewell to Arms
Frank Borzage directed. Oliver H. P. Garrett and Benjamin Glazer wrote the screenplay from Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel and from the 1930 play by Laurence Stallings. Edward A. Blatt and Glazer produced. Otho Lovering and George Nicholls Jr. edited. The world premiere was December 7, 1932, at the Criterion Theatre in New York, two shows a day. Paramount also prepared endings in which Catherine lives, or in which her fate is left open. Audiences outside the United States saw only her death. A 1938 reissue was cut to 78 minutes.
Themes
Background
Paramount released it in December 1932, in the Depression, from a novel about the Italian front in the First World War. The love story, not the campaign, is the plot Borzage films.
In film history
Hemingway's novel reached movie theaters first in this Borzage version, with the nurse's death kept for foreign release and softened in some American prints.
Making
Because the film was released before the Production Code was enforced, the pregnancy, the desertion, and the unofficial marriage stayed in the story. Later rereleases for theaters and television had to deal with those scenes under the Code.
Reviews
Mordaunt Hall, in The New York Times, wrote that the film had too much sentiment and not enough of Hemingway, even while he praised Charles Lang's photography, the sound, and passages of Borzage's direction. Mae Tinee, in the Chicago Tribune, called it a complete picture, with humor, suspense, romance, and tragedy. Abel Green, in Variety, described it as a woman's picture, romantic and blunt about sex.
Look
Charles Lang photographed the film. The Academy gave him the cinematography award for this work.
Music
The score uses Wagner: the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, passages from Das Rheingold and Siegfried, and the storm from Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini.
Preservation
The 89-minute version, missing since the first release, survived as nitrate in the Selznick vaults and was issued by Image Entertainment in 1999. The copyright lapsed in 1960.
Notes
- It was the first Hemingway novel released as a film.
- The Broadway play, with Glenn Anders and Elissa Landi, ran at the National Theatre from September 22, 1930, into October.
- Mary Philips plays Helen Ferguson, called Fergie, who threatens Frederic if Catherine becomes pregnant.
- The original 89-minute cut was unseen after 1932 until a nitrate print was found in the David O. Selznick vaults. Image Entertainment issued it on DVD in 1999.
- In 1960 the film entered the U.S. public domain because Selznick, the last claimant, did not renew the copyright.
- Charles Lang won the Academy Award for cinematography. Franklin Hansen won for sound. The film was also nominated for Best Picture and for art direction, and it was on the National Board of Review's ten-best list.
Awards
- Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Charles Lang)
- Academy Award for Best Sound Recording (Franklin Hansen)
- National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Scenes
- During an air raid, a drunk Frederic meets Catherine on a dark stair and makes a bad first impression.
- Before he returns to the front she gives him her St. Anthony medal.
- The surgeon tells him the boy was stillborn. Catherine dies at sunrise, and Frederic turns to the window with her body.
Influenced by
- A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway novel)
- A Farewell to Arms (Laurence Stallings play)
Influenced
- A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Also available
- Internet Archive (farewell_to_arms)
- Image Entertainment DVD (1999)
Quotes
Peace, Peace.
