A Farewell to Arms (1932 film)
Encyclopedia
A Farewell to Arms is a 1932 American romantic drama film directed by Frank Borzage
, and starring Gary Cooper
and Helen Hayes
. The screenplay by Oliver H.P. Garrett and Benjamin Glazer
is based on the 1929 semi-autobiographical novel
by Ernest Hemingway
.
during World War I
, Frederic Henry (Gary Cooper), an American serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian Army
, delivers some wounded soldiers to a hospital. There he meets his friend, Italian Major Rinaldi (Adolphe Menjou
), a doctor. They go out carousing, but are interrupted by a bombing raid. Frederic and English Red Cross nurse Catherine Barkley (Helen Hayes) take shelter in the same place. The somewhat drunk Frederic makes a poor first impression.
Rinaldi persuades Frederic to go on a double date with him and two nurses, Catherine and her friend Helen Ferguson (Mary Philips
). However, Rinaldi becomes annoyed when Frederic prefers Catherine, the woman the major had chosen for himself. Away by themselves, Frederic learns that she was engaged to a soldier who was killed in battle. In the darkness, he seduces her, over her half-hearted resistance, and is surprised to discover she is a virgin.
Their relationship (forbidden by army regulation) is discovered. At Rinaldi's suggestion, Catherine is transferred to Milan
. When Frederick is wounded by artillery, he finds himself in the hospital
where Catherine now works. They continue their affair until he is sent back to the war. Now pregnant, Catherine runs away to Switzerland
, but her many letters to her lover are intercepted by Rinaldi, who feels he needs to rescue his friend from the romantic entanglement. Meanwhile, Frederic's letters to her are sent to the hospital which she has abandoned.
When Frederic cannot stand it any longer, he deserts to find Catherine. Rinaldi visits him at the hotel where he is hiding, and tells him where she is living. He rows across a lake to her. Meanwhile, Catherine is delighted when she is told she has finally received some mail, but faints when she is given all of her letters, marked "Return to Sender". She is taken to the hospital, where her child is delivered stillborn, and she herself is in grave danger. Frederic arrives, and just as an armistice between Italy and Austria-Hungary
is announced, Catherine dies, with him at her side.
said, "There is too much sentiment and not enough strength in the pictorial conception of Ernest Hemingway's novel . . . the film account skips too quickly from one episode to another and the hardships and other experiences of Lieutenant Henry are passed over too abruptly, being suggested rather than told . . . Gary Cooper gives an earnest and splendid portrayal [and] Helen Hayes is admirable as Catherine . . . another clever characterization is contributed by Adolphe Menjou . . . it is unfortunate that these three players, serving the picture so well, do not have the opportunity to figure in more really dramatic interludes."
Dan Callahan of Slant Magazine
notes, "Hemingway . . . was grandly contemptuous of Frank Borzage's version of A Farewell to Arms . . . but time has been kind to the film. It launders out the writer's . . . pessimism and replaces it with a testament to the eternal love between a couple."
Time Out London calls it "not only the best film version of a Hemingway novel, but also one of the most thrilling visions of the power of sexual love that even Borzage ever made . . . no other director created images like these, using light and movement like brushstrokes, integrating naturalism and a daring expressionism in the same shot. This is romantic melodrama
raised to its highest degree."
Channel 4
describes it as "an excellent adaptation . . . the two leads are ideal and irresistible here, particularly a reliably sensitive Cooper, who milks his everyman appeal to great effect."
Frank Borzage
Frank Borzage was an American film director and actor.-Biography:Frank Borzage's father, Luigi Borzaga, was born in Ronzone, in 1859. As a stonemason, he sometimes worked in Switzerland; he met his future wife, Maria Ruegg , where she worked in a silk factory...
, and starring Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
and Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
. The screenplay by Oliver H.P. Garrett and Benjamin Glazer
Benjamin Glazer
Benjamin Glazer was a screenwriter, producer, foley artist, and director of American films from the 1920s through the 1950s. He made the first translation of Ferenc Molnár's play Liliom into English in 1921...
is based on the 1929 semi-autobiographical novel
A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Ernest Hemingway concerning events during the Italian campaigns during the First World War. The book, which was first published in 1929, is a first-person account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant in the ambulance...
by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
.
Plot
On the Italian frontItalian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign refers to a series of battles fought between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Italy, along with their allies, in northern Italy between 1915 and 1918. Italy hoped that by joining the countries of the Triple Entente against the Central Powers it would gain Cisalpine Tyrol , the...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Frederic Henry (Gary Cooper), an American serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian Army
Italian Army
The Italian Army is the ground defence force of the Italian Armed Forces. It is all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel, numbering 108,355 in 2010. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft...
, delivers some wounded soldiers to a hospital. There he meets his friend, Italian Major Rinaldi (Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies, appearing in such films as The Sheik, A Woman of Paris, Morocco, and A Star is Born...
), a doctor. They go out carousing, but are interrupted by a bombing raid. Frederic and English Red Cross nurse Catherine Barkley (Helen Hayes) take shelter in the same place. The somewhat drunk Frederic makes a poor first impression.
Rinaldi persuades Frederic to go on a double date with him and two nurses, Catherine and her friend Helen Ferguson (Mary Philips
Mary Philips
Mary Philips was an American stage and film actress.-Biography:Born in New London, Connecticut, she was the only child of Anna Hurley and Charles Philips of New Haven. She was educated in New Haven at what was then St. Mary's Academy. In 1920 she made her stage debut as a chorus girl...
). However, Rinaldi becomes annoyed when Frederic prefers Catherine, the woman the major had chosen for himself. Away by themselves, Frederic learns that she was engaged to a soldier who was killed in battle. In the darkness, he seduces her, over her half-hearted resistance, and is surprised to discover she is a virgin.
Their relationship (forbidden by army regulation) is discovered. At Rinaldi's suggestion, Catherine is transferred to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. When Frederick is wounded by artillery, he finds himself in the hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
where Catherine now works. They continue their affair until he is sent back to the war. Now pregnant, Catherine runs away to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, but her many letters to her lover are intercepted by Rinaldi, who feels he needs to rescue his friend from the romantic entanglement. Meanwhile, Frederic's letters to her are sent to the hospital which she has abandoned.
When Frederic cannot stand it any longer, he deserts to find Catherine. Rinaldi visits him at the hotel where he is hiding, and tells him where she is living. He rows across a lake to her. Meanwhile, Catherine is delighted when she is told she has finally received some mail, but faints when she is given all of her letters, marked "Return to Sender". She is taken to the hospital, where her child is delivered stillborn, and she herself is in grave danger. Frederic arrives, and just as an armistice between Italy and Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
is announced, Catherine dies, with him at her side.
Critical reception
In his review in the New York Times, Mordaunt HallMordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for The New York Times, from October 1924 to September 1934....
said, "There is too much sentiment and not enough strength in the pictorial conception of Ernest Hemingway's novel . . . the film account skips too quickly from one episode to another and the hardships and other experiences of Lieutenant Henry are passed over too abruptly, being suggested rather than told . . . Gary Cooper gives an earnest and splendid portrayal [and] Helen Hayes is admirable as Catherine . . . another clever characterization is contributed by Adolphe Menjou . . . it is unfortunate that these three players, serving the picture so well, do not have the opportunity to figure in more really dramatic interludes."
Dan Callahan of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
notes, "Hemingway . . . was grandly contemptuous of Frank Borzage's version of A Farewell to Arms . . . but time has been kind to the film. It launders out the writer's . . . pessimism and replaces it with a testament to the eternal love between a couple."
Time Out London calls it "not only the best film version of a Hemingway novel, but also one of the most thrilling visions of the power of sexual love that even Borzage ever made . . . no other director created images like these, using light and movement like brushstrokes, integrating naturalism and a daring expressionism in the same shot. This is romantic melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
raised to its highest degree."
Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
describes it as "an excellent adaptation . . . the two leads are ideal and irresistible here, particularly a reliably sensitive Cooper, who milks his everyman appeal to great effect."
Cast
- Helen HayesHelen HayesHelen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
as Catherine Barkley - Gary CooperGary CooperFrank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
as Lieutenant Frederic Henry - Adolphe MenjouAdolphe MenjouAdolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies, appearing in such films as The Sheik, A Woman of Paris, Morocco, and A Star is Born...
as Major Rinaldi - Mary PhilipsMary PhilipsMary Philips was an American stage and film actress.-Biography:Born in New London, Connecticut, she was the only child of Anna Hurley and Charles Philips of New Haven. She was educated in New Haven at what was then St. Mary's Academy. In 1920 she made her stage debut as a chorus girl...
as Helen Ferguson - Jack La RueJack La RueJack La Rue was an American film and stage actor.Born as Gaspere Biondolillo, he worked on the New York stage from 1923 to 1931. He moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in numerous films...
as Priest - Blanche FridericiBlanche FridericiBlanche Friderici , sometimes credited as Blanche Frederici, was an American film and stage actress.-Early life and education:She was born in Brooklyn, New York.-Theatre:...
as Head Nurse - Mary ForbesMary ForbesMary Forbes was an English film actress. She appeared in over 130 films between 1919 and 1958....
as Miss Van Campen - Gilbert EmeryGilbert EmeryGilbert Emery was the stage name of Gilbert Emery Bensley Pottle, an American actor who appeared in over 80 movies from 1921 to his death in 1945.- Early years :...
as British Major
Awards and nominations
The film won two Academy Awards and was nominate for anothe two:- Academy Award for Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(nominee) - Academy Award for Best Art DirectionAcademy Award for Best Art DirectionThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(nominee) - Academy Award for Best CinematographyAcademy Award for Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
(winner) - Academy Award for SoundAcademy Award for SoundThe Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. Compare this award to the Academy Award for Sound Editing...
- Franklin HansenFranklin HansenFranklin Hansen was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award in the category Sound Recording for the film A Farewell to Arms and was nominated for four more in the same category.-Selected filmography:...
(winner)