For Whom the Bell Tolls - The Movie

Having read the book and reviewed it here the review of the movie will be much different. This movie from 1943 was up for nine Oscars with one win for supporting actress.

Ernest Hemingway handpicked Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman to play the American Robert Jordan and Maria a Spanish girl rescued by a band of fighters operating behind the facist lines in the Spanish Civil War.

Hemingway was reportedly not happy with the finished movie as he felt the politics of the movie were diminished. Of course for a mainstream movie that is true. However politics did invade the movie, most notably Robert Jordan's monologue about why he as an American was involved. He tells that the communists and those for the Republic are on one side against the facists, Nazi's, Germans and Italians and that Spain was a practice and proving ground for what might be coming later for all of Europe and America would have to fight then so he chose to fight now.

I consider myself a student of history but the Spanish Civil War is not an easy war to understand. To delve too far into the politics would have made the movie less easy to relate too and it was , with that cast, a commercial film.

As I watch Cooper in this, Friendly Persuasion, and High Noon I become more and more of a belief that he was a fine, underrated actor. I have enjoyed him in everything I see him in.

The characters in this book and thus movie are well drawn. Anselmo is a great character torn between the Republic he wants and not wanting to kill , Pablo is perhaps the most complex character Hemingway ever drew. Yes he is for himself but his twists and turns, his becoming a Capitalist with his horses and his brutal behavior when needed. Pilar who takes over the leadership of the group when Pablo loses his grip is well told as well.

Ingrid Bergman was captivating. Perhaps not a great fit for a Spanish girl she still filled the role well. She was beautiful and the chemistry between her and Cooper was apparent. Her smile was as radiant as you will ever see in a movie.

An underrated subplot is the tale of Sordo and his last stand.

This was one of the best books I have ever read. The movie is a good one too.

Both are highly rated by this reviewer.