Country: US
Technical: col 168m (130m)
Director: Sam Wood
Cast: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Katina Paxinou
Synopsis:
An American fights on the loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War, and falls for a partisan girl while preparing to blow a strategic bridge.
Review:
Paramount hauled out the big guns for this Hemingway adaptation: magnificent Technicolor cinematography, an experienced director, top stars (never mind Bergman didn't look right) and a vast contingent of foreign nationals to play the other Hispanics. It is pretty darn good for a Hollywood version of a modern classic, with even a reference to 'love-making all night' making it through from the novel. The close-up work is great, but there is rather too much dialogue, especially as the love story takes centre stage. Meanwhile Pablo's treachery is a neat emblem of why the Loyalists lost, even if you wish someone would stick a knife in him almost from the off. In the end it is William Cameron Menzies work on the production design that carries the film, with an air attack, troop movements and the bridge sequence brilliantly realised, and California's Sierra Nevada representing Spain convincingly.
Country: US
Technical: col 168m (130m)
Director: Sam Wood
Cast: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Katina Paxinou
Synopsis:
An American fights on the loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War, and falls for a partisan girl while preparing to blow a strategic bridge.
Review:
Paramount hauled out the big guns for this Hemingway adaptation: magnificent Technicolor cinematography, an experienced director, top stars (never mind Bergman didn't look right) and a vast contingent of foreign nationals to play the other Hispanics. It is pretty darn good for a Hollywood version of a modern classic, with even a reference to 'love-making all night' making it through from the novel. The close-up work is great, but there is rather too much dialogue, especially as the love story takes centre stage. Meanwhile Pablo's treachery is a neat emblem of why the Loyalists lost, even if you wish someone would stick a knife in him almost from the off. In the end it is William Cameron Menzies work on the production design that carries the film, with an air attack, troop movements and the bridge sequence brilliantly realised, and California's Sierra Nevada representing Spain convincingly.
