For Whom the Bell Tolls

1943 "Thunderous! Tender! Touching!"
6.8| 2h50m| G| en| More Info
Released: 13 July 1943 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Spain in the 1930s is the place to be for a man of action like Robert Jordan. There is a civil war going on and Jordan—who has joined up on the side that appeals most to idealists of that era—has been given a high-risk assignment up in the mountains. He awaits the right time to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress.

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Reviews

Clevercell Very disappointing...
PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Davalon-Davalon I am astonished that anyone could have rated this as a "10." Give me a break!I have not read the book, so perhaps this film does correctly reflect the story that Hemingway wrote. Nonetheless, as a film it is deadly. As others have correctly pointed out, Gary Cooper was wooden throughout. He finally rises to the occasion in the last thirty seconds of the film where he realizes he has the strength to shoot the machine gun at the enemy by thinking of "Maria" (Ingrid Bergman). It's also at this point that the film slips into voice-over mode; it's jarring. Ingrid Bergman was, without a doubt, stunningly beautiful; that could not be argued. I also felt that she was a good actress -- but not necessarily in this film. It isn't her fault; it's what she was given to work with -- a dull, uninspired, script. Let's talk about that script. There were a lot of questions and answers that repeated the questions. There was mundane, banal, dull, laughable. The movie went on endlessly and for what... because Gary had to blow up a bridge at dawn, "Those are orders!" -- and so we, the viewing audience, must also wait until "dawn" while Gary, Ingrid and a band of misfits point fingers at each other, drink wine, eat, and apparently never bathe or take a dump. The only actors that I found to be interesting were Katina Paxinou, who had a sort of ferociousness about her performance (and the Academy awarded her), and Akim Tamiroff, who looked like the original Hobbitt. As the movie wanders around mountains and fights between nationalists and republicans or somebody and somebody, the only thing that seems to be of concern to Ingrid is whether Gary is okay. In fact, that seems to be the only thing that matters to Katina as well. Despite all the talk of liberation and freeing themselves from their oppressors (this was supposedly the Spanish Civil War), all that seemed to matter was whether Ingrid was happy. While I did enjoy looking at Ingrid's pretty face, and Gary's eyes were killer, I could not understand what she saw in him. He was twice her age, if not more, and he kissed with the passion of a sedated goldfish. It's an old film. It's slow. I felt that emotions were manipulated beyond all reason. I just did not enjoy it. So 2 out of 10, 1 for Ingrid's face, 1 for Gary's eyes.
Theo Robertson The Spanish Civil war is a conflict that has seared itself upon the romantic idealist . It's good versus evil of fascists on one side and idealistic freedom fighters from all across the world fighting to save a democratic socialist Republic from the jackboot of Hitler , Mussolini and Franco . Of course much of this conflict has been romanticized . It's often forgotten that Joseph Stalin was supporting the Republican cause while following his own agenda and the leftists spent more time fighting amongst themselves rather than fighting the Falangists . Regardless of this I've always viewed it as good versus evil , an opinion reinforced by a conversation I once had with a Spanish workmate who was of " Marrano Converso " linage whose grandparents were murdered by the Franco regime . I told her gloomily that's the worst thing about the 21st Century - there's no crusades to go on , no chance of jumping on a plane and changing the world . Though later when I thought about it there is a modern day equivalent and that is young people joining the military in NATO countries knowing fine well they'll be serving in Afghanistan fighting against murderous jihadists . Was it not Orwell himself who described all tyrannies being " theocracies in nature " ?Perhaps idealism gets the better of me and I have grown out of it because the opening scene of FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL has stayed with me since childhood . Two freedom fighters blow up a train , make their escape only for one of them to be wounded and he begs his comrade to shoot him . It's an impressive scene though its impact is negated having been done so many times in other films . I guess this was probably the first time I'd seen this type of scene and that's why it stayed with me . The mind of a child is very impressionable and idealistic I'm afraid that my idealism towards this film has become somewhat revisionist after seeing it again as an adult. Not a lot happens in the movie which is composed of a handful of characters sitting on two or three sets of studio exteriors spouting clichéd melodramatic dialogue along with an annoying incidental score that never seems to go away . Interesting to note that the screenplay has most of its politics exercised and there's only one scene where the idealistic manly hero Robert Jordan played by Gary Cooper at his most wooden explaining the reason why he joined the good fight This means you're a watching a film lacking in scope . When I say nothing much happens I mean this literally . Some people might appreciate the set design or cinematography but the film concentrates on the romance between Jordan and Maria and Jordan's abrasive relationship with the band of Gypsies . There's very little sense of time and place and I had to keep reminding myself that it's set in Spain in 1937. It's also a film that is very static and dated even to fans of Classic Hollywood like myself and someone would do better reading George Orwell's Homage To Catalonia than watching this Hollywood melodrama
Catharina_Sweden I think this movie was uneven, and not very interesting at all until the end. THAT, though, was magnificent! It was also a pity that Cooper had to wear that silly, ugly hat almost all the time; it destroyed his looks so much! Ingrid Bergman was very beautiful, but her very strong Swedish accent and typical Swedish looks were totally wrong for her part. It seemed a little odd, also, that Maria was so smiling and happy all the time - when she had gone through such an awful experience as a gang bang recently. The woman playing Pilar was wonderful though - strange that I had not even heard of her before.I did not like the ageism. I mean when Pilar, who was of Robert Jordan's age (at least the actors playing them were of the same age), talked about herself as an old woman, and seemed to think that it was a matter of course that it was Jordan and the very young Maria who should become a couple. That no one could love _her_ anymore, when she was only 43...It was difficult to understand what the war was all about, and who the waring parties were. But I read now that the filmmakers did this on purpose - for political reasons.But the worst thing was, that the movie did not feel like "Hemingway". It could have been any action story.
zolaaar Based in Ernest Hemingway's world famous bestseller, this film is one of those classical melodramas, even though not in a Douglas Sirk style and maybe of quite another matter. In the book, Hemingway worked up his own experiences in the Spanish Civil War of the 30s - the film was shot in the middle of World War II - and that is why certain things are plain "clear". Of course, the whole plot of the film takes place solely within the lines of the Republican forces. Of course, it takes an unequivocal stand against Franco's fascism and its followers. Of course, the male lead, an expert for explosives, is a sincere American who stands on the right side. But without any cynicism, For Whom the Bell Tolls is in an utterly positive sense straight, straightforward, "clear", or however you want to word it.Sam Wood shaped the story through three strands: the love between María (Ingrid Bergman) and Robert (Gary Cooper), the preparations of a detonation and the conflict in the group with Pablo (Akim Tamiroff). Here, Wood presents a set of excellent characters. Pablo, brilliantly played by Tamiroff, as the most enigmatic of the ensemble, does not only bring trouble into the group, but also impersonates a man who is torn between friendship/solidarity and personal interest. Robert is a sober, prudential, reflecting man who knows what he wants, but sees danger in his love for María. He is not an ignorant macho, but someone who carefully listens, evaluates and then decides. And then there is Pilar, played by Katina Paxinou, this rough, angular, active woman with heart, a heart which is not only on the right place, but also has a deep feeling for what is going wrong in her country and what danger is coming up for her and her people if Franco might win the war. It seems as if Wood adapted a real and important protagonist of the Civil War with the character of Pilar: the Communist leader Dolores Ibarruri aka "La Pasionaria".With this variety of human patterns, Wood gives us a cross-section through a small, "spatially limited" civil society where the story line can be interpreted in context to the events in 1943 in Europe. Hitler and his allies are at the high peak of their conquest- and extermination campaigns. In this respect, the film asks the question, how democracy is going to work after the terror is defeated, taking also those into account who are erratic and cowardly like Pablo. And it asks the question for consideration between betrayal and solidarity, love and necessity.