For Whom the Bell Tolls 1943

     This film is based on a book with the same title by Ernest Hemingway.  The setting of this film is Spain of the 1930’s in the Guadarrama Mountains near Segovia.  There is a civil war going on with the Spanish Republic fighting against the fascist Nationalists.  Robert Jordan is a man of action.  He has joined up on the side that appeals most to him most.  About 60,000 foreigners have come to fight for Spain’s freedom.  He chooses to side with the idealists of this era.  He has knowledge of explosives and he plans to blow a bridge.  Pilar is a gypsy and she is in charge of this group.  She has the ability to foretell the future and she sees something in his palm but she won’t tell him what she saw.  Maria is a young woman with the group and she was the daughter of the major of the town.  The soldiers killed her father and her mother.

     There are a lot of dark scenes that are difficult to tell who the people are and what is going on.  I think 170 minutes is overlong and the film needs tighter editing.  Otherwise, the story is very good.  The acting by Cooper and a young Bergman (the film was released in April 1943 and she was 29 in August) is also very good.  I thought it was interesting that a person on a horse can make it out alive but without the horse they will probably be killed.  Ernest Hemingway and his friends would also have joined up with the idealists.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)   

170 min, Adventure directed by Sam Wood with Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Arturo de Cordova, Vladimir Sokoloff, Mikhail Rasumny, Fortunio Bonanova, Eric Feldary, Victor Varconi, Katina Paxinou, Joseph Calleia, Lilo Yarson, Alexander Granach, Adia Kuznetzoff, Lilo Yarson.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 77% critic 63% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, TCM Leonard Maltin 3.5* out of 4* average user rating 3.2 out of 5,  Amazon 4* out of 5* with 1056 reviews, Goodreads gives the book 4* out of 5* with 227,591 votes.

Special Note:  Filmed in Sierra Nevada Mountains, Blue Canyon, Sacramento, Kennedy Meadows, Relief Canyon, Sonora Pass and Paramount Studios, California.  As he was writing the novel, Hemingway had Ingrid Bergman in mind for the role of Maria.  This is the first of three films in three years that were nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for Bergman as well as Bet Picture and Best Actor.  The other two are Gaslight 1944 and The Bells of St. Mary’s 1945.  The novel was a best seller in the 1940’s and was reportedly sold to Paramount Pictures for $100,000.  Throughout the film Cooper is riding a gray horse.  During the ending scenes, he is riding a brown horse but the horse was painted gray for continuity.  The film was later cut to 130 minutes for general release.  A restored version was released with 166 minutes and an archival print was 156 minutes.  This film was banned in Spain until 1978.