A Farewell to Arms

1932

Action / Drama / Music / Romance / War

14
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 53% · 16 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 53% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 7460 7.5K

ambulance driver based on novel or book escape nurse world war i italy

Plot summary

A tale of the World War I love affair, begun in Italy, between American ambulance driver Lt. Frederic Henry and British nurse Catherine Barkley. Eventually separated by Frederic's transfer, tremendous challenges and difficult decisions face each as the war rages on.

Director

Frank Borzage Photo
Frank Borzage

Top cast

Helen Hayes Photo
Helen Hayes as Catherine
Adolphe Menjou Photo
Adolphe Menjou as Rinaldi
Blanche Friderici Photo
Blanche Friderici as Head Nurse
Paul Porcasi Photo
Paul Porcasi as Harry - Innkeeper
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
696.21 MB
1280*952
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 20 min
Seeds 1
1.3 GB
1440*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 20 min
Seeds 9

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by gftbiloxi 7 / 10

A Memorable Film In Need of Restoration

The 1932 film version of Ernest Hemmingway's A FAREWELL TO ARMS will never challenge the likes of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT--but while it fails to capture the horrors of World War I it is remarkably effective at capturing the novel's sparse and unyielding prose. A good deal of the credit goes to writers Garrett and Glaizer and director Borzage--but the real interest here is not so much in the cinematic interpretation of the Hemmingway novel as it is in the cast, which is remarkable. Actress Helen Hayes was already among the leading lights of the New York stage when she was lured to Hollywood for a handful of films in the early 1930s--and it is easy to see what all the fuss was about. Plaintive beauty aside, unlike most stage and screen actors of the era she is completely unaffected in her performance and proves more than powerful enough to overcome the more melodramatic moments of the script. She is costarred with Gary Cooper in one of his earliest leading roles, and while the pairing is unexpected, it is also unexpectedly good: they have tremendous screen chemistry, and in spite of the film's dated approach they easily draw you into this story of an ill-fated wartime romance between a nurse and an ambulance driver. The film is also well supplied with a solid supporting cast that includes Adolphe Menjou, Jack La Rue, and Mary Philips, and while clearly filmed on a slim budget--something most obvious in the battlefront sequences--the camera work is remarkably good. Unfortunately, all this counts for nothing unless you can find a print of the film that you can stand to watch. It is sad but true: the 1932 A FAREWELL TO ARMS seems to have fallen into public domain, and the result is a host of DVD and VHS releases that range from the merely adequate to the incredibly dire. Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Reviewed by SnoopyStyle 6 / 10

solid actors

American Frederic Henry (Gary Cooper) is serving as an ambulance driver on the Italian front during WWI. He is taken with English nurse Catherine Barkley (Helen Hayes). His best friend Italian doctor Major Rinaldi is also taken with her. Her fiancée had died at the Sommes. Frederic and Catherine begin a romance in the midst of war.Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes are doing their romantic best. This adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway classic is skewed more towards romanticism. As for the epic retreat, the movie tries to capture it but only as sound stage special effects and montages. Same goes for the crossing. The action adventure intensity isn't there. While the actors are superior, the adaptation lacks tension. This version takes the first crack at the book and hits a solid single.
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