A Farewell to Arms (1932): Amazon.ca: Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Philips, Jack La Rue, Blanche Friderici, Mary Forbes, Gilbert Emery, Alice Adair, Henry Armetta, Herman Bing, Agostino Borgato, Frank Borzage, Benjamin Glazer, Ernest Hemingway, Laurence Stallings, Oliver H.P. Garrett: DVD

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The 1932 version of A Farewell to Arms owes as much to the shimmering house style of Paramount Pictures as it does the novel by Ernest Hemingway. If Hemingway purists can get past the romanticizing of the book, however, this film offers its own glossy appeal. On the Italian front in World War I, an American ambulance driver (Gary Cooper) falls in love with a nurse (Helen Hayes, before she became the official First Lady of the American The-a-tah). Cooper was a Hemingway friend in real life, and later played the hero of Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls; his boyish simplicity is just right for director Frank Borzage's heartfelt approach. Image Entertainment's DVD release is a stunningly gorgeous improvement on the muddy prints of this film that had been circulating for years, a fitting tribute to the Oscar-winning cinematography of ace cameraman Charles Lang (this is the kind of lush black and white that can capture the glow from a cigarette as it plays across Cooper's darkened face--a breathtaking touch). The jaded battle scenes show the influence of the hit film version of All Quiet on the Western Front, especially in a gripping montage depicting Cooper's progress alone through the war zone. Hemingway would have none of it, of course; he once disdainfully wrote that "in the first picture version Lt. Henry deserted because he didn't get any mail and then the whole Italian Army went along, it seems, to keep him company." This is first and foremost a love story, however, and as such it succeeds beautifully, right through to the remarkably intense ending. --Robert Horton

Amazon.com Essential Video

The 1932 version of A Farewell to Arms owes as much to the shimmering house style of Paramount Pictures as it does the novel by Ernest Hemingway. If Hemingway purists can get past the romanticizing of the book, however, this film offers its own glossy appeal. On the Italian front in World War I, an American ambulance driver (Gary Cooper) falls in love with a nurse (Helen Hayes, before she became the official First Lady of the American The-a-tah). Cooper was a Hemingway friend in real life, and later played the hero of Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls; his boyish simplicity is just right for director Frank Borzage's heartfelt approach. Image Entertainment's DVD release is a stunningly gorgeous improvement on the muddy prints of this film that had been circulating for years, a fitting tribute to the Oscar-winning cinematography of ace cameraman Charles Lang (this is the kind of lush black and white that can capture the glow from a cigarette as it plays across Cooper's darkened face--a breathtaking touch). The jaded battle scenes show the influence of the hit film version of All Quiet on the Western Front, especially in a gripping montage depicting Cooper's progress alone through the war zone. Hemingway would have none of it, of course; he once disdainfully wrote that "in the first picture version Lt. Henry deserted because he didn't get any mail and then the whole Italian Army went along, it seems, to keep him company." This is first and foremost a love story, however, and as such it succeeds beautifully, right through to the remarkably intense ending. --Robert Horton

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.5 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars Beware the Hollywood Classics version, July 11 2001

By

"jbaker7" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Farewell to Arms,a 32 (DVD)

The Hollywood Classics version of this DVD is very poorly done. Look at the cover! They put "Cary Grant" as an actor on the bottom left! They seem to have put even less effort into making the video and sound quality acceptable. They include a sheet stuck into the DVD case explaining how to make the sound quality tolerable, but it didn't help me much. The video is very poor as well. Get a different version if you must, but not the Hollywood Classics version at any price. It is unwatchable.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Read the book!, Jan 2 2001

By

Taylor B. Rodgers (Portsmouth, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Farewell to Arms, a (VHS Tape)

If you have not read the book, do not see the movie as a substitute. If you have read the book, don't waste your time watching the movie. The movie (in its 90 min format) is very one dimensional, concentrating only on the romance between Catherine and Frederick. The ending is even different which is unacceptable. Take my advice and read the book.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Love found - love lost - love found - love never lost, July 21 2010

By

bernie "webviator" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Farewell to Arms (DVD)

A Frank Borzage production that is based on a novel by Ernest Hemingway, this is a story of the love between ambulance driver Lieutenant Henry (Gary Cooper) and Nurse Catherine Barkley (Helen Hayes) during World War I. the story is made complex by the interference of Major Rinaldi (Adolphe Menjou.)

"Disaster as well as victory is written for every nation on the record of the World War, but high on the rolls of glory two names are inscribed -- --
The Marne and the Piave."

This is a real tearjerker in black and white. However, it is well made and the story keeps movie. We can even feel sorry for the misguided friendship of Major Rinaldi, which contributed greatly to the disaster in the story.

I was really struck by seeing the young Helen Hayes as the first time I saw her was on Airport (1970.)

The Fountainhead ~ Gary Cooper

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars love in the chaos of war
Based on Ernest Hemingway's semi-autobiographical novel about an ambulance driver and a nurse in WWI, this is a beautifully filmed and acted tragic romance, between tiny Helen... Read more

Published on Jun 24 2004 by Alejandra Vernon

4.0 out of 5 stars Novel into Film
Frank Borsage's 1931 film version of Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" can never have the power of the novel's prose, and its not-quite-so-simple romantic idyll. Read more

Published on Jan 11 2004 by Samuel Bluefarb