Fresh and Exciting

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I am no fan of Ernest Hemingway, finding most of his work to be overwritten macho wish fulfillment, so take this with a grain of salt if you're a Poppa addict. But I found the film to be an overlong bore centering around a leaden Gary Cooper (playing the clichéd embodiment of Hollywood's idea of a romantic soldier of fortune) and a ludicrously miscast blonde Swede Ingrid Bergman as a Spanish freedom fighter. Like most of the movie, Bergman is distractingly gorgeous and the filmmakers' choice to shoot it in opulent Technicolor often undercuts the dramatic weight of the story.Far more convincing than the two leads are Katina Paxnou (who richly deserved the Oscar she won) and Akim Tamiroff as characters grounded with human flaws and inconsistencies that make them compelling, as opposed to the stupefyingly boring Cooper and Bergman, whose only interest comes from the undeniable sexual chemistry that they project. It might have been a perfectly unobjectionable little 1940s adventure film were it not for a script that takes two hours and forty-five minutes to tell a story that frankly isn't very interesting to begin with.Things finally do start to rev up in the second half when the handsome and heroic Cooper finally starts to play out the manly mission that threw him in the midst of the freedom fighters to begin with, but up to then I found my patience weighed down by Cooper and Bergman making goo-goo eyes at each other while Paxnou/Tamiroff & Company bicker amongst one another, often using Hemingway's flowery prose for dialogue that is completely out of step with their characters.If you're an advocate of Hemingway's brand of ultra-masculine romanticism you should probably disregard this review. But if you're a more objective viewer, while the film certainly has its positive aspects (usually when Paxnou or Tamiroff is on the screen), be prepared to mouth the word "overrated" after sitting through its lengthy run-time.

Spanish Civil War, 1930s. Richard Jordan, an American, has joined up with the Republican side. He is given the tough assignment of blowing up a vitally important bridge. Things get complicated when he falls in love... Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway.OK-ish, but not great. Plot drifts, and the movie is overly long. Some decent editing and this could have been an hour shorter and much more coherent.Despite starring greats Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman (whose previous film was Casablanca), the performances are unconvincing. Cooper and Bergman don't seem to gel well. The supporting cast are woeful.I haven't read the book, but I am sure it is better than the movie.

This movie made a strong impression on me when I saw it on television at fourteen. Even with two major sequences cut out, it was still a powerful drama. The complete film has been made available for home viewing now, and is even more authentic to Hemingway's story, albeit with some toning down of the earthier elements that the censors wouldn't allow in 1943.The movie is well acted by all involved, with strong central performances from Gary Cooper as the American volunteer, and Ingrid Bergman as the Spanish peasant girl he falls in love with. Especially strong supporting performances are given by Akim Tamiroff as the sullen Pablo, leader of the guerrilla band, and Katina Paxinou as Pilar, the true commander of the group. Tamiroff brings a range of emotions and moods to his character, showing Pablo as variously sly, fearful, drunk, treacherous, but still retaining some of the courage and intelligence that once made him a natural leader. It is a fascinating performance, the slightly comical tone of which never obscures the dangerously unstable nature of Pablo.Katina Paxinou is not only remarkable as Pilar, she becomes the character in such a way that it's impossible to read Hemingway's novel without seeing her every time Pilar speaks. It is the performance of a lifetime, and a good part of the success of the movie depends on it. Pilar is a no nonsense person who sees things clearly and speaks bluntly, sometimes too much so for her listeners. Disillusioned with her former lover Pablo, she can still see what made him a good leader at the beginning of the war. Her speech about what it means to be an ugly woman, but knowing she is beautiful inside, is a tour de force, ending with her sly grin at Robert Jordan and Maria, telling them that when she was younger, she could have seduced Jordan away from Maria, and perhaps even now. Jordan smiles and says he believes it, as Maria blushes. This is cinematic Hemingway at its best. Her other great moment is the recounting in flashback of the killing of the Fascists in a certain town at the beginning of the war. It is one of the most vivid parts of the novel and the film does it full justice.The use of color is good and there is a realistic feeling of the rugged mountains and forests where the fighting takes place. The film is somewhat slow and may try the patience of modern viewers accustomed to faster paced action, but it rewards the viewer able to take it all in and savor each moment.Some familiarity with the history of the Spanish Civil War would be useful to the viewer, but one can appreciate the story without having read the novel. I imagine that over the years, many viewers have been inspired by this movie to read the Hemingway original. In my case, it led to not only an interest in Hemingway's works, but a lifelong fascination with the Spanish Civil War.This is a classic film that every old movie fan should see, whether a Hemingway devotee or not. It is one of the best films to come out of Hollywood during this period of film making.

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.