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==Plot== ==Plot==
During the ], an American language teacher Robert Jordan (]) who lived in Spain during the pre-war period, fights in the ] against ]'s ] forces. An experienced dynamiter, Jordan is ordered to travel behind enemy lines and destroy a critical bridge with the aid of a band of local anti-fascist ]. The bridge must be blown up to prevent enemy troops from travelling across it to respond to an upcoming offensive against the fascists.
During the Spanish Civil War, an American (]), who is allied with the ], gets involved in a mission to blow up an important bridge.

Jordan meets a group of Republican guerrilla fighters led by a middle-aged man named Pablo. Jordan falls in love with María, a young Spanish woman whose life had been shattered by her parents' execution and her rape at the hands of the ] (part of the fascist coalition) at the outbreak of the war. Jordan has a strong sense of duty, which clashes with the unwillingness of the guerrilla leader Pablo to commit to an operation that would endanger himself and his band. At the same time, Jordan develops a new-found lust for life which arises from his love for María. Pablo's wife, Pilar, usurps Pablo's leadership and pledges the allegiance of the guerrillas to Jordan's mission. However, when another band of anti-fascist guerrillas, led by El Sordo, is surrounded and killed, Pablo steals Jordan's dynamite detonators and exploder, hoping to prevent the bridge demolition and thereby avoid fascist reprisals. Although he disposes of the detonators and exploder by throwing them down a gorge into the river, Pablo regrets abandoning his comrades and returns to assist in the operation.

However, the enemy, apprised of the coming offensive, has prepared to ambush the Republicans in force and it seems unlikely that blowing up the bridge will do much to prevent a ]. Regardless of this, Jordan understands that he must still demolish the bridge in an attempt to prevent Fascist reinforcements from overwhelming his allies. Lacking the detonation equipment stolen by Pablo, Jordan and Anselmo coordinate an alternative, improvised method to explode the dynamite by using hand grenades, with wires attached, so that their pins can be pulled from a distance. This improvised plan is considerably more dangerous, because the men must increase their proximity to the explosion.

While the guerrilla fighters Pablo, Pilar, and Maria create a diversion for Jordan and Anselmo, the two men plant and detonate the dynamite, costing Anselmo his life when he is hit by a piece of shrapnel. While the guerrillas are escaping on horseback, Jordan is maimed when a tank shoots his horse out from under him. Jordan cannot feel his legs and he knows that if his comrades stop to help him, it will slow them down and they too will be captured. He bids goodbye to María and ensures that she escapes to safety with the surviving guerrillas. He refuses an offer from Agustín to shoot chooses instead to lie in wait for the fascist pursuers. Armed with a ], he waits until the fascist soldiers appear in his gunsights. He pulls the trigger, firing a barrage of machine gun fire at the fascists.


==Cast== ==Cast==

Revision as of 22:37, 3 April 2016

1943 American film
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySam Wood
Screenplay byDudley Nichols
Produced bySam Wood
Starring
CinematographyRay Rennahan
Edited by
Music byVictor Young
Production
company		Paramount Pictures
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • July 14, 1943 (1943-07-14) (USA)
Running time170 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$7.1 million (est. US/ Canada rentals)

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 American film produced and directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, and Joseph Calleia. Written by Dudley Nichols and based on the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, the film is about an American fighting in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans who finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.

For Whom the Bell Tolls was Ingrid Bergman's first Technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film became the top box-office hit of 1943, grossing $11 million. It was also nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning one. Victor Young's film soundtrack for the film was the first complete score from an American film to be issued on record.

Plot

During the Spanish Civil War, an American language teacher Robert Jordan (Gary Cooper) who lived in Spain during the pre-war period, fights in the International Brigades against Francisco Franco's fascist forces. An experienced dynamiter, Jordan is ordered to travel behind enemy lines and destroy a critical bridge with the aid of a band of local anti-fascist guerrillas. The bridge must be blown up to prevent enemy troops from travelling across it to respond to an upcoming offensive against the fascists.

Jordan meets a group of Republican guerrilla fighters led by a middle-aged man named Pablo. Jordan falls in love with María, a young Spanish woman whose life had been shattered by her parents' execution and her rape at the hands of the Falangists (part of the fascist coalition) at the outbreak of the war. Jordan has a strong sense of duty, which clashes with the unwillingness of the guerrilla leader Pablo to commit to an operation that would endanger himself and his band. At the same time, Jordan develops a new-found lust for life which arises from his love for María. Pablo's wife, Pilar, usurps Pablo's leadership and pledges the allegiance of the guerrillas to Jordan's mission. However, when another band of anti-fascist guerrillas, led by El Sordo, is surrounded and killed, Pablo steals Jordan's dynamite detonators and exploder, hoping to prevent the bridge demolition and thereby avoid fascist reprisals. Although he disposes of the detonators and exploder by throwing them down a gorge into the river, Pablo regrets abandoning his comrades and returns to assist in the operation.

However, the enemy, apprised of the coming offensive, has prepared to ambush the Republicans in force and it seems unlikely that blowing up the bridge will do much to prevent a rout. Regardless of this, Jordan understands that he must still demolish the bridge in an attempt to prevent Fascist reinforcements from overwhelming his allies. Lacking the detonation equipment stolen by Pablo, Jordan and Anselmo coordinate an alternative, improvised method to explode the dynamite by using hand grenades, with wires attached, so that their pins can be pulled from a distance. This improvised plan is considerably more dangerous, because the men must increase their proximity to the explosion.

While the guerrilla fighters Pablo, Pilar, and Maria create a diversion for Jordan and Anselmo, the two men plant and detonate the dynamite, costing Anselmo his life when he is hit by a piece of shrapnel. While the guerrillas are escaping on horseback, Jordan is maimed when a tank shoots his horse out from under him. Jordan cannot feel his legs and he knows that if his comrades stop to help him, it will slow them down and they too will be captured. He bids goodbye to María and ensures that she escapes to safety with the surviving guerrillas. He refuses an offer from Agustín to shoot chooses instead to lie in wait for the fascist pursuers. Armed with a Lewis gun, he waits until the fascist soldiers appear in his gunsights. He pulls the trigger, firing a barrage of machine gun fire at the fascists.

Cast

Restoration

The film was originally released in a roadshow format, at 170 minutes (not counting intermission). For re-release, it was trimmed to 134 minutes, and it was not seen at its full length until the late 1990s, when it was archivally restored to 168 minutes. This restored version is the one that has been released on DVD. The restoration was photochemical, not digital, and the titles and some of the scenes in the early reels are slightly to significantly out-of-register.

Academy Awards

Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls
Wins
Nominations

Other versions

There was a Lux Radio Theater version broadcast on February 11, 1945, which retained the principal cast from the film: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, and Akim Tamiroff.

See also

References

  1. "All Time Domestic Champs", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
  2. "Top Grossers of the Season", Variety, 5 January 1944 p 54
  3. Patrick Robinson. 1980. Movie Facts and Feats: A Guinness Record Book.
  4. "The 16th Academy Awards (1943) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  5. "NY Times: For Whom the Bell Tolls". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-12-16.

External links

Streaming audio

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