A Farewell to Arms

"One of the great love stories of all time!"

1957 2h 32m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 60

DramaRomanceWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An English nurse and an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I fall in love, but the horrors surrounding them test their romance to the limit.

“One of the great love stories of all time!”

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Cast

Rock Hudson
Lt. Frederick Henry
Jennifer Jones
Catherine Barkley
Vittorio De Sica
Major Rinaldi
Luigi Barzini
Court Martial Colonel
Georges Brehat
Captain Bassi
Oskar Homolka
Dr. Emerich
Mercedes McCambridge
Mrs. Van Campen
Elaine Stritch
Helen Ferguson

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Charles Vidor
Writers: Ben Hecht
Languages: English, German
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 152 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.9× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

69 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Charles Vidor, shot by Piero Portalupi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mario Nascimbene. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Gerard Wilson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Charles Vidor directs. Piero Portalupi behind the camera. Mario Nascimbene scores. Gerard Wilson cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 152 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $4.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 4.9× over at the box office.
469 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, German.
6Directed by Charles Vidor, shot by Piero Portalupi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Mario Nascimbene. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Gerard Wilson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones and Vittorio De Sica carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "One of the great love stories of all time!".
11IMDB entry: tt0050379 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Only 60 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
13Classified under 18 themes, including "based on novel or book", "nurse", "ambulance", "world war i".

The technical file

Cinematography: Piero Portalupi
Original score: Mario Nascimbene
Editing: Gerard Wilson
Production design: Gastone Medin
Costume design: John Moore
Makeup / hair: Larry Germain
Runtime: 152 min · 2h 32m
Status: Released
Budget: $4,100,000
Box office: $20,000,000
Return: 488% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: A Farewell to Arms (1957)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Charles Vidor

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-11-25
★ 6/10
It was always going to be hard enough to adapt this novel for the screen, and given Gary Cooper did an OK job with it in 1932, I am not quite sure why David O. Selznick concluded that is might be a ripe vehicle for Rock Hudson to reprise. He is the American "Lt. Henry" serving in Italy during the Great War when he meets British nurse "Catherine" (Jennifer Jones). They take an immediate shine to each other but needless to say the War has no time to stop and indulge their affection and the film follows the ups and downs as they try to stay alive and, ultimately, make it to safety with their as yet unborn child. The thing with Hemingway stories, I found, is that they rarely work on a big screen. They are detailed, descriptive and requiring of the reader to use their imagination to create the scenario that's all too easily replaced by the visuals here. That also requires the actors to deliver strong and intricate characterisations that deal with their own issues, sure, but with the issues of loyalty, of professionalism and of tough choices made amidst the atrocities of conflict. Neither of these two here have the gravitas to do those complexities justice and that frequently turns this gripping wartime romance into a not so gripping romance set amidst a war. There is quite an engaging effort from Vittorio De Rica as the inspirational surgeon "Rinaldi" and Elaine Stritch is also to be seen here before she became a lady who lunched. The film looks good, the wartime imagery potent and at times we get a little indication of the true horrors of this war, and of the strains it put on people both in and out of the military, but there's no getting away from the weak and rather insipid casting. Pity!

Production companies