A Farewell to Arms

The thing about this film is that, however good Adolphe Menjou is with Gary Cooper, the ending is a sentimental travesty of the original. Hemingway's character drinks, brawls and whores his way through the war, resulting in his utter inability to express emotions even to himself. Bleak and without redemption, he watches his unconscious lover die in failed childbirth, and tries talking but "it was like saying goodbye to a statue." The film? Last words, embraces, Tristan and Isolde and doves.

Borzage barely changes a word, but the whole nature of the relationship is much more palatable under his hand. Helen Hayes' natural strength and Cooper's natural gentleness balance out their characters' failings. He'll take lines from the book that come off stone serious like "I'm nothing when I'm not with you" and make them sweet and frivolous, like they're products of frustration and not codependency.

I was worried briefly Borzage and Glazer would skirt the bleakness of the story's climax, but the cinematic A Farewell to Arms is very faithful adaptation of Hemingway's classic war novel. Cooper is perfectly cast, despite not being able to act a lick.

Semi-faithful adaption (at least concerning the story itself) of one of my favorite novels. Both Cooper and Hayes are horribly miscast, but what really drags this down is just how awfully boring it is watching in 2015. The book is timeless, this film is far from it.

Viewed May 16, 2018.

Besides being boring, this films disfigures the original story.

This is pretty great. It doesn't seem to be recognized as a classic, but perhaps that's due to the previously poor quality of the available prints and any differences to Hemingway's novel. You would never know this was a literary adaption. Borzage and d.p. Charles Lang demonstrate tremendous visual style --a highlight is the expressionistic battle scene. Cooper and Hayes really sell their roles as well.

This adaption by Borzage of Hemingway's classic look absolutely stunning, especially the mis en scene is great. Borzage adaption more focus on the melodramatic romantic aspect than the war aspect, most we see from the later is a stunning expressionistic sequence near the end. But this was a correct choice, it makes for a tighter better story instead of trying to cram the whole novel in 90 minutes of movie. It also aligns better with Borzages sentiments as a director.

78.50

the anti-war thing is a little lost here(?) love the over the top ending tho

a silly tragedy that uses a silly romance to deliver a silly anti-war message, but it still managed to work, probably because the direction is much better than the silly script. and hemingway's novel, probably, given this is an adaption. it got much better as it progressed, with an excellent war montage later on and a rather enjoyable over-the-top ending with tristan und isolde threshing in the background. wish it were all like that.

Adeus às armas estreava há 90 anos nos EUA. Demorei a ver esse porque eu queria ler o livro do Hemingway que está há séculos na minha estante, vi há uns 30 anos a versão do Vidor, mas como sou mais fã do Borzage do que do Hemingway, fico grata por tê-lo visto hoje. Nem de longe caio no romantismo do Borzage, mas seus filmes são lindos demais, um puro mestre de sua arte e aqui não é diferente. Azar do Hemingway que não gostou dele. Box Versátil Primeira Guerra no Cinema.

Passes the time.

The end jumps the shark a bit, but this is mostly an enjoyable enough war melodrama. There's one war sequence, a bit over an hour in, where the montage kind of reminded me of Eisenstein or someone (though with fewer face close-ups.) Quite a bit of the early camerawork is pretty accomplished for the early sound period, though the technology was beginning to catch up somewhat by 1932.

Won 2 Oscars (Best Cinematography & Best Sound, Recording) and got 2 other nominations (Best Picture & Best Art Direction). And it is a stylistic piece of work by the great director Frank Borzage. He is also someone who understand the little things that makes a good love story work. While Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes are no Farrell/Gaynor, he still knows how to direct them with their limitation in a way to make it sweet and believable. Other then that Adolphe Menjou deserves a thumbs up.

Superb direction, it's what carries the entire film.