Review of A Farewell to Arms

Despite the fact that the source novel's author, Ernest Hemingway, was repulsed by this film adaptation of his famous work (primarily due to its focusing on the more romantic aspects of the story rather than the effect of war on man), the film pleased many cinema-goers then and now. Cooper plays an American ambulance driver during WWI (before America's involvement) whose buddy, and superior officer Menjou, introduces him to a petite British nurse (Hayes.) Though Menjou has his eye on Hayes for himself, Cooper steps in and claims her for his own. The couple forms a deeply felt relationship, though Menjou remains resentful about it. Later, the couple strives to be together, or at least to keep in touch, but circumstances and people keep them from maintaining contact. Soon, Cooper must decide whether to desert the armed forces in order to get to Hayes or to let her slip through his fingers. Meanwhile, feeling abandoned, Hayes start to degenerate physically and emotionally. It's great to see Cooper looking young and handsome. Though he is occasionally a bit awkward and gangly, he shares a great chemistry with Hayes and turns in a memorably tender scene near the finale. Hayes is appealing, reasonably unaffected (quite unaffected by the standards of the day!) and intensely romantic. An actress who had little good to say about any of her film work (despite two Oscars on her mantle), she did have fond memories of making this movie, especially where director Borzage was concerned. She and Cooper seem like an unusual pairing at first, but wind up as a very memorable couple. Menjou lends solid support, though it is surprising to hear him continuously refer to Cooper as "Baby" and see him pawing all over the young Adonis. One half wonders if he's more interested in Coop than in Hayes! The film offers up some very striking imagery at times and a fair share of inventiveness. One notable scene has the camera taking Cooper's point of view as he's wheeled into a hospital following an injury. One of the final shots has a bed sheet that somehow forms perfect pleats as it's removed from the bed, forming a memorable image. Reworked into the rather routine "Force of Arms" and then officially remade by David O' Selznick in 1957 (in an expensive, attractive, but overlong and miscast box-office failure), this remains the definitive big-screen adaptation of the book.