For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)

Here I am already reviewing another mid-'40s war movie in which the objective is to blow up a bridge. One key difference is that this one takes place in the Spanish civil war. Which doesn't stop the protagonist, Robert "Roberto" Jordan (Gary Cooper, at Ernest Hemingway's insistence), from being an American, present only on principle. Nor does it stop most of the Spaniards from being played by members of other nationalities, including quite a few born in the Russian Empire.

Nowadays, the film may be best remembered for its accidental influence on a bigger classic. It was somewhat important to the plot that Maria (Ingrid Bergman, also at Hemingway's insistence) had unusually short hair, as she was recovering from a shave of shame. Because of this, it was too late to redo certain Casablanca scenes in a timely manner, so "As Time Goes By" didn't get cut as planned.

Of course, that means nothing for whether you should check it out. I can think of several more compelling reasons: Cooper, Bergman in color for the first time, Hemingway's own satisfaction...but wait! What if you, like many modern readers, consider the writer overrated? I myself didn't like the novel A Farewell to Arms much better than Pat in Silver Linings Playbook did. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" worked for me, but it's much shorter. I took a gamble here.

As you might expect, the film is big on dialogue. Some scenes run a lot longer than necessary, and not on action. That seems to be the main complaint. Personally, I didn't really mind. The characters get pretty interesting, not least the commanding but good-hearted Pilar.

Anyway, I appreciate the aversion of certain expected cliches. Consider Pablo, the formerly grand Republican leader who has devolved into a dirty coward -- the source of much conflict in the plot. Between what happens to him and what happens to greater heroes, it's clear that Hemingway would rather focus on realism than justice, as I'd suspected from other works. How many filmmakers dared have it that way at the time?

The restoration is sadly imperfect. Sometimes the images get blurry and low on contrast. At a few moments, the music cuts out for a split second. Mercifully, the more spectacular moments didn't have those problems. And for all the talk, you'd better believe there's decent action for 1943.

The film's not for everyone. I think the theater audience chuckled a little at parts that weren't supposed to be funny. But I consider it a worthy way to spend two hours, especially if you don't feel like tackling the book.