A Farewell to Arms (1932)

My Review

Director Frank Borzage (“7th Heaven” 1927) crafted a fine romantic melodrama from Ernest Hemingway’s 1929 novel “A Farewell to Arms.” Screenwriters Benjamin Glazer and Oliver H. P. Garrett kept the storyline lean and faithful to Hemingway’s work.

Helen Hayes and Gary Cooper are at the head of the cast with subtle portrayals which really “make” this film. Co-stars include Adolphe Menjou, Mary Philips, Jack LaRue, Blanche Frideric, Mary Forbes, and Gilbert Emery as the British major. “A Farewell to Arms” was popular at the box office for Paramount Pictures. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning two – Best Cinematography (Charles Lang) and Best Sound Recording. Non-winners were Best Picture and Best Art Direction.

In 1938, “A Farewell to Arms” was re-released, which caused problems as the original release was before the strict enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code starting on July 1, 1934. (The Hays Code, as it was called, ran through 1968, torpedoed by the excessive violence of “Bonnie and Clyde.”) A remake of the same name came out in 1957 starring Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones.