Underplayed Gems

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1942)

For Whom the Bell Tolls poster
Directed by
Sam Wood
Genre
drama film, war film, romance film
Country
United States
Runtime
2h 50m
Rated
G
Rating
6.5 of 10 from 212 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

During the Spanish Civil War, an American volunteer is sent to blow up a bridge. He joins a group of guerrilla fighters and falls in love with a young woman in their band.

epicromantictensemelancholicvisually lushdramaticsentimentalsweeping

What happens

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 American epic war film produced and directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Katina Paxinou and Joseph Calleia. The screenwriter Dudley Nichols based his script on the 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls by American novelist Ernest Hemingway. The film is about an American International Brigades volunteer, Robert Jordan (Cooper), who is fighting in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists. During his desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge to protect Republican forces, Jordan falls in love with a young woman guerrilla fighter (Bergman). For Whom the Bell Tolls was Ingrid Bergman's first Technicolor film. Hemingway's desire for Cooper and Bergman for the leading roles was much publicized, but Paramount initially cast Vera Zorina with Cooper. After shooting footage with Zorina's hair cut short (truer to the novel's character—a shorn head—than Bergman's "look" in the film), she was replaced with Bergman. For Whom the Bell Tolls was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film claimed one win as Katina Paxinou won Best Supporting Actress. Victor Young's soundtrack for the film was the first complete score from an American film to be issued on record. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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