A Farewell to Arms

11/25/2023

It was always going to be hard enough to adapt this novel for the screen, and given Gary Cooper did an OK job with it in 1932, I am not quite sure why David O. Selznick concluded that is might be a ripe vehicle for Rock Hudson to reprise. He is the American "Lt. Henry" serving in Italy during the Great War when he meets British nurse "Catherine" (Jennifer Jones). They take an immediate shine to each other but needless to say the War has no time to stop and indulge their affection and the film follows the ups and downs as they try to stay alive and, ultimately, make it to safety with their as yet unborn child. The thing with Hemingway stories, I found, is that they rarely work on a big screen. They are detailed, descriptive and requiring of the reader to use their imagination to create the