A Farewell to Arms (1932)

Director:

Frank Borzage

Writers:

Benjamin Glazer (screenplay) and
Oliver H.P. Garrett (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 December 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | War | Drama

Tagline:

Every woman who has loved will understand.

Plot:

A tale of the love between ambulance driver Lt. Henry and Nurse Catherine Barkley during World War I...

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Ambulance Driver | Italy | Milan Italy | Battle Of The Isonzo

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Helen Hayes	...	Catherine Barkley
Gary Cooper	...	Lt. Frederic Henry
Adolphe Menjou	...	Maj. Rinaldi
Mary Philips	...	Helen Ferguson
Jack La Rue	...	Priest
Blanche Friderici	...	Head Nurse
Mary Forbes	...	Miss Van Campen
Gilbert Emery	...	British Major
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alice Adair	...	Cafe Girl (uncredited)
Henry Armetta	...	Bonello - Italian Ambulance Driver (uncredited)
Herman Bing	...	Swiss Postal Clerk (uncredited)
Agostino Borgato	...	Giulio - Hospital Porter (uncredited)
Robert Cauterio	...	Gordini (uncredited)
Marcelle Corday	...	Swiss Nurse (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Italian Soldier (uncredited)
Peggy Cunningham	...	Molly - Disgraced Nurse (uncredited)
George Humbert	...	Piani - Singer (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Fred Malatesta	...	Manera (uncredited)
Paul Porcasi	...	Harry - Innkeeper (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank Borzage

Writing credits
Benjamin Glazer		(screenplay) and
Oliver H.P. Garrett		(screenplay)
Ernest Hemingway		(novel)
Laurence Stallings		play (uncredited)

Produced by
Edward A. Blatt	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Benjamin Glazer	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herman Hand		(uncredited)
W. Franke Harling		(uncredited)
Bernhard Kaun		(uncredited)
John Leipold		(uncredited)
Paul Marquardt		(uncredited)
Ralph Rainger		(uncredited)
Milan Roder		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Charles Lang		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Otho Lovering		(uncredited)
George Nichols Jr.		(uncredited)

Casting by
Fred A. Datig		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Roland Anderson		(uncredited)
Hans Dreier		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Travis Banton		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lew Borzage	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Charles Griffin	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Arthur Jacobson	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Jean Negulesco	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Clem Jones	....	props (uncredited)
Joe Robbins	....	props (uncredited)
Joe Thompson	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Franklin Hansen	....	sound (uncredited)
Harold Lewis	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Loyal Griggs	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	transparencies (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sherman Clark	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Robert Pittack	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ed Gross	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Joe Robbins	....	transportation (uncredited)

Other crew
Grace Dubray	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Robert M. Gillham	....	general press agent (uncredited)
Charles Griffin	....	technical advisor: war sequences (uncredited)
Dr. Jardini	....	technical advisor: hospital sequences (uncredited)
Daniel Keefe	....	business manager (uncredited)
Jean Negulesco	....	assistant: Benjamin Glazer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical) (as Paramount Productions Inc.)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Take 2 Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Genius Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (all media)
• Castle Communications (1995) (Finland) (VHS)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Finnkino (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Hollywood Classics (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• IndieFlix (2010) (worldwide) (all media)
• Madacy Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Marengo Films (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Navarre Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Suomen 3M (19??) (Finland) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1987) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

"Adiós a las armas" - Argentina (imdb display title), Mexico (imdb display title), Spain
"In einem anderen Land" - Austria, Germany
"Addio alle armi" - Italy
"Apohairetismos sti simaia" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Búcsú a fegyverektől" - Hungary
"Farväl till vapnen" - Sweden
"Farvel til våbnene" - Denmark
"Farvel til våpnene" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Jäähyväiset aseille" - Finland
"L'adieu au drapeau" - France (alternative title)
"L'adieu aux armes" - France
"O Adeus às Armas" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Pozegnanie z bronia" - Poland (imdb display title)

Runtime:

80 min | Spain:83 min | USA:89 min (original version) | UK:79 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-12 (1996) | Finland:S (1989) | Australia:G | Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:Unrated | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Argentina:Atp | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #4306-R, 9 May 1938 for re-release)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Tom Ricketts (as Count Greffi) is supposed to be in this film but was not seen.

Quotes:

Catherine Barkley:[Catherine comes to tend a wounded Henry] Hello, darling!
Lieutenant Frederic Henry:Catherine!
[she kisses him]
Lieutenant Frederic Henry:You're lovely.
Catherine Barkley:Are you badly hurt?
Lieutenant Frederic Henry:You're lovely.
Catherine Barkley:[concerned] Oh my poor darling, it's your leg, isn't it?
Lieutenant Frederic Henry:You're the loveliest thing I ever saw.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Task Force (1949)

Soundtrack:

A Farewell to Arms

What Did Papa Expect?

When this version of A Farewell to Arms came out, Ernest Hemingway hated this film. They turned his novel and put too much emphasis on the romance angle. When Papa Hemingway said that he obviously did not know Hollywood well at all. If he did just knowing Frank Borzage directed this film should have told him something. Borzage did a whole slew of tender romantic stories in the Thirties like Three Comrades, The Mortal Storm, stuff like that. A Farewell to Arms is definitely in keeping with that tradition.

The one thing that Hemingway did like was the casting of Gary Cooper as the hero Fredric Henry. He and Coop became fast friends right up to when they both died in 1961. He saw in Cooper the ideal Hemingway hero and when Paramount acquired the rights to For Whom the Bells Toll, Hemingway insisted it be done with Cooper or nobody.

Cooper and Helen Hayes made a tender romantic couple in the Borzage tradition, probably more Borzage than Hemingway. But Adolph Zukor and Paramount also knew what sold movie tickets and Paramount was having a lot of financial troubles at this time. The studio nearly went under during the Depression. But Paramount's saviors turned out to be Bing Crosby, Mae West, and Cecil B. DeMille who returned to the studio he helped found.

Helen Hayes made several good films in the early thirties, this one and the one she won an Oscar for, The Sins of Madelon Claudet. But she never became a movie box office draw so she returned to the Broadway stage where she reigned as a Queen.

Adolphe Menjou replete with Italian accent plays Cooper's friend and romantic rival, Major Rinaldi. Menjou was great at playing both American and continental types. Soon he would sign a long term contract with MGM and gain his greatest roles during the sound era.

Hemingway purists might shun A Farewell to Arms, but those who love their screen romances, soggier the better will rave about this film.