Synopsis
Spain in the 1930s is the place to be for a man of action like Robert Jordan. There is a civil war going on and Jordan—who has joined up on the side that appeals most to idealists of that era—has been given a high-risk assignment up in the mountains. He awaits the right time to blow up a crucial bridge in order to halt the enemy's progress.
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Cast
- Gary CooperRobert Jordan
- Ingrid BergmanMaria
- Akim TamiroffPablo
- Arturo de CórdovaAgustín (as Arturo de Cordova)
- Vladimir SokoloffAnselmo
- Mikhail RasumnyRafael
- Fortunio BonanovaFernando
- Eric FeldaryAndres
- Victor VarconiPrimitivo
- Katina PaxinouPilar
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
In spite of its almost interminable and physically exhausting length—it takes two hours and fifty minutes to cover less than four days in a group of people's lives—and in spite of some basic detruncations of the novel's two leading characters, it vibrates throughout with vitality and is topped off with a climax that's a whiz. - 90
Los Angeles Times
Victor Young’s score is glorious and soaring and Ray Rennanhan’s cinematography is breathtakingly lush and vibrant. Equally vibrant are Cooper and Bergman, who both received Oscar nominations. Two of the most beautiful people to ever grace the silver screen, their love scenes are sexy, touching and sweet. - 80
Variety
For Whom the Bell Tolls is one of the important pictures of all time although almost three hours of running time can overdo a good thing. - 80
The Observer (UK)
Handsome, ponderous, politically toned-down treatment of Hemingway's passionately committed novel about an idealistic American (Gary Cooper) fighting with the anti-Franco loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. The casting of Cooper, Ingrid Bergman (his peasant lover) and Oscar-winning Katina Paxinou (gypsy guerrilla leader) couldn't be bettered. [25 May 2003, p.8] - 70
The New Yorker
The whole thing became amorphous and confused. Paramount did rather better by the romance than the politics; Ingrid Bergman is lovely and affecting as Maria. - 63
The Seattle Times
Today it seems remote and overblown, with Bergman, Young's score and Ray Rennahan's muted color photography the chief compensating factors. [03 Dec 1998] - 60
Empire
Once the political correctness is side-stepped, this contains classic chemistry from its two leads. - 60
Time Out
As an American fighting with the partisans in the Spanish Civil War, Cooper makes a perfect Hemingway hero, robust and romantic in equal measures. Falling in love with Ingrid Bergman's peasant guerilla makes a lot of sense too, but the film's a mess dramatically. Wood approaches the material with kid gloves, when Hemingway was always a bare-knuckle fighter.
