A Farewell to Arms
Directed by Frank Borzage. 80mins. (1932)
Gary Cooper - Lt. Frederic Henry
A love story between a nurse (Catherine Barkley) and the Lieutenant Henry during First World War in Italy. The depth of the movie considers the purpose of war and fighting.
Also starring Helen Hayes, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Philips, Jack La Rue and Mary Forbes.
Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1929.A Cinemascope with stereo sound remake starring Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones was released in 1957.
Nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture, winning 2 - Best Cinematography and Best Sound.
Maria’s Notes
It does seem like Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway were destined to meet and become friends, although Farewell to Arms was made before those two men had encountered each other.My father’s co-star was Helen Hayes, the First Lady of the American theater. The story takes place in war torn Italy in World War 2, and the two of them fall in love. In real life Helen, by her own admission, became totally smitten by my father. She said “ …if only he had wiggled his finger at me tocome meet him, I would have left my husband, the writer Charles McArthur, and child and gone off with him.” She said that during one of their love scenes in the picture- in between ‘takes’ she was looking adoringly into Coopers eyes. Gary looked back at me, took me firmly by my shoulders- and said “ NO, HELEN , NO”. But they remained friends even through much of her acting life was still devoted to the theater and in New York City… The studio shot 2 different endings for the film…the Hemingway ending in which she dies in in her lovers arms, and the Hollywood “Happy Ending—she lives.. The theater distributors opted for the happy ending. However when the movie was released in 1948 and the war had ended, the studio re edited it and used Hemingway ending-- she dies in Coopers arms. When I met Miss Hayes for the first time, my husband and I were invited to visit her at her home in Nyack, New York. She greeted us at the front door and as she opened it, saw me kind of silhouetted against the sunlight outside, she exclaimed “ Oh, you look just like Gary standing there, tall and quiet.” It was a very emotional moment for me…I really did not know what to say…only had deep feelings running through me. And a long ago connection was still there. And how beautiful she was then and now…She was angel.
Maria Cooper Janis