BBB.5
(out of 5)
Poetic and swoony adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel. Gary Cooper plays a (very tall) American soldier who falls in love with (very short) kindly nurse Helen Hayes. The two of them have to avoid being seen by their superiors or else she will be sent away, but the real challenge comes when he has to survive the war long enough to come back to her. It’s an enjoyable and mature romantic drama that still packs quite a punch after all these years. Hayes, in one of her few film appearances before she became the first lady of American theatre, gives a frank and intelligent performance (as opposed to insipid and dewy, which is probably why she didn’t get too popular with audiences at the time), and Cooper radiates a sexy intelligence that was very rare in his early career.
USA, 1932
Directed by Frank Borzage
Screenplay by Benjamin Glazer, Oliver H.P. Garrett, based on the play by Laurence Stallings, from the novel by Ernest Hemingway
Cinematography by Charles Lang
Produced by Edward A. Blatt, Benjamin Glazer
Music by Herman Hand, W. Franke Harling, Bernhard Kaun, John Leipold, Paul Marquardt, Ralph Rainger, Milan Roder
Production Design by Roland Anderson, Hans Dreier
Costume Design by Travis Banton
Film Editing by Otho Lovering, George Nichols Jr.
Academy Awards
Best Cinematography (Charles Bryant Lang, Jr.)
Best Sound Recording (Paramount Studio Sound Department, Franklin B. Hansen, sound director)
Nominations
Best Art Direction (Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson)
Outstanding Production (Paramount)
