Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

berberian00-276-69085 At first glance we don't have a winning hand with actor Rock Hudson. At second glance, however, we might be prone to reconsider many of the instances that surround that remarkable man, the tallest all time Hollywood star (1.96 cm). He had the misfortune not to receive an Oscar and die early from undiagnosed AIDS-related disease - which I personally disbelieve (where are his skin lesions?), and would retreat for a more humble malady such as stress and ill cured circulation problems. Whatever, the dully attention should be paid to that man who was consistently at the top box office in 1950s and 1960s together with Gable, Cooper, Wayne, etc; his movie "A Farewell to Arms" (1957) which I consider his best performance remained also unappreciated.The cream about all things connected with Rock Hudson is his relationship with director Douglas Sirk. American born Hudson (Winnetka, Illinois) had the strange fate to be launched into career by an émigré from Germany whom personally Goebbels had recruited for UFA studio in the 1930s. Detlef Sierck failed to become a Nazi but his son did, he was killed in WWII. Sirk fled with his Jewish wife to America and afterwards in the 1950s became an icon for underground cinema. Sirk never refrained from his German passport - maybe because of that he didn't receive Oscar in America - and in 1960s returned to Munich to teach classes at Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film. He had many students from which Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945 – 1982) wrote a book about him. RWF was thought to have died of AIDS, by the way.To spend my matches honestly I should admit that instigation for these lines was given by couple of films that were distributed on DVD by Criterion Collection. These movies represented the duo Sirk - Hudson and there I found a half hour interview with Sirk himself taken by BBC journalist. Very useful stuff. Beside the fact that you see the director with no masks, further I got another dagger when I saw how much resemblance there was between the titular and no less than ... the great Charles Chaplin. The reader would excuse my comparison and I will talk no more except that I quickly revised my personal copy of Chaplin's "Autobiography" - a remarkable memoir and maybe the best written by someone who gave so much to film profession.Film industry is no battlefield. Despite the fact that many actors died as heroes while making divertissement for the crowd, the latter should reproach that they were millionaires. Funny thing how money both kills and gives life. Thank you!

Vintage Brando I saw "A Farewell to Arms" a couple weeks ago on TCM. This movie has everything a good movie needs! The quality of the film is excellent and the scenery is beautiful. Jennifer Jones has always been a wonderful actress as far as I'm concerned and in this film you can see her acting at her best. Rock Hudson was at his peak during this time. He was also at his most handsome. One of the high points of the film was when at the ending the awesome acting he does because his darling lover is on her death bed. Ms. Jones and Mr. Hudson both do a very convincing job. I gave "A Farewell to Arms" a 9 out of 10 because the ending was way to sad! I would have wished at least their baby or Jennifer Jones to have survived and lived. But Rock Hudson ends up all by him self.

MartinHafer The very successful producer, David O. Selznick, had a very publicized affair with a young actress, Jennifer Jones. Selznick divorced his wife, married Jones and spent the rest of his career trying to make her a star of the first magnitude. Unfortunately, he OFTEN miscast her and the quality of his films was sometimes compromised. His once golden touch was gone and this film was his last--and his last attempt to promote Jones. Now I don't hate Jones--she was fine in some films such as "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" and "Portrait of Jenny". But, she was also quite terrible in a few of his movies because she was just wrong for the parts. In particular, she was ridiculous in the sleazy and extremely silly drama "Duel in the Sun". "Indiscretion of an American Wife" was another mistake--a bad film that was ill-matched to her screen persona (though I am not sure if anyone could have saved this film). Here in "A Farewell to Arms", Selznick is trying to get his 38 year-old wife to be believable as a 21 year-old nurse. Poor Jennifer....I think her career actually would have been better had she not been promoted by Selznick, as her Oscar-winning role in "Song of Bernadette" came before he became involved with her career.The original film starred Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes. It was a hit back in the early 30s but hasn't aged well. In particular, the sound is a SERIOUS problem if you try to watch it. So, the notion of a remake isn't a bad thing.In this version, Rock Hudson and Jones play the fated couple. Hudson is an American who has volunteered as an ambulance driver for the Italians. The US has not yet entered the war and some Americans did volunteer with Brits, French and Italians...and even the Germans (after all, the US was neutral during most of the war). This character was based, in part, on Ernest Hemmingway's own experiences driving an ambulance in the war.Hudson falls for a very young British nurse (Jones). At first, his advances are boorish and she rebuffs him--for a while. Later, when he's injured in combat, he's sent to the hospital where he meets her again. This time, they BOTH are madly in love. So far, so good--these things DO happen. But eventually their attraction for each other becomes dangerous and all-consuming. She becomes pregnant, he is almost shot for dereliction of duty because the Italian army is run by idiots, he goes AWOL, finds her, they run away together, the baby is stillborn and she dies. A lot of stuff happens in between (after all, it runs over two hours in length)--though this is pretty much the film.The chemistry between the two characters is only fair--but not what you'd want in such a film. Jones was especially poor, as she was SUPPOSED to be British but sounded like an American. And, the dialog between them often sounded silly. The audiences apparently felt the same way, as the film failed to make money when it was first released and the critics were pretty harsh to it. Now the film DOES look nice--the budget was very good and it's obvious that Selznick wanted this to be a big picture. Overall, it's painfully slow and should have been a lot better.

williwaw David Selznick loved Jennifer Jones and per John Huston in his book "put everything on the line for his adored Jennifer" I met Douglas Fairbanks Jr years ago at a party when he was in New York and Fairbanks remarked that of major producers he knew, David Selznick stood out because of Mr. Selznick's love of great literature. David Selznick's brilliant productions of Gone With The Wind, Rebecca, David Copperfield, et al reflect Selznick's great love of great novels. (David Selznick wanted to but could not get financing for War and Peace starring of course Ms.Jones) One wonders why David Selznick insisted on remaking A Farewell to Arms but push ahead he did. David Selznick made a releasing deal thru 20th (Likely because of Jennifer Jones' attachment and successes at 20th Century Fox -Song of Bernadette, Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, et al) and hired John Huston to direct again possibly because of Jennifer's past history with John Huston (Beat The Devil, We Were Strangers). David Selznick micro managed his productions and fired John Huston whom he felt was titling the picture towards a war film versus a highly romantic film, i.e. favoring Rock Hudson over Jennifer Jones. Charles Vidor replaced Huston and also had clashes with David Selznick. In the mid 50's a gigantic production shot on location in Italy had to be a logistical challenge: Selznick also fired Arthur Fellows as line producer. Some of A Farewell To Arms scenes are brilliantly photographed and large in scope as is the trademark of a Selznick International picture.Jennifer Jones was a beautiful movie star. I would recommend a review of Ms. Jones career, as Ms. Jones is sadly forgotten but was a huge box office star and acclaimed screen actress of her day: Madame Bovary, Good Morning Miss Dove, Duel In The Sun, Ruby Gentry et al Some carp over Jennifer Jones' age in this film but Jennifer Jones looks fine in this picture (but ironically would look even much better years later in a fine and underrated film 20th's Tender Is The Night). My quibble with this film is the dialogue between Jennifer Jones and Rock Hudson which seems so stilted and phony. Has anyone counted the number of times the word "darling" is used?Rock Hudson, then a gigantic box office star after George Stevens great film Giant and his run at Universal with hits such as Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, etc got first billing over the veteran Oscar Winning Jennifer Jones. Elaine Stritch is wonderfully sassy in a small but pivotal supporting role. We are likely never to see the likes of David Selznick again, a pioneer in film. Of all David Selznick's movies I liked Gone With The Wind best but also the splendid WWII Film Since You Went Away starring Ms. Jones and a superb Claudette Colbert I wish Selznick had done an original film like Since You Went Away rather than a remake of A Farewell To Arms. Mr. Hudson adored by his female co-stars such as Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak, Jane Wyman, et al never really had much to say about working with Jennifer Jones. Ms Jones until her death never commented much about anything ever about her career, her Leading Men, or about her stormy private life. A book on the back story filming of this movie would prove to be interesting. Reading Memo From David O Selznick and David Thomson's Showman would help understand David Selznick's obsession with Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms and Ms. Jones in particular. This was the final film personally produced by David O Selznick.