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Rating:  - War is hell. The print I saw looked like hell.
Apparently there are cleaner copies out there. That's good. I first saw this movie long ago (on 16mm) when I read the book but forgot most of it. Gary Cooper & Helen Hayes were great actors even back in 1932. They are the best part of the movie. One of Hemmingway's best novels, did not make a good transition. I'm not sure he knew Cooper personally at this time but did pick him for the role of Lt. Henry. They were close afterwards. Hemmingway didn't like the movie much. I don't remember seeing Helen Hayes very often, her being a stage actress. She is wonderful & gorgeous as Katherine & may have loved Cooper for real as lots of his leading ladies did. If she didn't, that's good acting. It is war & theirs is a really hot, sexual love affair. The war intervenes & separates them. The battle scenes & the montages of Lt. Henry's search through Italy for Catherine was a mess. Were all the scenes shot at night? That made it rather tedious. Adolphe Menjou had a meaty role as Major Rinaldi, Lt. Henry's doctor, best friend & ultimately the source of all his problems. It's on from time to time. Or find a clean copy to own.
Rating:  - 3-star film, 4-star package
My only criticism of the movie is that it's an oversentimental, star-driven adaptation of the novel. Hemingway's muscular prose was obviously compromised to create a more box-office-friendly Hollywood war romance, which in my book puts "Farewell" in the "potboiler" category, but not lethally so. That said, I think Image's transfer, while flawed (as most 70-plus-year-old films are), is more than acceptable, allowing us to appreciate Charles Lang's impressive, Oscar-winning cinematography with few limitations. It's also worth mentioning that Image's version restores some lost footage--several minutes' worth, I believe. So, all in all, not the greatest film of the 1930s, to be sure, but the DVD is well worth the price.
Rating:  - 5 stars
I think this is the best old school movie i've ever seen and i think it should be updated and remade like,King kong.
Rating:  - Great story, good movie, poor DVD
The movie is worth watching just for the Helen Hayes and Gary Cooper matchup, and it does an good job of putting Hemingway's seminal love-in-wartime story on the screen. (Note that, like the book, this is more of a love story than a war story.) Cooper not only does a great portrayal of Frederic Henry -- his powerfully understated acting in this one seems to be channeling Papa himself at times. Adolphe Menjou, as Henry's friend and confidante, tends to overdo his role as a womanizer, which detracts from the flow of the movie. The rest of the cast is capable and appropriately terse.
Yes, the transfer to DVD is remarkably bad. Combine that with the low-budget cinematography and effects of the original movie, and this is a disappointing package -- not worth your time unless you're a serious Hemingway or Cooper fan. A shame this classic wasn't preserved better.
P.S.: I just saw the remastered DVD of this movie from A2ZCDS and it is far superior to this release. Well, Menjou is still a ham :-) but the audio and video quality are much better. If you're going to get a copy of Farewell to Arms (and you should), get the remaster! --EBV Jul 2007
Rating:  - WARNING! TERRIBLE TRANSFER!
It is evident that no DVD or even VHS of decent picture and sound quality is available for the adaptation of Hemingway's novel 'A Farewell to Arms' into a movie.
However, I decided to purchase this particular edition by Image Entertainment as I was curious to see the movie, and thought the warnings on the quality were exageratted.
I am warning you all, THEY ARE NOT! I have not seen any other editions, but this one was terrible, not only in picture as is most often the case with many old movies, but the sound was also appalling. I cannot even give a decent review of the movie, as the conversation was not audible most of the time (cackling) and there were way too many dust grains and scratches, making the process of 'enjoying' this film very strenuous.
I suggest patience, hoping for better negatives/blueprints to be found (if available) that will merit the movie some justice.
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