For whom the hour strikes (film)

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Movie
German title Whom the hour strikes
Original title For Whom the Bell Tolls
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1943
length 170 minutes (original version);
shortened German theatrical version with 130 minutes;
reconstructed version with 165 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Sam Wood
script Dudley Nichols
production Sam Wood
for Paramount Pictures
music Victor Young
camera Ray Rennahan
cut John F. Link Sr. ,
Sherman Todd
occupation

Whom the hour strikes (Original title: For Whom the Bell Tolls ) is a 1943 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman in the leading roles. It tells the story of a guerrilla group on the part of the republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which was commissioned to blow up a bridge.

action

Encounter with the guerrilla group

The film is set during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. The American guerrilla fighter Robert Roberto Jordan meets General Golz one night in the hotel. General Golz gave him the order to blow up a certain bridge in the mountains. This mission is to coincide with the impending attack by the Republicans on the city of Segovia . Anselmo, who knows the mountains very well, is at the side of the explosives expert Robert. The next day, Anselmo leads him to a group of partisans in a cave.

Characterization of the guerrilla group

The leader of this guerrilla group is Pablo, a humble man who has recently lost much of his courage. Pablo once initiated the particularly cruel overthrow in the small Andalusian town of Ronda and is now the leader of a partisan group that has its center in his cave. Rafael, Fernando, Agustín, Primitivo (the scout) and Andrés are accomplices in his guerrilla group. Other supporters include Pablo's wife, Pilar, a courageous and confident person, and nineteen-year-old María.

María was once the daughter of a mayor until her parents were shot in a fascist attack. She was captured and taken to a hairdresser to have her hair cut. Then she was raped by two fascists. After some time, she and Pilar were freed by Pablo and his accomplices, in connection with the demolition of a rail transport for the fascists by a Russian explosives expert who was also sent from Madrid.

In the evening, the members of the group gather in the cave to discuss with Robert Jordan how the well-guarded bridge in the mountains can best be "blown up". Pablo believes this would reveal her whereabouts and opposes the assignment. The spirited Pilar contradicts him and describes her husband as cowardly and discouraged.

There is a dispute between Pilar and Pablo ("I should bang you and the strangers," says Pablo to Pilar). At the end of this conversation, Pablo gives up without resistance. Pilar takes command of the group. During the night, María advises the guerrilla fighter Robert (also known as Inglés or English ) to be careful, as Pablo is always dangerous when he's quiet and has been drinking alcohol. In the next moment Pablo appears and runs armed down the mountain.

Prepare for the attack

The next morning, the group is woken up by the noise of planes flying by. Robert discusses the assignment with the others. Then Pilar, Robert and María meet two other people who take them to El Sordo. El Sordo is supposed to steal five more horses from them so that enough horses are available to them after the blast. On the way back, the intelligent gypsy Pilar leaves Robert and María alone. Robert and María admit their love for one another. Robert fell in love with María at first sight. María has also fallen in love with him and kisses him ("Robert, I would like to kiss you, but I can't kiss", she says to Robert).

In the afternoon there is an argument between the drunk Pablo and Robert. Pablo provokes María when he sees that she has fallen in love with Robert. He also provokes Robert, who taught the Spanish language as a lecturer in the USA. After this argument, Pablo leaves the cave furious ("I go to the horses, they have more sense than people", says Pablo when leaving). Robert and the others consider him dangerous and therefore vote on whether he should be killed. After overhearing the conversation, Pablo reconsiders and joins them again.

The next morning Robert manages to kill a fascist scout in time. Robert and his allies hide behind trees and aim a machine gun at the enemies that appear. The fascists must have heard of the impending attack by the Republicans. Robert hands Andrés an important letter, which he is supposed to deliver to General Golz, the commander of the 35th Division, within six to seven hours. The attack by the Republicans - and with it the demolition of the bridge - could be called off if this letter arrives in time.

The night before the attack, Robert and María talk about their future plans. After the mission they want to go to the USA and spend their lives there together. In the evening, Pilar appears upset and reports that Pablo has removed the detonator. In the next moment Pablo comes and shows remorse. Since Robert (like Pablo!) Now realizes that ignition by hand grenades is also possible, Robert forgives Pablo one last time (“The only reason I don't shoot you is because I need you,” Robert agrees Pablo). Pablo has organized three more fighters to join the group.

Mission: Blow up the bridge

The next morning, Pablo's guerrillas and other accomplices of El Sordo attack. Pilar and the others kill fascist soldiers who are supposed to secure the bridge. Robert and Anselmo fasten the dynamite to the bridge piers until they quickly flee from the approaching armored vehicles. The bridge is blown up and everyone gathers at María. Pablo murdered the three fighters who helped him from behind because he said they didn't have enough horses.

On the way back they have to cross an open area that is monitored by soldiers. Robert is the only one injured by a grenade explosion. A leg is broken and he can no longer ride. He wants to stop the advancing enemy with machine gun fire and give his friends a head start. At the end of the film there is a sad farewell between María and her lover Robert ("If you go, I'll go too. You go for me because you want it," he says to María). Robert, who no longer has a chance to escape his fate, receives the fascist soldiers with machine gun salvos.

History of origin

For Whom the Hour Takes is based on the 1940 novel of the same name by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway. This novel describes camaraderie in the midst of the everyday threat of death during the Spanish Civil War. The title of the novel comes from the English poet John Donne . Ernest Hemingway introduced himself as the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman as Maria and Gary Cooper as the typical classic hero Robert Jordan while he was writing his novel .

The production company Paramount Pictures secured the filming rights for a record sum of 150,000 dollars at the time. Cecil B. DeMille was scheduled to direct but had to cancel and Sam Wood , known for the Marx Brothers films, directed.

In July 1942, filming began on "Whom Takes the Hour" in the Blue Canyons, California. The film was shot mainly at the Sonora Pass in Nevada at the time. The German actress Vera Zorina should initially take on the role of the good Maria. After three weeks of shooting, she was fired by director Sam Wood and yet replaced by Ingrid Bergman. The film was made in the Paramount Pictures studios in California over the past 12 weeks. In October 1942, the film was shot to an end , with a total budget of 3 million US dollars . The film adaptation of the novel celebrated its world premiere on July 14, 1943 in New York City . On January 12, 1951, the film was shown in western Germany.

The film grossed a total of $ 7 million in the United States and was a huge success for Paramount Pictures. Greek actress Katina Paxinou received an Oscar in 1944 for her role as the brave Pilar. After the Second World War, the film was mostly shown in a heavily shortened version in Germany. A restored long version was released on DVD on February 3, 2005. This version with a total running time of 158 minutes contains the deleted scenes as well as an original trailer.

Ernest Hemingway was very pleased with the cast and acting performance of Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. He complimented actor Gary Cooper and said, “You played Robert Jordan exactly as I imagined, tenacious and with iron determination. Thank you!". He criticized the suppression of the political aspects in the film.

Awards

The film was nominated for an Oscar in nine categories:

The Academy Awards took place at the Hotel Ambassador in Los Angeles and was hosted by Bob Hope . Katina Paxinou won the only Oscar for the film for best supporting actress .

At the first Golden Globe Awards in 1944, the film won the award in the categories of "Best Supporting Actress" (Katina Paxinou) and "Best Supporting Actor" (Akim Tamiroff). Paxinou took second place in the New York Film Critics Circle's Best Actress Award .

Reviews

“The love between a Spaniard and an American teacher, who in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War as a volunteer partisan in the service of the anti-fascists had to break an important bridge. Exciting melodrama that does not achieve the depth of the content of Hemingway's original, but is masterfully staged and brilliantly performed by the desired cast of the author. "

“Hemingway's novel […] in a polished, sentimentalized version; impressive photography and film music […]. Rating: 2½ stars - above average "

- Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz : Lexicon "Films on TV", 1990

"At that time, due to the literary model, the strong milieu of nature and fighting images as well as the intimate love scenes, an important cinema success."

- 6000 films, 1963

Home entertainment publications

  • Whom the hour strikes. (Book Edition, DVD, Universal, 2007, 158 minutes)
  • Whom the hour strikes. (Masterpieces of Cinema Edition, 2 Blu-rays, 2015, reconstructed original version with approx. 165 minutes, shortened theatrical version with approx. 130 minutes)

Soundtrack

literature

Web links

Commons : When the hour strikes  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. movie! The 20th century
  2. Whom the hour strikes. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 9, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on TV" . Extended new edition. Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 912
  4. 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958 . Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism, 3rd edition, Verlag Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 482