Cinema
The Old Man & the Screen
The Internet Movie Database lists 47
films based on Hemingway’s work.
Even if we exclude all the shorts and the
films made for television that never
reached DVD, ‘the great American
macho’ is still one of the modern
authors most frequently translated into
cinema. So, how successful has the
filming of Hemingway’s writings been?
From Black & White to Film Noir
The earliest Hemingway film, A
Farewell to Arms (Frank Borzage,
1932) is generally praised1 for its
expressionism. However, for the
philistine2 the most notable feature of
the movie is the mismatch3 between the
impressively tall Gary Cooper and the
impossible small Helen Hayes – you
half expect Cooper’s neck to break with
each standing kiss! I most enjoyed the
Spanish subtitling on the version I
watched (identified as “A Fareweell to
Arms, Parament Pictures”). For
example, Kathy’s boyfriend was killed
fighting in France not “on the Somme”
as the soundtrack4 states but “in
Assam5”! This film version of the novel
plays fast and loose with6
Hemingway’s story. For example,
turning Frederic’s surgeon7 friend into
a Iago-like8 repressed homosexual. The
impression that this version is a wee9 bit
reactionary is increased by the
1 11
to praise – commend, make positive comments
about
2
philistine – non-expert
3 13
mismatch – discrepancy, incongruity
4 14
soundtrack – music and recorded voices of a film
5
a region of north-eastern India
6
to play fast and loose with sth. – use sth. freely,
use sth. in an irresponsible way
7 17
surgeon – medical doctor who performs
operations
8
Iago-like – similar to the villain Iago in Othello
9
wee – (colloquial) little
soundtrack featuring10 Wagner’s
Liebestod.
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
features blonde haired, blue-eyed Ingrid
Bergman as an unlikely11 Spanish girl.12
However, since13 many of the other
‘Spaniards’ seem to be ‘Hollywood
Mexicans’ I suppose she doesn’t stand
out14 too much. The movie certainly has
its moments but if it had been made
today much of it would have been left
on the cutting room floor as
conversations tend to run on15 too long
and the result is an overlong picture.
To Have and to Have Not
(1945) is considered a classic movie but
director Howard Hawks thought it was
Hemingway’s worst book describing it
as “that goddamned16 piece of junk17”.
Hemingway told Hawks, “You can’t
make a picture out of18 that”. Hawks
replied, “OK, I’ll get Faulkner to do it.
He can write better than you anyway”.
The movie is electrified by the fact that
Bogart and Bacall were falling in love
during the filming and despite the black
and white the film is as crisp19 as if it
had been made yesterday – and you
can’t say that about many of the
Hemingway pictures. Hawks’ film was
followed the next year by The Killers
(Siodmak, 1946) which takes the film
noir elements of To Have and to Have
Not much further. Like Hawks’ picture
it is one of the most successful
adaptations of a Hemingway story to
10
to feature – include as a special element
unlikely – improbable
12
Bergman is absolutely gorgeous in the film and
makes the whole thing worth watching
since – (in this context) given that
to stand out (stand-stood-stood) – (in this context)
be obviously out of place
15
to run on (run-ran-run) – go on, continue
16
goddamned – (intensifier) terrible
junk – rubbish, trash, things of no value
18
out of – (in this context) from, using
19
crisp – (in this context) fresh (as opposed to ‘out-
of-date’)
the silver screen20. This was the first
Hemingway movie to feature Ava
Gardner, an actress who was to
dominate the subgenre in the following
decade.
Overlong Movies in Foreign Settings
The Hemingway movies from the 1950s
are set21 in exotic lands and filmed
Technicolor; they are also all tediously
long. Hemingway didn’t like The
Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) partly
because it filled out22 his short story
with other biographical details from his
life as well as bits and pieces23 from his
other works.24 The film presents clichés
of East Africa, Spain and France though
it gets really crass25 when shots26 of real
African wildlife are blended27 with the
lead characters28 – the angles are all
wrong and it all looks rather kitsch.
Again, viewers are saved from boredom
by those wonderful subtitlers. In the
African scenes not only do they subtitle
the English into Spanish but they
subtitle the Swahili in Swahili. So we
are treated to29 phrases like, “Apa
wuana. Hei are kui youa uei?” But don’t
think they’re offering us authentic
Swahili, oh no. No, they’ve just written
out what they think the words sound
like! However, the Spanish version
produced by Franco’s censors was
apparently even more laughable. When
Ava Gardner’s character lies30 dying on
a battlefield in the Spanish Civil War
she says to Gregory Peck, “When you
touch me I still turn giddy31” in the
20
21
the silver screen – cinema
to be set – take place
22
to fill sth. out – make sth. longer
23
bits and pieces – miscellaneous elements
24
he told Ava Gardner that the only things he
liked about Snows were her and the hyena
25
crass – stupid, pathetic
26
shots – (in this context) filmed images
27
to blend – mix
28
lead character – main actor, protagonist
29
to be treated to – have sth. that is special
30
to lie (lie-lay-lain) – be horizontal on the ground
31
to turn giddy – become dizzy/light-headed
English-language version. This was
changed in the censored version to,
“May the passion of Christ comfort
me”!
A Farewell to Arms was remade
in 1957. This colour version doesn’t
have the earlier films expressionism
(that’s what film-buffs32 call grainy33
black-and-white images) but it is much
more faithful to34 Hemingway’s novel.
As a result, this version is almost twice
the length (152 minutes) which might
be a bit too long for modern tastes. On
the plus side35, the story actually makes
sense!
It takes a special talent to make a
film starring Tyrone Power, Ava
Gardner, Errol Flynn and Mel Ferrer36
boring but director Henry King was up
to the challenge37. If King’s The Snows
of Kilimanjaro was a little dull, his The
Sun Also Rises (1957) is positively
stultifying38. The film’s only saving
graces are Flynn doing a self-parody as
an insufferable drunk and the scenes of
the bull-running in Pamplona. But, if
that’s your thing, you can watch them
live or on Spanish TV every July
anyway.
The Last Half Century
The great Spenser Tracey made a
mediocre version of The Old Man and
The Sea (John Sturges, 1958). Again,
part of the problem is the use of
Hemingway’s original text which
relexifies the Spanish of Cuban
fisherman Santiago in ridiculous
monologues like, “You’re a fine fish,
Fish, you fight a brave good fight”. A
much better version of the short story
32
film-buff – s.o. who knows a lot about cinema
33
grainy – granular, fragmentary
34
to be faithful to – be respectful of
35
on the plus side – one advantage is
36
George Clooney’s uncle
37
to be up to a challenge – be capable of sth.
38
positively stultifying – very boring. The film is
so boring that you become fascinated by details
like the fact that Pamplona’s policemen look
like UK bobbies!
was made in 1990 for television, and lust50 but, as it is based on a short
starring Anthony Quinn – a much more story by Hemingway that is only six
intelligent piece of casting. pages long, the film is more the work of
Islands in the Stream (Franklin scriptwriter A.E. Hotcher than E.M.
J. Schaffner, 1977) is a curious film. It Hemingway.
has been commented that it falls Most Hemingway stories
abruptly into two parts. The first, a revolve around macho men and
51

heart-warming39 tale of a father getting alcohol. Rootless52 American males

to know his sons; the second, a prove themselves either in war or, there
substandard wartime adventure. being no convenient conflict, by killing
However, there are other more animals in a one-to-one confrontation.
surprising things that you only notice if Such men travel through exotic
you have been watching a series of locations where locals53 admire the
Hemingway-inspired movies. In the Americans’ spirit of freedom and can-
first half there is a long scene that could do attitude. That world is long gone and
be entitled ‘the young boy and the sea’. it is hard54 to see how the Hemingway
In other words it parallels Hemingway’s movie can long survive its passing.
Pulitzer-prize-winning short story40 with In Raymond Bradbury’s The
the same lessons about the struggle41 Martian Chronicles all films are banned
with the marlin42 being more important except for adaptations of Hemingway
than the actual catching of it; there are stories. If the output of Hemingway-
the same cut hands and the same clichés inspired movies so far is anything to go
about the fisherman feeling intense love by, it would be a pretty nightmarish
for his prey43. Then in the second half world.
of the film we suddenly find ourselves
in an identical scenario to the story
halfway through44 To Have and To
Have Not – even down to bits of the
dialogue. Both have the fishing-boat
skipper45 and his stowaway46 drunk
friend who help Europeans fleeing47
Nazi persecution and both have a
shootout48 with coastguards.
The most recent feature film
based on a Hemingway story was After
the Storm (Guy Ferland, 2001). This is
a perfectly decent movie about greed49

39
heart-warming – satisfying, sensitive
40
The Old Man and the Sea
41
struggle – fight, contest, conflict
42
marlin – (Istiophoridae) a big marine fish with a
spear-like snout (similar to a ‘swordfish’)
43
prey – quarry, victim, creature one hunts
44
halfway through – in the middle of
45
skipper – captain of a boat/ship
50
46
stowaway – s.o. who has hidden on a boat/ship lust – intense sexual desire
51
and is only discovered once the vessel (= to revolve around – be centred on, focus on
boat/ship) is at sea 52
rootless – itinerant, drifting, with no permanent
47
to flee (flee-fled-fled) – escape from home
48 53
shootout – gunfight locals – local people
49 54
greed – avarice (formal) it is hard – it is difficult