A Farewell to Arms is weirdly stiff, but Gary Cooper almost makes it work

Is it worth your time?

Honestly? Only if you have a thing for old-school melodrama or if you’re a massive Gary Cooper fan. If you need your war movies to feel gritty or modern, you’re going to hate this. It’s stiff, it’s theatrical, and it’s about as subtle as a brick to the head. 🤷‍♂️

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of A Farewell to Arms (1932) through its definitive frames.

The whole thing feels like a stage production that accidentally got filmed. The way people enter rooms and stand there waiting for their line is... well, it’s distracting. But there is something strangely honest about how much they want this romance to be the most important thing in the world.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of A Farewell to Arms (1932) through its definitive frames.

Gary Cooper is just doing his thing

Cooper has this way of playing every scene like he’s just waiting for the rain to stop. He’s charming, sure, but he barely changes his expression when he’s getting his leg blown up. It’s hilarious in a way. You’d think a battlefield injury would get more than a polite wince.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of A Farewell to Arms (1932) through its definitive frames.

Helen Hayes is doing all the heavy lifting here. She brings this frantic, desperate energy that makes you wonder what she’s even doing with this guy. She feels like she’s in a completely different, much better movie.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of A Farewell to Arms (1932) through its definitive frames.

Some odd observations

• The hospital scenes look like they were decorated by someone who had only heard a rumor of what a hospital looks like.
• There’s a moment where a character walks past a background extra who is clearly just standing there trying not to blink.
• The dialogue is so dramatic it almost crosses the line into comedy. I laughed twice at parts that were definitely supposed to be heartbreaking.
• It reminds me a bit of the pacing in The Spirit of the Red Cross, though at least this one has more budget for the sad music.

The movie gets noticeably better once it stops trying to be a war epic and just settles into being a sad, small room drama. When the explosions stop and it’s just two people talking in the dark? That’s when it actually works. 🕯️

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of A Farewell to Arms (1932) through its definitive frames.

I don’t know. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s just an old, tired story that feels like it’s been through the wringer. You can feel the studio interference in the way the scenes cut off too early, like they were afraid the audience would get bored if someone sighed for too long.

It’s not as fun as Road to Rio, but it’s a lot less confused than the stuff they were churning out in later years. Take it for what it is: a relic.