A Bell for Adano

I very much enjoyed this movie, so much so that I plan to search out the book. I write this though because many commenters asked why Gene Tierney was a blonde Italian. This would lead me to wonder what they were doing while the movie was running because they obviously weren't watching it. In what I would term a key scene, Hodiak's 'Mr. Major' explains that he was from the Bronx but he didn't see it as beautiful like his Italian immigrant parents do and he always wanted to escape and Tierney's Tina replies that that is why she has blonde hair, that she wants to get away to America but she is unable to leave the village so her escape was to dye her dark hair blonde.

John Hersey's acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning novel A Bell For Adano was purchased by 20th Century Fox and turned into a fine film. Darryl Zanuck borrowed John Hodiak from MGM probably because Tyrone Power was serving in the Marines at this time. Hodiak also did around the same time Lifeboat for Alfred Hitchcock also for 20th Century Fox. So for an MGM contract player Hodiak got two of his finest roles on loan to another studio. Happens that way some time.

Hodiak who is Major Joppolo, an Italian American from the Bronx has that much going for him as he's appointed military governor of the recently liberated town of Adano. That's considerable because he already has some familiarity with the culture.

The town wants the bare necessities, food, medical supplies, etc., but it also wants something. They had the biggest church bell around and it was there for hundreds of years. But Mussolini melted it down for cannon and from every quarter Hodiak is told get us our bell back or a new one just as good.

Hodiak deals with all kinds of situations trying to form an occupation government and there is the question of who to trust among the Italians. But the real test for Hodiak comes when an order is issued to keep all civilian traffic off the main road into Adano. The problem is that there are no side roads into the town, one way in and one way out. Hodiak takes it on his own initiative to countermand the order. He gets in trouble with the army, but earns the heartfelt thanks of the people of Adano.

Henry King got some great performances out of his ensemble and the recreation of occupied Italy is impressively done. Hodiak was a tough and compassionate man all at once with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. It's definitely one of his best roles.

Also standing out is William Bendix as Hodiak's senior non-commissioned officer who backs Hodiak up all the way in his governing policies. Gene Tierney plays one of the villagers who wants Hodiak to find what happened to her boyfriend who was in the Italian army and providing some hospitality if needed. Harry Morgan is in A Bell For Adano playing a military police captain who is interested in covering his posterior in the military tradition. Finally there's Richard Conte who has a beautiful scene with Hodiak and Tierney as a recently released Italian soldier who tells them of the fate of Tierney's boyfriend.

For some reason A Bell For Adano the movie has been strangely forgotten and a lot of younger people haven't heard of it. That's a pity because this film is a neglected treasure.

I liked this film in most respects. John Hodiak was perfect as "Mr. Major." William Bendix, one of my favorite character actors, displayed much of his range, from humor to pathos. And Henry King's direction was superb. However, Gene Tierney was seriously miscast as the comely village girl.

Miss Tierney's Italian accent was practically non-existent. And that bleached blonde hair! I seriously doubt that an Italian girl of modest means in a fishing village would have made that a priority during World War II.

And why was John Hodiak talking about Jean Tierney's "dark skin" resembling that of his wife back home? If her skin was any lighter she could've been mistaken for an albino!

I gave this film an "8". It was one of those films where the plot line was taken too literally from the novel. The romance between Hodiak and Tierney didn't contribute much to the film. And Richard Conte's morbid description of the death of Tierney's boyfriend was way too heavy and mostly irrelevant to the rest of the film. Otherwise, "A Bell for Adano" would've have earned a "9" from me.

Ciao

Adapted from a famous novel ," a bell for Adano" seems sometimes too good to be true."Mister Major " is really a hand to kiss for he changed the life of the inhabitants of an Italian small town singlehandedly.John Hodiak portrays this officer with authority and humanity.On the other hand ,the users are right when they write that Gene Tierney -an actress who happens to be one of my favorites- is miscast;she could pass for half-Chinese in "Shanghai Gesture" ,she is not credible as a blonde (?) Italian .Besides ,it is not much of a part,and except for the scene where she's told about her fiancé's fate,she is lost in the crowd.

Marcel Dalio,on the contrary ,is well cast as the coward;this French actor was famous in his native country for his portrayals of villains,traitors ,collaborators,etc .The first scene is his: swearing he has never been a fascist but giving the infamous salute ,he is absolutely marvelous,so to speak!

It 's sometimes too good to be true but Mister Major is an endearing character,a military man who thinks that rules are made to be broken ,which ,for an officer, is not common."A bell for Adano" is a Christian movie almost as much as King's "song of Bernadette" was.

The first sequences of the village in ruins will remind you of the Italian Neo-Realism ,Roberto Rossellini's works ("Paesa" "Germania anno zero")

This is one of those films made during late WWII about WWII. It has some of the feel of the Italian neo-realist films that were starting to be made around this time. This is definitely a good thing - it doesn't feel like an overproduced, overwritten studio effort.

The story slowly draws you in as the new American administrator of a little Italian village arrives and tries to help the townspeople get used to life as a free people again, and to get their lives & livelihoods restarted.

The writing is mostly fresh and natural, as is the acting. The only false notes are the bumbling Italians who become the Americans' assistants, and to a lesser extent the standard poor-yet-dignified villagers. But compared to most films of the era they're minor annoyances.