A Bell for Adano

I know that the movie is a bit unrealistic in its characterizations. I know that the movie is a bit heavy-handed in its stereotypical portrayals of the Italians. I know that the movie is fiction, and that no matter how much you try to sugar-coat the story, the fact is that Italy was a member of the Axis alliance, was belligerent and fascist, and went over to the Allied side only after it was thoroughly defeated. So any portrayals of Italians being particularly passive or pro-American circa 1945 must be taken with a huge grain of salt. All this being said, I still liked this movie. The movie brings out, in typical Hollywood fashion, that the United States and the Allies DID liberate Italy from fascism, and which prevented Italy from becoming a total basket case like Germany and Japan became after the war. The pro-American bias of the movie is unmistakable, but as a World War Two movie what else could you expect? The fact is that the United States liberated Western Europe from Nazism and fascism, and movies like "A Bell for Adono" serve to ensure that what the United States did to help Italy and the rest of Europe is not forgotten.

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

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.

Based on John Hersey's bestselling novel, this film hit cinemas at about the same time as Rossellini's films depicting the impact of the occupation upon Italy and doesn't suffer from the comparison.

Done with grace and humour and full of life, it contains the most of the virtues and few of the vices of a Hollywood blockbuster of the period. (Both Joseph LaShelle's high-contrast photography and the use of sound to covey the acoustics of the requisitioned Town Hall add to the atmosphere).

John Hodiak is excellent in the lead and is flanked by a wonderful supporting cast ranging from Marcel Dalio (who at opposite ends of his acting career appeared in the anti-war epics 'La Grande Illusion' and 'Catch-22') to Henry Morgan (later Col. Potter in 'MASH'); while the cast also includes silent director Monty Banks (here billed as 'Montague') and future director Hugo Haas.

This film showed that John Hodiak could act, though I guess he didn't get that many chances to star in the movies he appeared in during his career. He's wonderful as the commanding officer in charge of a post-war Italian village. He tries everything he can to rebuild the town--both physically and in spirit. However, the one thing he really can't do is restore the bell stolen from the town by the Fascists. The townspeople see this as a point of pride; i.e., if they get a new bell it proves they are a real and growing town. At first Hodiak isn't the least bit sympathetic to their plight. However, over time he begins to see that maybe there is something to be said about restoring civic pride. A cute and quite unusual film well worth watching.