When I first saw For Whom the Bell Tolls, I thought it was overlong and overrated. Since then, I've decided to re-evaluate the film and have decided that the film can be summed up as follows.
PROS:
(1) Hemingway and Cooper were friends, and Hemingway wrote the Robert Jordan character with Cooper in mind and handpicked Cooper for the role. Sure, it would have been nicer if this film had gotten made when he was younger, but it's hard to imagine anyone other than Cooper playing Jordan.
(2) This was only Cooper's second color film in a long and illustrious film career that began in the silent era, and Bergman's first color film. It's a treat to see both stars in Technicolor, and both of them are utterly luminous in their close-ups (I'd say Cooper actually has a slight edge here since, unlike Bergman, he didn't benefit from a soft focus effect, and it's hard to imagine another leading man of this era who was better suited for close-ups than Cooper was, even though he was in his 40s here and a little past his prime).
(3) Some reviewers felt that Cooper and Bergman had no chemistry, but I strongly disagree. The two were having an affair while working on this film. If Bergman seems like she's gushing over Cooper, she probably wasn't merely acting.
(4) If Cooper seems wooden to some people, he's supposed to be playing a stoic character who exemplifies grace under pressure, but is also sensitive, idealistic, and quietly romantic at the same time.
(5) It's hard not to notice that Cooper's look in the film must have been the inspiration for Indiana Jones, which makes me think that this film was much more influential than I had previously thought it was.
CONS:
(1) This didn't need to be a nearly 3-hour movie, and I wish it were 30 minutes shorter.
(2) I appreciated the supporting actors and initially liked their performances, but when I re-evaluated the film, I felt that they were over-acting and seemed like caricatures (and no, I'm not referring to their make-up; I'm referring to their acting).
(3) I wish there would be a properly restored version of this film.
For Whom the Bell Tolls is not without its faults, but I give credit to Old Hollywood and Sam Wood for even making a film that is this faithful to a novel--so faithful that it moves at a glacial pace at times, but I also think that people had longer attention spans back then and did not need instant gratification like people do now.
