x359594
2nd June 2010, 05:49
It seems that there were three versions of the 1943 For Whom the Bell Tolls: a premiere version running 170 minutes (or 180 minutes; see below,) a roadshow version running 156 minutes (including overture and intermission) and the 1957 re-release version running 130 minutes.
A program for the premiere version lists George Coulouris in the role of Andre Massart (based on Andre Marty, French Commissar of the International Brigades) and Konstantin Shayne as Karkov, a Soviet journalist based on Mikhail Koltsov. It would seem that Dudley Nichols' screenplay was more forthcoming about the politics of the Spanish Civil War then is apparent in either the 130 minute version or the surviving 156 minute version of the movie.
In The Hollywood Professionals Vol. II by Tony Thomas, he writes in the chapter on Sam Wood, "Three hours in its first issue, Wood later cut the picture by half an hour and when re-issued a few years after his death it was considerably truncated." In the filmography at the end of the chapter he gives the complete cast list including Coulouris and Shayne but gives a running time of 168 minutes, 2 minutes shy of the 170 minute running time given at IMDb. Perhaps the actual premiere running time was 170 minutes and the scenes with Coulouris and Shayne lasted 14 minutes at most.
In the novel Jordan has a conversation with Karkov where they talk about the recent repression of the POUM and the alleged flight of Andreu Nin to Paris. I wonder if Nichol's included that in his screenplay or anything else specific to the politics of the Spanish Civil War as Hemingway did in this original novel.
A program for the premiere version lists George Coulouris in the role of Andre Massart (based on Andre Marty, French Commissar of the International Brigades) and Konstantin Shayne as Karkov, a Soviet journalist based on Mikhail Koltsov. It would seem that Dudley Nichols' screenplay was more forthcoming about the politics of the Spanish Civil War then is apparent in either the 130 minute version or the surviving 156 minute version of the movie.
In The Hollywood Professionals Vol. II by Tony Thomas, he writes in the chapter on Sam Wood, "Three hours in its first issue, Wood later cut the picture by half an hour and when re-issued a few years after his death it was considerably truncated." In the filmography at the end of the chapter he gives the complete cast list including Coulouris and Shayne but gives a running time of 168 minutes, 2 minutes shy of the 170 minute running time given at IMDb. Perhaps the actual premiere running time was 170 minutes and the scenes with Coulouris and Shayne lasted 14 minutes at most.
In the novel Jordan has a conversation with Karkov where they talk about the recent repression of the POUM and the alleged flight of Andreu Nin to Paris. I wonder if Nichol's included that in his screenplay or anything else specific to the politics of the Spanish Civil War as Hemingway did in this original novel.