MovieChat Forums > A Farewell to Arms (1957) Discussion > Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Jones

posted 11 years ago by AndersonWhitbeck
4 replies | jump to latest

David O Selznick cast his wife Jennifer Jones as the female lead. Jennifer is fine in the film the issue I have is with the corny dialogue, I mean how many times do Jennifer and Rock Hudson the male star call each other "Darling"? The Scenery is fantastic, and this film bespeaks the grandeur Selznick gave his productions. John Huston who directed Jennifer in two of her lesser films We Were Strangers with John Garfield, and Beat The Devil with Humphrey Bogart either quit or was fired by Selznick for throwing the pic too much to Mr. Hudson. Charles Vidor was the replacement and Vidor also squabbled with David Selznick. Jennifer was a very good film actress and does a fine job here in this film, but would look younger and fresher in Tender Is The Night 5 years after this film.

A Farwell To Arms was the last movie produced by Selznick International but released thru 20th.

[–] mclaughlinconnor338 11 years ago

Well i don't know if you read the novel, but the dialogue could be kind of corny at times in that too. Don't get me wrong, I felt it really worked, and the book is one of my all time favorites , but just wanted to point that out.

[–] Keely 10 years ago

Agree with you about Jennifer Jones in Tender Is the Night but not about her performance here, she seems so miscast. She played the part as if it she were the mother in Father Knows Best instead of a nurse with an illegitimate child in the middle of World War I.

[–] jones7418 9 years ago

I thought her acting was good but she just looked to old for the part. I don't recall if Catherine was supposed to be 10 years older than Lt. Henry but she sure looked it in this movie.

[–] eqxander 9 years ago

I thought Hudson was great in this movie, but for some reason Jones seemed to be somewhat off-kilter. Her incessant and repetitive insecurities made me want to throw something at the TV. It was like the only time she could touch base with the character was when she was revealing one insecurity or another.

Maybe that's the way Hemingway wrote her, maybe it was the manifestation of some fantasy that he had, but it appeared to me to be a bit too one-dimensional for someone with the acting capabilities of Jennifer Jones.