The Sun Also Rises (DVD)

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BASED ON THE NOVEL BY: Ernest Hemingway

STUDIO: 20th Century Fox

RUNNING TIME: 130 min.

RATED: Not Rated (US & UK); contains adult themes and excessive drinking.

DVD AVAILABILITY: 9.50 GBP from Amazon; ASIN #B000EZ3F44

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INTRODUCTION
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...comes, but the Earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun comes down, and hastens to the place where he arose…

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ZANUCK’S PERSONAL VENDETTA
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As I stated in my previous review, I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel “The Sun Also ... more

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TITLE: Sun Also Rises, The

RATING: ****

CAST: Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Errol Flynn, Eddie Albert, Juliette Greco, Gregory Ratoff, Marcel Dalio, Henry Daniell, Bob Cunningham, Danik Patisson, Robert Evans, Jacqueline Evans, Lilia Guizar, Rebeca Iturbide, Lee Morgan, Carlos Muzquiz, Eduardo Noriega, Carlos David Ortigos.

DIRECTOR: Henry King

SCREENWRITER: Peter Viertel

BASED ON THE NOVEL BY: Ernest Hemingway

STUDIO: 20th Century Fox

RUNNING TIME: 130 min.

RATED: Not Rated (US & UK); contains adult themes and excessive drinking.

DVD AVAILABILITY: 9.50 GBP from Amazon; ASIN #B000EZ3F44

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INTRODUCTION
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One generation passes away, and another generation comes, but the Earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun comes down, and hastens to the place where he arose…

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ZANUCK’S PERSONAL VENDETTA
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As I stated in my previous review, I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel “The Sun Also Rises,” so I thought I owed it to myself to check out the 1957 film version which was distributed by 20th Century Fox on DVD as part of their “Cinema Classics Collection.” The film sat unreleased for approximately 50 years, and you would have been lucky to catch the film on Turner Classic Movies. Hemingway’s story of the Lost Generation, featuring expatriates yearning for something more after World War I, is for the most part, beautifully brought to the screen with an excellent (if miscast) cast, superb direction and stunning cinematography. As an adaptation, it was so faithful that it was near-perfect, even though the novel’s darker aspects didn’t carry over due to censorship issues.
While I wouldn’t exactly call it a classic, it remains an entertaining curio which took quite a road to make it to the big screen.

While the novel was a huge success when it was originally released in 1926, it did have its detractors---including the author’s own mother---who condemned it as being filthy and despicable. Indeed, there are elements in the story which are quite disturbing (particularly for the time), and it was inevitable that it would be extremely difficult to be adapted into a film; in 1934, actress Ann Harding (THE MAGNIFICENT YANKEE) was the first one to make an attempt by purchasing the screen rights. The original plan was that Harding wanted to play Lady Brett Ashley, and have Leslie Howard (who played the wimpy Ashley Wilkes in GONE WITH THE WIND) play the novel’s depressed hero Jake Barnes. Needless to say, it never came about, and in 1949, director Howard Hawks then wanted to take a crack at it. This plan involved getting the two rising stars Montgomery Clift and Margaret Sheridan to play the leads; however the censorship board still insisted that the novel was “salacious,” and the characters were “promiscuous and immoral.” In fact, they put their foot down so hard, they said that “The Sun Also Rises” was “not proper for screen presentation,” in every way, shape and form.

One man was determined to overcome that ruling, though, and that would be Darryl F. Zanuck, three-time Oscar-winning producer and studio head of 20th Century Fox; he was a personal friend to Hemingway, had already made two films based on his books, and ensured him he would get it to the screen as an epic production. First step was hiring Peter Viertel to write the screenplay; this guy came upon the Hollywood writing scene in 1942, when he scripted SABOTEUR, an early film of Alfred Hitchcock. Viertel later wrote WE WERE STRANGERS, THE AFRICAN QUEEN, and even Hemingway’s Pultizer Prize winning book “The Old Man and the Sea” in 1958. In 1955, Zanuck presented a script to the censors and it surprisingly got passed, considering the “scandalous” material was toned down quite a bit. Finally, he cast the picture with some of the biggest names of the decade and hired Henry King, who had previously directed the adaptation of Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.” So was the film in fact as good as the book? On the whole, critics and audiences thought so.

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BULLFIGHTING IN PAMPLONA
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The film opens up in Paris, where we meet Jake Barnes (Tyrone Power), a hero from World War I who is now living a solitary, desolate life in Paris in the mid-1920s. When he arrives at work one morning, he discovers his best friend Robert Cohn (Mel Ferrer) strayed out on his office sofa talking in his sleep; when he awakes, he tells Jake he is not doing too well in his relationship and struggling with a new novel. Cohn wants to take a vacation to South America with Jake, though Jake feels he should stay where he is; later that day, while sitting in a café, he meets a young Parisian girl who takes a liking to him. Jake doesn’t take advantage of this flirtation, but agrees to take her out for the evening; it is at a pub downtown in which Jake lightens up when he sees someone out of the past enter his life again: Lady Brett Ashley (Ava Gardner), a woman who used to be a nurse in an Army hospital who had dressed his wounds and took care of him after being injured in combat. Robert Cohn tells Jake it is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen; what he doesn’t know is that she is a socialite who is engaged to be married…yet she still has strong feelings for Jake.

It is almost immediately after leaving the pub that Jake and Brett cuddle and kiss in a taxi, reaching out for one another as if it has been an eternity. Brett confesses that she returned to Paris because she missed him, though she is still reserved from being with him for reasons that are made unclear until near the end of the film. Jake is stunned to hear that she is engaged to a rich, drunken buffoon named Mike Campbell (played by the legendary Errol Flynn); while Brett has made it her duty to fulfill the marriage, she is quite uncomfortable while she is always around him. Eventually, Brett says that she intends on going back to Mike and never see Jake again; while saddened and dismayed, he decides to go on fishing trip with good friend Bill Gorton (Eddie Albert). After talking, they realize they need to get away from Paris for awhile and they soon get Robert Cohn to join them on a trip to Pamplona, to see some spectacular bullfights. Can any of you take a guess whom the trio run into down in Spain?

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THE SUN DOESN’T RISE AS HIGH AS IT COULD
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While THE SUN ALSO RISES does have a sweeping grandeur to it, in the tradition of many Hollywood epics, it still falls short of greatness and complete satisfaction due to one almost fatal flaw: miscasting. Don’t get me wrong, the cast is impressive, with many stars of the period, though there in lies part of the problem: while they were A-list actors at the time, they were cast to sell the picture, not necessarily because they were right for the parts. Tyrone Power became a contract player for 20th century Fox after scoring as the role of Don Diego Vega in THE MARK OF ZORRO in 1940; he was a fine romantic leading man who died one year after THE SUN ALSO RISES was released. It must be noted that Jake’s age in the book is supposed to be around 30, though Power was 43 years old at the time of making it; not only does he look too hold (complete with some grey hairs), his interpretation of the character doesn’t really carry over as well as it could have. Gardner suffers the same problem; while she is the right age, she doesn’t quite come off being the novel’s pivotal female character, who is independent and jovial, yet conflicted. She was a 1950s starlet who stole the hearts of male audiences everywhere because of her natural beauty, yet she seems too frail and fragile here to really score as Lady Brett Ashley. Still, both actors give it their all, and they certainly LOOK great, and thus deserve credit for their efforts.

As for the supporting cast, the one that steals the whole film is without a doubt Errol Flynn as the lewd and rude Mike Campbell; as most of you should know, Flynn was the dashing adventure hero of many classics from the 30s and 40s including CAPTAIN BLOOD, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, and THE SEA HAWK. While Flynn was way too old for Campbell, he still manages to overcome his miscasting with his exceptional wit and irresistible charm, even while being in his twilight years; sadly, he died two years later after film’s release of a heart attack (he was only 50, though he looked older). Mel Ferrer is decent as Robert Cohn, though here again seems out of place, and Eddie Albert does well for the most part as Bill Gorton, the observer who shies away from conflict. Incidentally, that is Robert Evans in a rare early role as Pedro Romero; he later became one of the most respected Hollywood executives and producers, working for Paramount Pictures.

Aside from Flynn, the best thing about the film is really the screenplay adaptation, which manages to capture most of the vivid depictions and passages of bullfighting spectacle from the book. Screenwriter Peter Viertel does an extraordinary job of for the most part, even if he wasn’t able to incorporate all of the novel’s darker themes; the big twist of the novel, which explains the reason why Jake and Brett cannot consummate their relationship, which is only barely hinted at here, though by the end you seem to catch it. That’s not Viertel’s fault, remember, it was really the times, because obviously the Production Code was trying to limit every offensive thing that came to the screen, particularly when it involved sex and sexual tension. The only disappointment I had was that Brett’s character was toned down in terms of her sardonic attitude; in the book, she tells many of the males around her to “Don’t be an ass!” and in the film, the word “idiot” is substituted for “ass.” It’s a minor thing, sure, though the adaptation still remains first class, and a model for future screenwriters to follow.

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THE SKY IS THERE EVEN IF THE SUN IS NOT
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Despite all its shortcomings, THE SUN ALSO RISES still holds your attention, with magnificent Technicolor cinematography courtesy of Leo Tover (THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL), who passionately captures time and place; the bullfighting sequences are particularly well shot. As with most 20th Century Fox studio productions of the time, the colors are rich and austere, and the art and set decorators work overtime to create 1920s Paris and Spain on the screen in all its splendid glory. Even at 2 hours and 10 minutes, the film doesn’t feel too long, and editor William Mace ensures that everything falls into place and in accordance with Hemingway’s novel. The lovely, emotionally subtle score was done by one of my favorite composers Hugo Friedhofer (THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES), and music supervisor Alexander Courage’s contributions of traditional Spanish music works well; just to let you all know, Courage is famous for composing the famous theme for “Star Trek.” Finally, Henry King’s direction is respectable, if not honorable; if only he had the good sense to go for actors which were right for the parts instead of getting the insistence of studio heads behind him to go with A-list stars.

As I said before, THE SUN ALSO RISES remains an interesting curio after 50 years of being lost in the black hole of cinema; if anything, it will surely satisfy fans of Hemingway’s novel, despite the miscasting of actors. Personally, I think that Hollywood could take a chance by filming a new adaptation and hereby incorporating all the elements which were censored at the time, though only time will tell; they seem to be only interested in making terrible remakes of great horror films at the present. Most of you are probably unaware that “The Sun Also Rises” was also filmed for television in 1984, with Hart Bochner as Jake and the super-sexy Jane Seymour as Lady Brett Ashley; I wouldn’t mind seeing it, though it is currently unavailable. However, I think it is safe to say that this 1957 version is more than acceptable and remains the definite screen version of Hemingway’s books; the film is available on DVD from Amazon for 9.50 GBP, and the ASIN is B000EZ3F44. The Arrow Classics edition of the novel is also available for 5.50 GBP, or even less at your local bookseller. Thank you for reading, and I hope you all have a great day. Chris :) 

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