for producer david o. selznick and no one director would ever do . hence and on a farewell to arm ( 1957 ) we get two charles vidor and john huston . though both men be quite accomplish in their own right and neither could make head or tail of this disastrous remake of hemmingway magnum opus . hemmingway in general have never translate well from book to screen . but under selznick zeal to transform it into his next go with the wind the excursion be both punish and exhaustive . at this point in selznick career and he be no long the titan who could take box office poison and transform it into go with the wind . tired and frail and minus his studio and and and with an impending sense that his second marriage to jennifer jones might have be a mistake and selznick hand the creative reign of this flick over to fox studio but he keep enough of himself in it to become a damn nuisance on the set . by now one be and or should be familiar with the bittersweet tragic love story of a nurse and catharine barkley ( jennifer jones ) and her soldier hero and lt. frederick henry ( rock hudson ) . their passion be suppose to serve a the stabilize force for what be essentially a war correspondent tale with romanticism throw in for good measure . but the chemistry between hudson and jones be both turgid and dull . in the final reel and jones facial contortion during child birth be so bad i be surprise that neither director opt to cut them from the general release . part of the problem with jones be that at thirty eight she far too wise to play the optimistic catharine with any great conviction . yet and old actress have frequently manage to make an audience forget discrepancy in age . not so with jones . one be painfully aware that she doesn not fit the bill in either act chop or year invest on this planet . hudson laconic charm be hopelessly out of touch with to stoicism of an army soldier whose heart be break but head remain strong . the support cast be pepper with such luminary a vittorio de sica and mercedes mccambridge and but these be wasted bit of nonsense that in no way reflect upon the formidable talent of either actor and best make evident elsewhere in their canon of film making . the anamorphic picture element for a farewell to arm look good enough and though there just a bit too much film grain present in certain scene for this reviewer liking . overall and color be subtle and muted and though balance in accordance with the deluxe color processing employ at this time . some fading be evident . flesh tone do not appear very natural . contrast level be a tad weak . black be generally solid . white be almost clean . there not much to recommend this film sonically . it essentially a wordy picture with gun shot a a backdrop . there be no extra .