It’s Ok To Go Ahead And Ask ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’

The 1943 romantic adventure “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” restored to its original 2 hours 45 minutes with original overture and intermission music by composer Victor Young, was released on MCA/Universal Home Video this month.

The two-volume set, restored by the UCLA Film Archives, is listed at $19.98. It originally was cut by 9 minutes when critics complained about the length and further trimmed to just over two hours for TV airings through the years.

Starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, the film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including best film, best actor, best actress and best supporting actor (Akim Tamiroff). However, it was Katina Paxinou, in her film debut, who garnered the Oscar as best supporting actress. Arturo de Cordova and Joseph Calleia also starred.

The story is about an American demolitions expert who joins anti-fascist partisan fighters in the Spanish Civil War and falls in love with young Bergman. Two famous lines from the movie are Cooper’s “A man fights for what he believes in, Fernando” and Bergman’s “I do not know how to kiss, or I would kiss you. Where do the noses go?”

Also being released by MCA/Universal on Tuesday are “The Barbara Stanwyck Collection” and “The Carole Lombard Collection.” All nine titles in the two groups are listed at $14.98 each.