A Farewell to Arms

Frederick Henry, Rock Hudson, is an American officer serving with an Italian ambulance unit during World War I. While recovering from a knee wound in a British base hospital in northern Italy, he is treated by nurse Catherine Barkley, Jennifer Jones, and the two begin a private, intense romance that soon deepens beyond circumstance.

Dr. Emerich, Oskar Homolka, the hospital physician, convinces the Italian army that Henry’s injury is more serious than it truly is, allowing an escape from duty that feeds the growing bond between Frederick and Catherine. The couple’s affair persists, even as the looming war intrudes, but they never formalize their union.

Catherine discovers she is pregnant, and their precarious happiness is tested when Miss Van Campen, head nurse, Mercedes McCambridge, uncovers the deception Frederick and Catherine have orchestrated to keep him at the hospital. She reports that Henry has recovered enough to return to active duty, forcing a painful separation. During this time, Catherine fears that Frederick has abandoned her.

The war intensifies with the Battle of Caporetto, and Frederick, along with his close friend Major Alessandro Rinaldi, Vittorio De Sica, scrambles to survive the retreat. Rinaldi’s blunt, defeatist attitude lands him before a drumhead court-martial, presided over by a Court Martial Colonel, Luigi Barzini, who ultimately brands him an infiltrator and orders execution by firing squad. The pressure and fear mount as Frederick’s own salute is misinterpreted, casting suspicion on him as well and causing him to flee the line into the river.

Frederick becomes a fugitive, pursued by Italian authorities, and he eventually finds Catherine again. The pair flee to Milan and then cross into neutral Switzerland by rowboat, hoping to escape the war’s reach. Once there, they attempt to build a semblance of normal life as Catherine’s pregnancy progresses. Yet tragedy follows: a difficult birth necessitates a Caesarean section, the child is stillborn, and Catherine dies soon after from a hemorrhage. Frederick, left in shock, wanders the empty streets, facing a world that seems to have paused around him as the war rages elsewhere.

Last Updated: October 07, 2025 at 09:29