The Sun Also Rises *** (1957, Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Errol Flynn, Eddie Albert, Robert Evans, Juliette Greco) – Classic Movie Review 10,000

A fine cast distinguishes director Henry King’s 1957 film The Sun Also Rises, 20th Century Fox’s CinemaScope, Deluxe Color version of Ernest Hemingway’s story of a ‘lost generation’ of 1920’s American ex-patriates living in Paris.

Tyrone Power and Ava Gardner are good as the impotent journalist Jake Barnes and the nymphomaniac Lady Brett Ashley, but fourth-billed Errol Flynn steals the show as Mike Campbell, a drunken fortune hunter who goes to Pamplona with Bill Gorton (Eddie Albert) and tries to outrun the bulls.

Pamplona is the capital city of the autonomous community of Navarre in Spain, the stage for the annual Running of the Bulls festival.

Producer Zanuck provided the lavish wherewithal for a spectacular production and beautiful location work in Paris, Biarritz and Mexico (standing in for Spain).

Hemingway and the cast conspired to get young actor Robert Evans (playing Pedro Romero the matador, in only his second movie) fired, but Flynn supported him and producer Zanuck arrived on set and pronounced ‘The Kid Stays in the Picture’, the name of Evans’s 1994 autobiography and 2002 film.

It is remade as a TV movie in 1985, with another interesting cast: Jane Seymour, Hart Bochner, Robert Carradine, Zeljko Ivanek, Ian Charleson, Leonard Nimoy and Stéphane Audran.

Ava Gardner and Tyrone Power in The Sun Also Rises (1957).

The main cast are Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Errol Flynn, Eddie Albert, Robert Evans, Juliette Greco, Gregory Ratoff, Marcel Dalio, Henry Daniell, Bob Cunningham, Danik Pattison, Jacqueline Evans, Lee Morgan, Eduardo Noriega, Rebeca Iturbe and Lilia Guizar.

The title is from the Biblical fifth verse of the Ecclesiastes, whose first chapter is quoted on the title page of Hemingway’s novel.

The Sun Also Rises is directed by Henry King, runs 130 minutes, is made and released by by 20th Century Fox, is written by Peter Viertel, based on Ernest Hemingway’s novel, is shot in CinemaScope and Deluxe Color by Leo F Tover, is produced by Darryl F Zanuck, is scored by Hugo Friedhofer and Vicente Gómez, and is designed by Lyle R Wheeler and Mark-Lee Kirk.

Inevitably Hemingway disliked the film and walked out after the first 25 minutes. He heavily criticised most aspects of it and said the only good thing was Errol Flynn’s performance. But, as Eddie Albert does not appear until the 45th minute, Errol Flynn the 54th minute and Robert Evans the 72nd minute, Hemingway probably was not the best judge.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,000

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