In this episode of NBC Theatre, we present an hour-long radio adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's acclaimed novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls." The story unfolds against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, focusing on Robert Jordan, an American dynamiter tasked with blowing up a bridge to aid the Republican offensive. As tensions rise within the guerrilla group led by the enigmatic Pablo, themes of loyalty, sacrifice, and the harsh realities of war are explored. The episode captures the essence of Hemingway's narrative, highlighting the interconnectedness of human fate, as echoed in John Donne's meditation that inspired the novel's title.
During the intermission, distinguished literary critic Diana Trilling provides insightful commentary on Hemingway's influence on modern literature. She discusses the evolution of his writing style and the thematic depth of "For Whom the Bell Tolls," emphasizing its complex narrative structure and the novel's exploration of political and personal conflicts. Trilling's analysis enriches the listening experience, offering a deeper understanding of Hemingway's work and its enduring impact on both readers and writers.
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[00:00:08]
Unknown:
This is the NBC Theatre. From the NBC Theatre in Hollywood, we bring you an hour length drama based on Ernest Hemingway's great novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, adapted for radio by Ernest Kanoi of NBC. And at intermission, a recorded commentary on one of the greatest and certainly the most emulated writers of this century, on Ernest Hemingway, that is. Our commentator is the distinguished author and literary critic Diana Trilling. And now, Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. These are the words of John Donne, born 1573, died 1631.
[00:01:15] Unknown:
No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.
[00:01:56] Unknown:
This is a story of the war in Spain. We fought in the mountains behind the fascist lines. And our leader was Pablo. We live from the land, and we were much fighters. And there was the day the dynamite occurred. He came over the mountain from Madrid, and on his back, he he carried sacks of dynamite. And he carried papers with the writing of generals. And he told us of the orders from Madrid and how he received them.
[00:02:35] Unknown:
This is the bridge, Jordan. You'll have a truck to the front, then you walk. I know the country, general. To blow the bridge is nothing. A failure. You understand that, Jordan? Yes, general. But when I attack, I must know that bridge is gone. But it must blow at the moment of attack, not before. How do I know when the attack has started? There will be a full division and an air attack.
[00:02:58] Unknown:
You're not deaf, are you? I don't like it much, not far behind the fascist lines. You don't have to like.
[00:03:04] Unknown:
It's necessary. Look. I'll show you on the map. This is the only road on which they can bring up artillery. I'd rather not know.
[00:03:13] Unknown:
Then no matter what can happen, it was not me that talked. Sufficient.
[00:03:18] Unknown:
Jordan, they tell me you are very American with the blowing of bridges. Very scientific. You really blow them? Sometimes. No. Sometimes on this one. After the attack, nothing must come over the bridge. That is absolute. So enough of explosions. Drink this. Tell me, Jordan, do you have many girls on the other side of the lines?
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So he came over the mountain with the dynamite on his back, guided by the old one Anselmo to the Cave Of Pablo. I remember Pablo as he was then, his eyes small and set too wide apart, his nose broken, his mouth cut at one corner, and the line of the scar showing through his beard. He was a strong man, Pablo, and a brave man once, and he stood before the cave as the dynamite came near.
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Salute, Kamada.
[00:04:27] Unknown:
Salute. You again, old one? The fascists will hang you by the heels one day. What have you in the packs?
[00:04:38] Unknown:
Dynamite. Last night, we crossed the lines and carried over the mountain.
[00:04:43] Unknown:
I can use dynamite. How much have you brought me? The dynamite is for another purpose. For the bridge. Bridge? You cannot blow up bridges where you live. If you make a disturbance here, we will be hunted.
[00:04:57] Unknown:
It is the principle of the fox. We will be dead. All men end dead.
[00:05:03] Unknown:
They are very strong, the fascists. I am tired of being hunted. If you blow a bridge here, they will bring artillery in. What right have you, a foreigner, to tell me what to do? I haven't told you to do anything. You will, though.
[00:05:19] Unknown:
I have to do what I am ordered. The general's in Madrid.
[00:05:24] Unknown:
I speak. And the general is in Madrid.
[00:05:27] Unknown:
You the leader of guerrilla fighters or old woman? You talk too much, old one. You will not live long. I will live till I die. Go on, gorilla leader with a sad face. Lead us to something to eat. Here, Roberto. I will help you with the pack.
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Hola, Danny Meiter. More wine? Oh, enough for me.
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How are you called, Gypsy? Rafael.
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Maria. Maria. More wine for the dynamiter.
[00:06:04] Unknown:
More wine? Oh, half the skin is gone already.
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Salud, Camerada.
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Say salud to the English dynamite, Maria.
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You don't have to stare at my hair. They shave me in the prison at Valladolid. It's only now growing back. I wasn't stirring, Camarader.
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Why not dynamite her? A pretty girl like Maria.
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Go on. Eat. Don't stir it.
[00:06:36] Unknown:
Who is she? Pablo's woman?
[00:06:40] Unknown:
Pablo's woman? No. No. No. No. She's a little plucked chicken we found when we blew up the train. You blew a train? Oh, it was a rare thing, the train. Very brave. Pablo was brave in the beginning. He killed more people in the cholera.
[00:06:56] Unknown:
That was before the train. But now he's very much afraid to die. Si. He drinks too much. He would like to retire like a bullfighter. But in a war, you cannot retire. And now he has horses.
[00:07:13] Unknown:
The horses. There is the difference. Pablo is now a capitalist with his horses. The old one spoke of Pablo's woman. Oh, she is ugly. Most ugly. She is against gypsies. What an error. She ought to know. She has gypsy blood. But Pilar has a tongue that bites and scalls like a bullwhip. She is of unbelievable barbarousness. But brave. Oh, you should have seen Pilar dynamite when we blew up the train. Now there was something rare, the train. Maria, where is the wine?
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Who calls for wine?
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Now you will see Pilar. Very ugly.
[00:07:58] Unknown:
You call for wine, you lazy, drunk, and obscene son of a piebald gypsy goat.
[00:08:03] Unknown:
Pilar, this is the dynamiter, Roberto. An English of talent with explosives and my friend.
[00:08:11] Unknown:
Go relieve Fernando on guard, you see? Oh, I haven't finished eating. You've eaten three times. Go. Well, how goes the republic, Roberto? Go on. Do you have orders to blow another train? The bridge. Good. Let us blow all the bridges and get out. Sick of this place. Here is stagnation. Look. Pablo over there in the trees with a wine skin. Drunkard. Rotten drunkard. He drinks all the time. He was a very good man, but no. Drunkard. Listen. Can you get the young one back through the lines away from here? Maria? You understand? Pablo has a sickness for her already.
[00:09:01] Unknown:
We can take her through after the bridge if we're all still alive.
[00:09:05] Unknown:
That manner of speaking never brings luck. Here. Here. Let me see your hand.
[00:09:11] Unknown:
Well, can you read the future on it? I can see
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many thing.
[00:09:18] Unknown:
Tell me. Nothing. Nothing. I saw nothing in it. Forget the hand. What is it? You won't scare me. I do not believe in such things. Then forget. Doesn't matter. Tell me. What did you see in my hand? No. I saw nothing.
[00:09:33] Unknown:
Go. Go not your bridge. I will look after your packs. Forget the hand. Go. Go with the old one to your bridge. It will be a rare undertaking.
[00:09:46] Unknown:
There. The dynamite will go there, Aunt Selma. Keep down, Roberto. They will see you from the bridge. Is there always a sentry at both ends? Always.
[00:09:55] Unknown:
They will have to be killed. You have killed? Yes. But not with pleasure. To me, it is a sin to kill even a fascist. But still you kill. But not with pleasure. Will there be a battle at the bridge, Roberto? I do not know if I could be at a battle and not run. Don't worry, old one. You will not run. I wondered. Well, come Roberto, it grows dark. We will lose the path to the Cave Of Pablo. It will be a rare thing to breach. Most rare.
[00:10:43] Unknown:
Here. Dynamiter. What are you doing?
[00:10:46] Unknown:
Bringing my pack in.
[00:10:47] Unknown:
I do not like dynamite in the cave. It's far enough from the fire.
[00:10:52] Unknown:
Here, Pablo. Cigarettes from Madrid. You want them?
[00:10:58] Unknown:
Leave them on the table.
[00:11:01] Unknown:
Well, how goes it, Gypsy?
[00:11:05] Unknown:
Good dynamite,
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sir. How's business, Pablo?
[00:11:13] Unknown:
We should do another train. Another train.
[00:11:17] Unknown:
After the bridge.
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I will not go for the bridge.
[00:11:21] Unknown:
Neither me nor my people. And the old one and I will do it alone. And somehow? Without this coward, Roberto. You will blow no bridge here. No. You will blow no bridge. Hey. Hey, Philhar.
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You.
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I am for the bridge. What do you say, woman? I am for the bridge and against you. I care nothing for the bridge. I am for the woman of Pablo. Fernando is also for the bridge. I am for the republic,
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and the republic is the bridge. After, we can do other things.
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You. You with your head of a bull and your heart of a devil, you think there will be an after from the bridge? It means nothing to you to be hunted like a beast after this thing in which there is no profit
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nor to die in it. Do not try to frighten me, coward.
[00:12:19] Unknown:
Coward? It is not cowardly to know what is foolish.
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Neither is it foolish to know what is cowardly. You, old man,
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do you want to die? No. Then watch your mouth. Am I a leader for nothing? For the good of this foreigner, we must be sacrificed. I am for the good and safety of all. Safety?
[00:12:49] Unknown:
Do you still believe that you command here?
[00:12:52] Unknown:
Yes. Here, I command. No.
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Here, I command. No one commands but me. You can stay if you wish in need of the food and drink of the wine, and not too bloody much. But here, I command.
[00:13:10] Unknown:
I should shoot thee and the foreigner both.
[00:13:13] Unknown:
Try and see what happens. Maria? Yes, Bilal. Outside and fill the water jar. Oh, but it's cold. Outside. It is not for long. Go.
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Roberto, your pistol. I'm running.
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Listen to me, drunkard. You understand who commands here?
[00:13:34] Unknown:
Aye.
[00:13:36] Unknown:
I command. No. Listen. Take the wax from your hairy ears. Listen well. I command.
[00:13:48] Unknown:
You command. Good. I shut up. You command.
[00:13:58] Unknown:
Alright. Now we will eat. Mariette, stay at the food drum the pot.
[00:14:11] Unknown:
Roberto. Yes, Jepsen. Why did you not kill Pablo?
[00:14:16] Unknown:
Why kill him? You have to kill him sooner or later. You speak seriously?
[00:14:22] Unknown:
What do you think we waited for? Why do you think Pilar sent the girl away?
[00:14:31] Unknown:
We waited for you to kill him. Pablo has no friends. I'd kill him now. That is to assassinate.
[00:14:39] Unknown:
Even better. Less danger.
[00:14:41] Unknown:
I cannot kill that way. Provoke him then. But you have to kill him. There is no remedy.
[00:14:48] Unknown:
Now the moment has passed. Provoke him or take advantage of the quiet. Kill him, Roberto. Somebody comes from a cave. It is a beautiful night. We will have good weather. That you, Inglis? I'm American, not English. No difference. Listen, Inglis. Do not pay any attention to the woman. She's difficult sometimes. Pay no attention. You are welcome here. Excuse me now. I go to see how they have tied the horses. Pay no attention to the woman. You see? The moment has escaped. I go after him.
[00:15:31] Unknown:
So do what? At least to prevent him from leaving. Oh, you can see in the moonlight, he test the ropes.
[00:15:38] Unknown:
Too bad, Inglis. The time has passed to kill him, but you will have to. You will have to. It becomes cold, Inglis. The fire is inside, at war.
[00:16:02] Unknown:
Up. Up your lazy dogs. The fastest airplane. German
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planes. Will they see the horses, English? Will they see the horses?
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Anselmo. Roberto.
[00:16:13] Unknown:
Go up by the bridge and watch the road. Make a note of all that passes, crux, tanks. You understand? I do not write, Roberto. Make a picture and then mark each thing. Understand? It is ingenious. The gipsy will relieve you. Go now. Adios. Adios, Alberto.
[00:16:29] Unknown:
They will see the horses. I will hide them in the wood. You, Fernando, help me.
[00:16:36] Unknown:
Pilar. Pilar. Last night, the gypsy said I should have No.
[00:16:43] Unknown:
He is mistaken.
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But in weakness, a man can be a great danger.
[00:16:48] Unknown:
No. Out of this one has passed all capacity for danger. I have wounded him much, Roberto. Kill him. Yes. Curse him. Yes. But wound him. No. Now he is finished. The plug has been drawn and the wine has all run out of the skin. Listen, Inglis. Last night I said to him, Pablo, why did you not kill the foreigner? He's a good boy, he said. Later he was awake and I hear him crying, short and ugly as a man cries when there is an animal that is inside shaking him. What passes now, Pablo?' 'Nothing, Pilar. Nothing. The people.
The way they left me. Pablo said that. Then he was ashamed and was quiet. But man, he is a ruin. Maybe the gipsy was right. The gipsy is an animal. You have seen the ruin that now is Pablo, but you should have seen Pablo in the first days of the reunion. We assaulted the army barracks in our town. He blew the wall open, and there were four of the Guar D'Azeville who surrendered. He lined them up before the wall. You murderers of peasants, he said. You who would shoot your own mothers. And they knelt by the wall and Pablo passed behind each of them and shot them in the back of the head.
Then he said, Pilar, let us go get coffee. But remembering these, these were evil men he killed.
[00:18:29] Unknown:
What happened to the others? The other fascists in the village.
[00:18:33] Unknown:
There were 20. Pablo had them beaten to death and then thrown over the cliff into the river. Listen, Inglis, and I will tell you of that day. Pablo organized it as he did the attack on the barracks. Pablo is very intelligent, but very brutal. He had them seized the fascists and held in the city hall, and then he ordered the priest to confess them. Think of it, Inglis. See it in your mind. The plaza in the sun with the city hall and a great crowd outside. Pablo placed all the men in two lines between the door of the city hall across the plaza to the cliff. They were armed with flails such as are used to beat out the grain, and some had oxgolds or pitchforks.
And at the end of the line, the men were carrying sickles and reaping hooks. A few were already drunk and shouting, but most of the people were very quiet and respectful.
[00:19:35] Unknown:
Will there be women?
[00:19:37] Unknown:
Are you hooked for the sake of Christ? No. Pilar. Pilar. Will there be women? No. Women. Why should we kill women? I never killed him, man. You will learn.
[00:19:48] Unknown:
That is the beauty of Pablo's plan. Each man will have responsibility. Why are you crying, Joaquin? I cannot help it, Pilar. I have never killed anyone.
[00:19:58] Unknown:
Here comes the first one.
[00:20:02] Unknown:
It was Don Benito Garcia, the mayor. And he came out bareheaded walking slowly from the door and down the porch and nothing happened. He passed two men, four men, eight men, 10 men, and nothing happened. What's the matter, Carlos? And still Don Benito walked on steadily, his fat face gray. And then suddenly a man raised his flail high and let it fall. And they beat him until he fell, and they dragged him through the dust of the plaza to the edge of the cliff. And then came Don Federico Gonzalez, and he looked very short and angry, and he spat on the ground. He could spit the actual saliva, which in such a circumstance is rare.
And he cursed the peasants. So they clubbed him to death very quickly because of the insult. Then there was Don Faustino Rivera, who was a great annoyer of girls and a dandy and a coward. Pablo pushed him out with a shot peasants pushed him from behind and he cried out loud and high as he fell. It was then I knew the lines had become cruel. The insults of Don Federico and the cowardice of Don Faustino had made them so. And then came Don Guillermo, who was a poor man and only became a fascist to be a snob. And his wife called to him from the balcony of his house, but he could not see her for his eyes were weak and his glasses had been broken.
And they hooted at his wife and hit him across the face. But Don Guillermo sat there crying to himself, not from fear, but from sadness. Then many men left the lines, but their places were taken by the drunkards. And then I was sick and went away for wine. And men killed in the hot sun in the plaza. They rushed the hall then, and I saw them flailing with clubs and striking with sickles and pruning hooks. And that was the end of the killing of the fascists in our town. And that day, Ynglais, was the day of the flails, and it was the worst day of my life until one other day.
[00:22:29] Unknown:
What other?
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Three days later when the fascists took the town. Someday, Inglis, I will tell you of that, for it is also a day to remember. It grows cold.
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It'll pass.
[00:22:54] Unknown:
It will snow before night. Now almost in June? Why not? These mountains do not know the names of the months. We are in the moon of May.
[00:23:04] Unknown:
It can't be snow. We'd never get away from the bridge. It can't snow.
[00:23:08] Unknown:
Just the same, Inglis. It will snow. The gray sky cuts off the tops of the mountains. It will snow by night.
[00:23:25] Unknown:
Wine, Maria. Bring wine.
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Trumpet.
[00:23:30] Unknown:
Bring wine. English. English.
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Well?
[00:23:38] Unknown:
We will have much snow. You do not like this snow, Inglis?
[00:23:47] Unknown:
No.
[00:23:51] Unknown:
The Inglis does not like this snow. Shut up, drunkard. Roger. With this goes your offensive, Inglis. With the wind in this direction, there will be much snow.
[00:24:04] Unknown:
Much snow. Hola. Uncle Fernando returns from Sentry.
[00:24:12] Unknown:
It is called to freeze the wings off a chicken. Give me wine, Billa. It snows
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and snows and snows. Inglis, is still falling.
[00:24:28] Unknown:
Drunk again, Pablo. He give me wine. Here. That is what kills the worm that haunts you. If we could feed that to the fascist, they will all be dead. There are dead fascists in the town of Pablo.
[00:24:46] Unknown:
Do not talk of that no more.
[00:24:49] Unknown:
Now you wish it had not happened. No. But it was barbarous.
[00:24:54] Unknown:
In those days, I was very barbarous.
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And now you are drunk. Yes.
[00:25:00] Unknown:
With your permission.
[00:25:03] Unknown:
I like you better when you are barbarous. You are a woman,
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and you do not understand. I'm drunk and wine, and I should be happy. Except for those people I have killed, all of them fill me with sorrow. I would bring them back to life. Everyone too, madre.
[00:25:25] Unknown:
Those who are fascists that you kill. I would restore them
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all to life. Listen, English.
[00:25:33] Unknown:
Pay no more attention to him. He's drunk. What were you before you came to Spain?
[00:25:39] Unknown:
I teach Spanish in a university in Montana.
[00:25:43] Unknown:
You do not look like a professor.
[00:25:47] Unknown:
He has no beard. He's a false professor.
[00:25:51] Unknown:
Hey. No mind, Inglis. He is drunk. I am not so sure.
[00:25:56] Unknown:
You, Pablo, will the snow last?
[00:26:01] Unknown:
Ask the woman. She commands.
[00:26:04] Unknown:
I asked you.
[00:26:05] Unknown:
Go drown yourself in your own spit. He is drunk, Inglis.
[00:26:10] Unknown:
You, Pablo.
[00:26:11] Unknown:
I am very drunk. That is what is important. I am much drunkard.
[00:26:19] Unknown:
Not drunkard. Coward. Your pistol Inglis, be ready.
[00:26:24] Unknown:
No, Inglis. Do not provoke me. It is not thus you get rid of me. Coward.
[00:26:34] Unknown:
The foul smelling drunkard.
[00:26:37] Unknown:
It is very possible, but I am not to be provoked. It is not worth the trouble. I do not provoke.
[00:26:47] Unknown:
You're a rare crawling mangy dog.
[00:26:52] Unknown:
Very rare, yes, and very drunk. To your health, English. To do away with me, English, you must assassinate me, because I do not provoke. And to assassinate me, you have no guts. Let me, Inglis. Yes. Listen to Fernando Inglis,
[00:27:19] Unknown:
an exemplary patriot. To mother, he let me offend.
[00:27:23] Unknown:
A patriot.
[00:27:25] Unknown:
I will shut his mouth.
[00:27:31] Unknown:
It makes no difference. I am not provoked. God. The voice. He pleasing grace. Have your pistol ready? I am not a fool. I do not provoke. I do not leave it alone. No one here has guts to kill me. And this with the hands, it is silly. Fascist. Jurors. Nor words either. I am
[00:28:17] Unknown:
far past words. I can't stand the stink of him.
[00:28:22] Unknown:
And I will be alive when you are dead. I drink to the professor, to the senior commander, to all the illusioned
[00:28:35] Unknown:
ones. You drink to no one.
[00:28:43] Unknown:
That is a waste. It is silly. I am drunk. An intelligent man must be drunk to live with fools. You
[00:28:55] Unknown:
go drown in the fears of your cowardice.
[00:28:58] Unknown:
Well, I will go to see to the horses. I care for the horses very much. Go on. Go on, Inglis. Tell them about your bridge. It is still snowing, Inglis.
[00:29:19] Unknown:
What will he do?
[00:29:21] Unknown:
Anything. He could toss a hand grenade back in here. Last night, Roberto should have killed him. Kill him?
[00:29:29] Unknown:
I am for it now. We could sell him to the fascist. None of that filthiness gypsy. We could blind him to make it easy and sell him to the fascist. Shut up, gypsy.
[00:29:40] Unknown:
You, Fernando.
[00:29:42] Unknown:
He is a danger. Heal him.
[00:29:45] Unknown:
Alright then. I'm ready to do it. Tonight.
[00:29:48] Unknown:
It's all decided. I, you you are speaking of me. I am interrupting perhaps. Maria, go draw wine from the skin.
[00:30:03] Unknown:
Give me your pistol Inglis. I have had enough up to
[00:30:07] Unknown:
here. Not here, Camerota. There's dynamite in the sacks.
[00:30:11] Unknown:
It is snowing less in less.
[00:30:15] Unknown:
It is?
[00:30:17] Unknown:
So we will have good weather for the bridge. We? Yes. We. In this of the bridge, I am with you now. What drunkard? After what you said? I was drunk. Now I have changed my mind. Do not trust him. Trust me or not. There is no one who in retreat from the bridge as I can.
[00:30:47] Unknown:
Is this right?
[00:30:49] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:30:50] Unknown:
Then you are with us now for the bridge. Why not?
[00:30:55] Unknown:
Have you no confidence in less?
[00:30:58] Unknown:
Yes. Yes. I have confidence.
[00:31:02] Unknown:
Then I drink to the
[00:31:05] Unknown:
bridge to and to the snow. To the snow.
[00:31:23] Unknown:
Is bringing you a radio version of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. If you're interested in supplementing your enjoyment of these NBC theatre productions with home study under college supervision, be sure to listen to the announcement at the close of this programme. And now our intermission commentator Diana E. Trilling.
[00:31:44] Unknown:
Ernest Hemingway is that rare phenomenon in present day fiction. A writer whose stature and reputation have increased with the appearance of each new volume. For a contemporary American, his production has been uncommonly steady. And what is more remarkable, it has been increasingly solid, and it has been unique in the influence it has had on younger authors. No writer of our day, not even the early James Joyce, has been so persistently copied as Hemingway without being equalled, For his style, while it may look easy to imitate, is actually inseparable from the content of mister Hemingway's books.
The swift directness of his narration, the visual perfection of his descriptions, the bare understatement of his dialogues, are one artist's inimitable way of dealing with a world in which action comes before reflection, in which the eye sees more than the heart or mind can encompass, and in which people are too pressed or weary or disillusioned to wish to engage in discursive talk. Like so many of his generation who began their writing careers after the First World War, Hemingway for some years considered politics outside his purview. Even a Farewell to Arms, which was a war novel, dealt only with the romance and personal tragedy of war, not with its issues.
It was not until the mid thirties that Hemingway became openly concerned with social questions. Then his sympathies captured by the loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War, he went to Spain to help fight this first large scale battle against fascism, for whom the Bell Tolls is the result of his Spanish experience. While the earlier novels of Hemingway have but a single narrative line, for whom the Bell Tolls is a complicated dramatic structure. It is many stories in one. The story of Robert Jordan, a young man who has to learn his small expendable place in the universe. It is a love story, not as authentic perhaps as the love story of a farewell to arms, but nonetheless capable of exciting the imagination.
It is a story of adventure and of the outdoors, such as Hemingway excels in. It is a story of two sides of a fierce battle, each animated by its own idealisms and prey to its own weaknesses. Scenes of the novel, which ask our pity as much as our terror, take place among their enemy. Most importantly, for whom the bell tolls is a story of the interdependency of man's fate. The novel takes its title from a sermon of the seventeenth century poet and preacher John Donne. No man is an island entire of itself. Any man's death diminishes me.
Never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee. No man, that is, is free while any other man is enslaved. We are all of us, by very reason of our individuality, members of each other. Hemingway is telling us, even with his title, what proved to be all too true, that the Spanish war was our war.
[00:34:53] Unknown:
Thank you, missus Trilling. Our radio version of For Whom the Bell Tolls will continue from Hollywood after a brief pause for station identification.
[00:35:20] Unknown:
Here, Anselmo. You can see by the pictures I have made where the dynamite must go on the bridge. It is very clear, Roberto. Here. You keep the paper. If anything should happen to me, you will blow the bridge. Will something happen, Roberto?
[00:35:34] Unknown:
Something always happens. Drinking again, Pablo? Woman, I'm working on the problem of the retreat out of these mountains. Oh, you have thought of something? Various things. Where did you find them? In the wine bowl? Perhaps. Deal the cars, gipsy. Maria,
[00:35:52] Unknown:
fill the bowl. In the wine skin itself, there should be some fine ideas. Why don't you crawl in and look for them? Deal from the top, gypsy? Well, by certainty.
[00:36:04] Unknown:
I search for ideas in the bowl. I see the future in the wine bowl.
[00:36:13] Unknown:
Oh, man sees the future. That is ignorance and superstition.
[00:36:17] Unknown:
I have seen death burned on the face of a living being as a with a branding iron. There is a smell of death. I have been with bullfighters before they go into the ring, and there is a smell of death on them.
[00:36:30] Unknown:
A smell of fear, maybe. Of death. You believe in this Pablo? There's gypsy music of the smell of death.
[00:36:38] Unknown:
I am more of your opinion. No supernatural thing has ever happened to me. Fear? Yes.
[00:36:46] Unknown:
Plenty. In the last season of the bullfighter, Ignacio Sanchez Mejia, he smelled so strongly of death that many refused to sit with him in the cafe.
[00:36:54] Unknown:
All gypsies knew of this. After the death, these things were invented.
[00:36:58] Unknown:
What she says is true, Ingress. It is a well known thing among us.
[00:37:03] Unknown:
I do not believe it.
[00:37:05] Unknown:
Where are you going, Inglis?
[00:37:07] Unknown:
Outside to sleep. In the snow. I'm used to it. I would not offend delicate gypsy senses with the smell of death.
[00:37:17] Unknown:
You are a rare one,
[00:37:19] Unknown:
unless a rare one.
[00:37:27] Unknown:
Who's there?
[00:37:28] Unknown:
Anselmo. Listen, Roberto. Listen. A horseman.
[00:37:37] Unknown:
Where?
[00:37:38] Unknown:
Beyond the woods. There. He turns into the field. He's got an automatic rifle.
[00:37:44] Unknown:
Fascist cavalry.
[00:37:46] Unknown:
Slide over, old one.
[00:37:49] Unknown:
Don't miss Roberto.
[00:37:52] Unknown:
Roberto.
[00:37:57] Unknown:
Go catch the horse, old one. Who shot that gun? I did. There's cavalry out. Go get your machine gun set up. Fernando, what passes? What passes?
[00:38:05] Unknown:
You go up to the edge of the wood. Fernando, mount the machine gun. What happened? Never mind. Get the gun set up.
[00:38:11] Unknown:
The old one has the horse now. See? By the wood.
[00:38:15] Unknown:
That is much horse.
[00:38:18] Unknown:
Yes. We will put him with the others. Oh, oh, he made tracks in here. He must make them out. They'll follow the tracks in the snow.
[00:38:26] Unknown:
True. I will ride him out and hide him till the snow melts. Inglis,
[00:38:32] Unknown:
you have much head today. Better hurry. There may be more.
[00:38:37] Unknown:
Here. Hold one. Hold the horse there. Hold him there. See? Where are you going, Inglis?
[00:38:41] Unknown:
Now we'll search the body. For money? For papers and his gun. A machine gun. A machine gun.
[00:38:48] Unknown:
That's modern cavalry.
[00:38:50] Unknown:
There's modern cavalry on his face and snow.
[00:38:56] Unknown:
There will be more horsemen, Yngwes. I know.
[00:38:59] Unknown:
They will follow the tracks of this one. Pablo may be riding straight into their mouth. He will get away. He is clever in the woods.
[00:39:08] Unknown:
Pablo is a man on a horse.
[00:39:16] Unknown:
You saw no other horseman, Pablo?
[00:39:18] Unknown:
None. By the tears of heaven, I am thirsty. No no other horsemen. Where did you leave the horse? In the canyon upstream from here. They will not find him. And you? Anselmo.
[00:39:32] Unknown:
What passed on the bridge by the road?
[00:39:35] Unknown:
There was a much movement there. Cavalry riding into these hills. Many? Here. I have marked down how many on the paper.
[00:39:43] Unknown:
A squatter.
[00:39:45] Unknown:
So
[00:39:46] Unknown:
they will hunt us. This picture shows guns, rubber tired guns.
[00:39:51] Unknown:
Four trucks passed on each such a gun and six men in each truck.
[00:39:57] Unknown:
I'll have to write a dispatch. Is there anyone to carry on over the lines? Primitivo. He's on guard above. Good. Here. Aldwin, claim you have placed the table.
[00:40:06] Unknown:
Inglis, I have admired your judgment much today.
[00:40:10] Unknown:
Quiet. I'm writing.
[00:40:12] Unknown:
That of the tracks of the horse, It was great judgment.
[00:40:17] Unknown:
Will the attack be stopped, Inglis? Well, then of the bridge.
[00:40:21] Unknown:
I can't tell. If the attack starts, there must be the bridge.
[00:40:26] Unknown:
I think then we might as well eat well tonight. The gypsy has caught two rabbits in the snow.
[00:40:33] Unknown:
Yes, Inglis. I have great confidence in you. Great confidence.
[00:40:46] Unknown:
English. English. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up and put up your pistol. It is Pilar.
[00:40:52] Unknown:
What passes will you want? Pablo is gone.
[00:40:56] Unknown:
What? When? It must be an hour. Where's my boot? He has taken something of yours. What? I do not know it was from your pack in the cave.
[00:41:05] Unknown:
Come on. Careful.
[00:41:07] Unknown:
The men sleep.
[00:41:12] Unknown:
It's time, Roberto.
[00:41:13] Unknown:
Sleep on, old one.
[00:41:15] Unknown:
Here. From the pack.
[00:41:18] Unknown:
Nothing will go on from here. Dynamite's alright. It was the other pack in place. Slit it with a knife.
[00:41:26] Unknown:
Detonators going in the fuse and the percussion caps. Is this guarding woman? I slept with my head against them and one hand touching them. You slept well? Listen. He got up in the night, and I said, where do you go, Pablo? And he said, I am sick woman. I go outside, so I slept again. When I walk again, he was not here, and I felt of the Saxon, found the slip places, and I came to you.
[00:41:50] Unknown:
Can he get out of the valley? Yes. And
[00:41:54] Unknown:
that's that. Go back to bed. Oh, Ingrace, there is nothing I would not do to bring back your property. We have both been betrayed by Pablo. We have work to do today, Pilar.
[00:42:05] Unknown:
What did he take? The exploder that works on wires from a distance, but there are other ways to do exploding. Did not Pablo have caps and fuse? He took them with him. I have looked. Get some sleep. We're better off with Pablo gone. I have betrayed you. Get Get some sleep, woman. We start for the bridge at four. I have failed you,
[00:42:26] Unknown:
and I have failed the Republic.
[00:42:29] Unknown:
Get some sleep, woman. Get some sleep.
[00:42:41] Unknown:
Take more of this too, Fernando.
[00:42:44] Unknown:
I cannot eat on such a morning. Come. Come eat, Ingrace. In a minute. What are you doing, Ingrace?
[00:42:51] Unknown:
Fixing hand grenades. You will throw bombs today, Roberto? Oh, tell me, Fernando. Are these grenades of yours always exploded?
[00:42:59] Unknown:
With a deafening roar, with a flash to blind the angels of heaven. How do you know, Gipsy? You never threw one. They always blow Pilar.
[00:43:08] Unknown:
There is no always on munitions, ours or theirs, but they blow.
[00:43:14] Unknown:
Use them for dynamite somehow.
[00:43:16] Unknown:
Eat then.
[00:43:19] Unknown:
How do you feel woman?
[00:43:21] Unknown:
In the teeth of the grave, but good. How does it seem to you? We are too few. Very few. Maria will have to hold the horses at the bridge, and I will take the post of Pablo. One other thing, Inglis. Yes? In the thing of the hand. What thing of the hand? No. No. Listen. Do not be an angry little boy. Seeing the future is all gypsy nonsense that I make to give myself importance. There is no such thing. Leave it alone. It was lying nonsense that I make. I would not have you worried in the day of the battle. I am not worried. When do we go? Anytime.
[00:44:02] Unknown:
You. You take the second pack, old one. I am ready.
[00:44:06] Unknown:
How you doing? I'm Well, so far so well. Look. I can keep the outstretched
[00:44:12] Unknown:
hand steady. Anyone can keep the whole hand steady. Point with one finger. He trembles. Mine too. Always. That is normal. Not for me. Look.
[00:44:33] Unknown:
My hand is steady. A lion of courage. But can you spit, Fernando?
[00:44:41] Unknown:
That is rare. Most rare. You filthy mule. Spit in the fire if you must want your courage.
[00:44:49] Unknown:
But the endless.
[00:44:52] Unknown:
Pablo.
[00:44:54] Unknown:
You you. Me. Hola, Ingles. I cut five men from the bands of Elias and Alejandro with their horses.
[00:45:04] Unknown:
And the exploders and the detonator and the fuse?
[00:45:07] Unknown:
Oh, I I threw them down the gorge into the river, but I have thought of a way to detonate using a grenade. So have I. Have you a drink of anything? Here. I have come back.
[00:45:28] Unknown:
So I see.
[00:45:30] Unknown:
Listening, Les. At bottom, I am no coward. I have ridden since I left here. There were not enough of you to do this bridge, so I have brought five men. When I left and took your material, I thought you would know it was impossible and would give it up. But after I had thrown away your material, I found myself too lonely. Too modest. So I rode for the others so it could be successful. I left them down the valley. So you have come back, Yes, woman.
[00:46:04] Unknown:
Well, I did not think you could be the ruin you appear to be. Do not mock me, woman. I have come back.
[00:46:11] Unknown:
I do not like to be alone. Last night, man, the hours they passed evenly. Your predecessor, the famous Judas Iscariot hanged himself. Do not talk to me that white woman. I am back. You.
[00:46:27] Unknown:
I suppose if a man has something once always something of it remains.
[00:46:32] Unknown:
I am ready now for what the day brings. Lend me another swig from your bottle, and then let us be going to your bridge.
[00:46:51] Unknown:
What, man?
[00:46:53] Unknown:
We do not have enough horses for the retreat. Enough of the retreat. Is the plan clear? With the five men of Elias, I deal with the guard post down the road. Yeah.
[00:47:05] Unknown:
This is far enough.
[00:47:09] Unknown:
Pilar,
[00:47:10] Unknown:
get the grenade sack while we hobble the horses. Listen, woman. What is it, Ingles? There is to be no attack on the guard post till the falling of the bombs in the offensive. I understand. Go about your business. And after the destruction of the bridge, you cover the road from above. Alrighty, Inglis. The horses are tied, so one pull of the rope will free them. See? You understand the plan. Why not?
[00:47:32] Unknown:
Destroy the guard post. Cut the telephone. Fall back on the bridge when you blow it. But you will cover us with the machine gun when we come back. English. Don't worry. There is still a lack of horses. Well, good luck Ingles. Luck, Pablo. Fernando, Agustin, primitivo with me. Goodbye, Roberto.
[00:47:56] Unknown:
Guard well. Goodbye, Pilar. Fight well. Well, old one.
[00:48:05] Unknown:
I am ready, Roberto.
[00:48:07] Unknown:
Walk slowly. Yeah. Time. Smoke.
[00:48:13] Unknown:
See. Thank you, Roberto.
[00:48:15] Unknown:
Robert. Yeah. Far enough. I have the glasses. Get down now, old one. It's light enough to be seen from the bridge. Si. We'll have to deal with the sentries.
[00:48:27] Unknown:
I know. And old one. See, Roberta?
[00:48:30] Unknown:
When you fire, do not think of it as a man, but as a target. You will have to go down to make sure.
[00:48:39] Unknown:
Roberta, please.
[00:48:41] Unknown:
Bombardment. Your tank starts. Here goes, Pablo. Go. Go. Hold on. Sentry. Still the Queen, Roberto. All right. All right, Nafo. Come on. Out from behind that pole. Come on. A little more. A little more. Now.
[00:49:06] Unknown:
Come on. Come on old one. And settle this way. I come.
[00:49:12] Unknown:
To the left side of the bridge.
[00:49:15] Unknown:
It is done, Roberto. I had to finish him with a knife.
[00:49:19] Unknown:
I am ashamed. I killed one. I killed one.
[00:49:22] Unknown:
We have to kill them, and we kill them.
[00:49:26] Unknown:
How about fights by the guard post? Alright. I swing under the bridge and you hand down the packages. Don't drop any.
[00:49:32] Unknown:
No Roberto.
[00:49:34] Unknown:
We're gonna have to look down. Alright. Old one. The first of the dynamite in the wire.
[00:49:41] Unknown:
Here here, Roberto. More.
[00:49:44] Unknown:
Alright. More dynamite.
[00:49:46] Unknown:
I hear
[00:49:48] Unknown:
The wooden wedges now. Che. The wedges.
[00:49:52] Unknown:
That slimy dog can dump my detonator.
[00:49:55] Unknown:
All right. The hand grenades.
[00:49:58] Unknown:
Be careful with them, Roberto. Be careful. Don't worry.
[00:50:02] Unknown:
More wire. Alright. Anselmo. Take the wire loosely. It is attached to the grenade pins. Let's get out of here. Alright. Now, walk backwards with me, paying out the wire from the spool. I I understand. Loosely though. Yeah. If you pull, she blows. Don't let it foul. I understand, Roberto. Let's go. Careful with the wire. Alright. I have to go back to the wire of the other charge. When you pull, pull hard. If tanks come, blow. I will not pull with you on the bridge, Roberto. Blow it if you have to. I'll wave my hand. Hold on, Simba.
[00:50:46] Unknown:
What they bast Stay down, Gipsy, down. Pablo fights like a demon below and pila. Oh,
[00:50:53] Unknown:
the killing. Killing is bad, Gipsy. A sin. I killed the sentry just now, and it was a scene.
[00:51:00] Unknown:
When Inglis blows the bridge, will the fragments come back this far? I do not know. I'll get behind that rock. When we blow the train, the fragments sail past my ears like wash tubs. What does he wait for? Patience, Gipsy. Patience. Here he comes. Listen. That's not Pablo's gun.
[00:51:17] Unknown:
Thanks. Floyd and Salvo. Follow the bridge. Roberto. I'll be alright, Floyd. Floyd. I hear you, Robert. I hear. No.
[00:51:36] Unknown:
Hola, dynamite. You dropped the bridge into the gorge like a birdcage. Where's Anselmo? Anselmo? He is there, Inglis. Anselmo? A piece of the Grinch Inglace. A fragment as big as a washtub. Why eat shit? Shut up. Shut up, Gypsy. Come
[00:51:50] Unknown:
on, Gypsy. Where is the old one? Dead.
[00:51:53] Unknown:
Dead.
[00:51:54] Unknown:
The bridge is blown Inglis. Remember that. We lost two at the guard post. Let's go. Pablo is still below. You are to cover Pablo. Let Pablo cover himself with mutt. No Inglis. He came back. He fought much below there. There. Listen, Inglis. He is coming back now.
[00:52:12] Unknown:
Had the explode or the old man would not have been killed, I could have blown the bridge from here.
[00:52:17] Unknown:
Come on now. Over to the horses.
[00:52:19] Unknown:
Must be firing a tank.
[00:52:21] Unknown:
Oh, Maria. Loose the horses.
[00:52:24] Unknown:
What's he firing at? Over here, Pablo.
[00:52:28] Unknown:
Thanks. Ingles. A tank.
[00:52:30] Unknown:
There it is coming around the bench. Is that a tank? If I had a bottle of gasoline, I could set it on fire. We'll have to chase it back, jepsy. Hold the legs of the machine gun. The tank, Paul's back. Get the horses Get the horses ready. Where are your men? All dead. Dead? Yeah. We have plenty of horses now, English.
[00:52:54] Unknown:
That tank covers the road. We'll have to ride past. What were you shooting at around the bend, Pablo? Did you shoot all of them, you scum?
[00:53:01] Unknown:
There were not enough horses. With a little luck, we'll be all right now. You killed your own men. Oh, they were not of our band. Alright. Let's get out. Not the horses.
[00:53:13] Unknown:
We'll have to go across under fire. Alright, Gypsy, you first.
[00:53:22] Unknown:
They didn't shoot. They will. You next, Maria.
[00:53:27] Unknown:
Together now. They will be shooting. Hey
[00:53:40] Unknown:
Ingrace.
[00:53:43] Unknown:
He's hit.
[00:53:44] Unknown:
How goes it, Ingrace?
[00:53:46] Unknown:
Left leg. Left leg's broken. We'll bind it up. Oh, get out of here. It'll be coming. Does it does it hurt much? I think the nervous Christ. Get out of here. I'm I'm done anyway. Go on.
[00:53:57] Unknown:
I I'm sorry you have this, Inglis, but there is no time. I know. Get out. Do you like anything Inglis?
[00:54:05] Unknown:
Do do you want me to shoot you, Roberto? No. Leave me the machine gun. Go on. Go on. There's no time.
[00:54:12] Unknown:
Salud Ingrace. Salud Pilar. Come on woman. There is no time.
[00:54:19] Unknown:
Hey.
[00:54:22] Unknown:
Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey Oh,
[00:54:30] Unknown:
I hate to leave it now. Take it easy. You've had a life already.
[00:54:35] Unknown:
I remember a pillar in the hand. A lot of bull. Come on, Jordan. A fascist will be coming up the road. Jordan, come on. Get the gun set up. He must be masked. Was they gone? Dying is only bad when it takes a long time coming on humiliate shots. That's why you have all the luck, John. You're through all at once. A gone goose. I wish they'd come like it's beginning to hurt.
[00:55:11] Unknown:
Lots of careful.
[00:55:13] Unknown:
Keep it up. Keep it up, boy. If you pass out, you're done. You're not so good at this, Jordan. I wanna finish this up right. There they are coming around the bend. Do it right now. Get the officer. Do it right, Jordan. Finish it up. One thing done well can make the difference. Here he comes. Come now. Come on. Come
[00:56:19] Unknown:
Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know by whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.
[00:56:49] Unknown:
You have been listening to For Whom the Bell Tolls, an NBC theatre production of the Ernest Hemingway novel. If you wish to increase your knowledge and appreciation of literature, we suggest you might enjoy the college supervised courses now being offered in connection with the NBC Theatre. For full information write to NBC Theatre in Take care of one of the following universities or colleges. The University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, the University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kansas State Teachers College, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Washington State College, Pullman, Washington, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona Texas College of Arts and Industries, Kingsville, Texas Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York.
You also have a chance to win a set of the famous Encyclopedia Britannica. Several of the universities and colleges offering these courses are giving the Encyclopedia as prizes to the students doing the best work. Enroll in a supervised course, and you may be one of the fortunate ones to win the Encyclopedia Britannica. Next week, be with us again at the NBC Theatre for a production of J. P. Mark I's Point of No Return, and the following week for William Faulkner's highly dramatic The Wild Palms. For Whom the Bell Tolls was adapted for the NBC theatre by Ernest Cunoy, Louis Jean Haidt was Jordan. Georgia Backus was Pilar. Donald Morrison was Pablo.
Nestor Paiva was the Gypsy. Ramsey Hill was Fernando. Lester Sharp was Goltz. Rolfe Sedan was Anselmo. Consuelo Young was Maria. Your announcer, Don Stanley. Our intermission commentator was Diana Trilling, whose commentary was recorded. Guitar interludes by Jose Boroso. The director of the NBC Theatre is Andrew C. Love. This program came to you from Hollywood. Tonight, NBC presents the American theatre's foremost acting couple, Alfred Lundt and Lynn Fontanne, in the whimsical comedy The Great Adventure on Theatre Guild on the Air.
And for another great adventure today, listen to Sam Spade. Remember, Alfred Lund and Lynn Fontanne on Theatre Guild and Sam Spade today on NBC. You're tuned for the stars on NBC.
This is the NBC Theatre. From the NBC Theatre in Hollywood, we bring you an hour length drama based on Ernest Hemingway's great novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, adapted for radio by Ernest Kanoi of NBC. And at intermission, a recorded commentary on one of the greatest and certainly the most emulated writers of this century, on Ernest Hemingway, that is. Our commentator is the distinguished author and literary critic Diana Trilling. And now, Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. These are the words of John Donne, born 1573, died 1631.
[00:01:15] Unknown:
No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.
[00:01:56] Unknown:
This is a story of the war in Spain. We fought in the mountains behind the fascist lines. And our leader was Pablo. We live from the land, and we were much fighters. And there was the day the dynamite occurred. He came over the mountain from Madrid, and on his back, he he carried sacks of dynamite. And he carried papers with the writing of generals. And he told us of the orders from Madrid and how he received them.
[00:02:35] Unknown:
This is the bridge, Jordan. You'll have a truck to the front, then you walk. I know the country, general. To blow the bridge is nothing. A failure. You understand that, Jordan? Yes, general. But when I attack, I must know that bridge is gone. But it must blow at the moment of attack, not before. How do I know when the attack has started? There will be a full division and an air attack.
[00:02:58] Unknown:
You're not deaf, are you? I don't like it much, not far behind the fascist lines. You don't have to like.
[00:03:04] Unknown:
It's necessary. Look. I'll show you on the map. This is the only road on which they can bring up artillery. I'd rather not know.
[00:03:13] Unknown:
Then no matter what can happen, it was not me that talked. Sufficient.
[00:03:18] Unknown:
Jordan, they tell me you are very American with the blowing of bridges. Very scientific. You really blow them? Sometimes. No. Sometimes on this one. After the attack, nothing must come over the bridge. That is absolute. So enough of explosions. Drink this. Tell me, Jordan, do you have many girls on the other side of the lines?
[00:03:52] Unknown:
So he came over the mountain with the dynamite on his back, guided by the old one Anselmo to the Cave Of Pablo. I remember Pablo as he was then, his eyes small and set too wide apart, his nose broken, his mouth cut at one corner, and the line of the scar showing through his beard. He was a strong man, Pablo, and a brave man once, and he stood before the cave as the dynamite came near.
[00:04:24] Unknown:
Salute, Kamada.
[00:04:27] Unknown:
Salute. You again, old one? The fascists will hang you by the heels one day. What have you in the packs?
[00:04:38] Unknown:
Dynamite. Last night, we crossed the lines and carried over the mountain.
[00:04:43] Unknown:
I can use dynamite. How much have you brought me? The dynamite is for another purpose. For the bridge. Bridge? You cannot blow up bridges where you live. If you make a disturbance here, we will be hunted.
[00:04:57] Unknown:
It is the principle of the fox. We will be dead. All men end dead.
[00:05:03] Unknown:
They are very strong, the fascists. I am tired of being hunted. If you blow a bridge here, they will bring artillery in. What right have you, a foreigner, to tell me what to do? I haven't told you to do anything. You will, though.
[00:05:19] Unknown:
I have to do what I am ordered. The general's in Madrid.
[00:05:24] Unknown:
I speak. And the general is in Madrid.
[00:05:27] Unknown:
You the leader of guerrilla fighters or old woman? You talk too much, old one. You will not live long. I will live till I die. Go on, gorilla leader with a sad face. Lead us to something to eat. Here, Roberto. I will help you with the pack.
[00:05:54] Unknown:
Hola, Danny Meiter. More wine? Oh, enough for me.
[00:05:58] Unknown:
How are you called, Gypsy? Rafael.
[00:06:00] Unknown:
Maria. Maria. More wine for the dynamiter.
[00:06:04] Unknown:
More wine? Oh, half the skin is gone already.
[00:06:08] Unknown:
Salud, Camerada.
[00:06:09] Unknown:
Say salud to the English dynamite, Maria.
[00:06:15] Unknown:
You don't have to stare at my hair. They shave me in the prison at Valladolid. It's only now growing back. I wasn't stirring, Camarader.
[00:06:26] Unknown:
Why not dynamite her? A pretty girl like Maria.
[00:06:32] Unknown:
Go on. Eat. Don't stir it.
[00:06:36] Unknown:
Who is she? Pablo's woman?
[00:06:40] Unknown:
Pablo's woman? No. No. No. No. She's a little plucked chicken we found when we blew up the train. You blew a train? Oh, it was a rare thing, the train. Very brave. Pablo was brave in the beginning. He killed more people in the cholera.
[00:06:56] Unknown:
That was before the train. But now he's very much afraid to die. Si. He drinks too much. He would like to retire like a bullfighter. But in a war, you cannot retire. And now he has horses.
[00:07:13] Unknown:
The horses. There is the difference. Pablo is now a capitalist with his horses. The old one spoke of Pablo's woman. Oh, she is ugly. Most ugly. She is against gypsies. What an error. She ought to know. She has gypsy blood. But Pilar has a tongue that bites and scalls like a bullwhip. She is of unbelievable barbarousness. But brave. Oh, you should have seen Pilar dynamite when we blew up the train. Now there was something rare, the train. Maria, where is the wine?
[00:07:52] Unknown:
Who calls for wine?
[00:07:55] Unknown:
Now you will see Pilar. Very ugly.
[00:07:58] Unknown:
You call for wine, you lazy, drunk, and obscene son of a piebald gypsy goat.
[00:08:03] Unknown:
Pilar, this is the dynamiter, Roberto. An English of talent with explosives and my friend.
[00:08:11] Unknown:
Go relieve Fernando on guard, you see? Oh, I haven't finished eating. You've eaten three times. Go. Well, how goes the republic, Roberto? Go on. Do you have orders to blow another train? The bridge. Good. Let us blow all the bridges and get out. Sick of this place. Here is stagnation. Look. Pablo over there in the trees with a wine skin. Drunkard. Rotten drunkard. He drinks all the time. He was a very good man, but no. Drunkard. Listen. Can you get the young one back through the lines away from here? Maria? You understand? Pablo has a sickness for her already.
[00:09:01] Unknown:
We can take her through after the bridge if we're all still alive.
[00:09:05] Unknown:
That manner of speaking never brings luck. Here. Here. Let me see your hand.
[00:09:11] Unknown:
Well, can you read the future on it? I can see
[00:09:17] Unknown:
many thing.
[00:09:18] Unknown:
Tell me. Nothing. Nothing. I saw nothing in it. Forget the hand. What is it? You won't scare me. I do not believe in such things. Then forget. Doesn't matter. Tell me. What did you see in my hand? No. I saw nothing.
[00:09:33] Unknown:
Go. Go not your bridge. I will look after your packs. Forget the hand. Go. Go with the old one to your bridge. It will be a rare undertaking.
[00:09:46] Unknown:
There. The dynamite will go there, Aunt Selma. Keep down, Roberto. They will see you from the bridge. Is there always a sentry at both ends? Always.
[00:09:55] Unknown:
They will have to be killed. You have killed? Yes. But not with pleasure. To me, it is a sin to kill even a fascist. But still you kill. But not with pleasure. Will there be a battle at the bridge, Roberto? I do not know if I could be at a battle and not run. Don't worry, old one. You will not run. I wondered. Well, come Roberto, it grows dark. We will lose the path to the Cave Of Pablo. It will be a rare thing to breach. Most rare.
[00:10:43] Unknown:
Here. Dynamiter. What are you doing?
[00:10:46] Unknown:
Bringing my pack in.
[00:10:47] Unknown:
I do not like dynamite in the cave. It's far enough from the fire.
[00:10:52] Unknown:
Here, Pablo. Cigarettes from Madrid. You want them?
[00:10:58] Unknown:
Leave them on the table.
[00:11:01] Unknown:
Well, how goes it, Gypsy?
[00:11:05] Unknown:
Good dynamite,
[00:11:09] Unknown:
sir. How's business, Pablo?
[00:11:13] Unknown:
We should do another train. Another train.
[00:11:17] Unknown:
After the bridge.
[00:11:19] Unknown:
I will not go for the bridge.
[00:11:21] Unknown:
Neither me nor my people. And the old one and I will do it alone. And somehow? Without this coward, Roberto. You will blow no bridge here. No. You will blow no bridge. Hey. Hey, Philhar.
[00:11:37] Unknown:
You.
[00:11:39] Unknown:
I am for the bridge. What do you say, woman? I am for the bridge and against you. I care nothing for the bridge. I am for the woman of Pablo. Fernando is also for the bridge. I am for the republic,
[00:11:53] Unknown:
and the republic is the bridge. After, we can do other things.
[00:11:59] Unknown:
You. You with your head of a bull and your heart of a devil, you think there will be an after from the bridge? It means nothing to you to be hunted like a beast after this thing in which there is no profit
[00:12:15] Unknown:
nor to die in it. Do not try to frighten me, coward.
[00:12:19] Unknown:
Coward? It is not cowardly to know what is foolish.
[00:12:25] Unknown:
Neither is it foolish to know what is cowardly. You, old man,
[00:12:30] Unknown:
do you want to die? No. Then watch your mouth. Am I a leader for nothing? For the good of this foreigner, we must be sacrificed. I am for the good and safety of all. Safety?
[00:12:49] Unknown:
Do you still believe that you command here?
[00:12:52] Unknown:
Yes. Here, I command. No.
[00:12:57] Unknown:
Here, I command. No one commands but me. You can stay if you wish in need of the food and drink of the wine, and not too bloody much. But here, I command.
[00:13:10] Unknown:
I should shoot thee and the foreigner both.
[00:13:13] Unknown:
Try and see what happens. Maria? Yes, Bilal. Outside and fill the water jar. Oh, but it's cold. Outside. It is not for long. Go.
[00:13:25] Unknown:
Roberto, your pistol. I'm running.
[00:13:29] Unknown:
Listen to me, drunkard. You understand who commands here?
[00:13:34] Unknown:
Aye.
[00:13:36] Unknown:
I command. No. Listen. Take the wax from your hairy ears. Listen well. I command.
[00:13:48] Unknown:
You command. Good. I shut up. You command.
[00:13:58] Unknown:
Alright. Now we will eat. Mariette, stay at the food drum the pot.
[00:14:11] Unknown:
Roberto. Yes, Jepsen. Why did you not kill Pablo?
[00:14:16] Unknown:
Why kill him? You have to kill him sooner or later. You speak seriously?
[00:14:22] Unknown:
What do you think we waited for? Why do you think Pilar sent the girl away?
[00:14:31] Unknown:
We waited for you to kill him. Pablo has no friends. I'd kill him now. That is to assassinate.
[00:14:39] Unknown:
Even better. Less danger.
[00:14:41] Unknown:
I cannot kill that way. Provoke him then. But you have to kill him. There is no remedy.
[00:14:48] Unknown:
Now the moment has passed. Provoke him or take advantage of the quiet. Kill him, Roberto. Somebody comes from a cave. It is a beautiful night. We will have good weather. That you, Inglis? I'm American, not English. No difference. Listen, Inglis. Do not pay any attention to the woman. She's difficult sometimes. Pay no attention. You are welcome here. Excuse me now. I go to see how they have tied the horses. Pay no attention to the woman. You see? The moment has escaped. I go after him.
[00:15:31] Unknown:
So do what? At least to prevent him from leaving. Oh, you can see in the moonlight, he test the ropes.
[00:15:38] Unknown:
Too bad, Inglis. The time has passed to kill him, but you will have to. You will have to. It becomes cold, Inglis. The fire is inside, at war.
[00:16:02] Unknown:
Up. Up your lazy dogs. The fastest airplane. German
[00:16:07] Unknown:
planes. Will they see the horses, English? Will they see the horses?
[00:16:10] Unknown:
Anselmo. Roberto.
[00:16:13] Unknown:
Go up by the bridge and watch the road. Make a note of all that passes, crux, tanks. You understand? I do not write, Roberto. Make a picture and then mark each thing. Understand? It is ingenious. The gipsy will relieve you. Go now. Adios. Adios, Alberto.
[00:16:29] Unknown:
They will see the horses. I will hide them in the wood. You, Fernando, help me.
[00:16:36] Unknown:
Pilar. Pilar. Last night, the gypsy said I should have No.
[00:16:43] Unknown:
He is mistaken.
[00:16:44] Unknown:
But in weakness, a man can be a great danger.
[00:16:48] Unknown:
No. Out of this one has passed all capacity for danger. I have wounded him much, Roberto. Kill him. Yes. Curse him. Yes. But wound him. No. Now he is finished. The plug has been drawn and the wine has all run out of the skin. Listen, Inglis. Last night I said to him, Pablo, why did you not kill the foreigner? He's a good boy, he said. Later he was awake and I hear him crying, short and ugly as a man cries when there is an animal that is inside shaking him. What passes now, Pablo?' 'Nothing, Pilar. Nothing. The people.
The way they left me. Pablo said that. Then he was ashamed and was quiet. But man, he is a ruin. Maybe the gipsy was right. The gipsy is an animal. You have seen the ruin that now is Pablo, but you should have seen Pablo in the first days of the reunion. We assaulted the army barracks in our town. He blew the wall open, and there were four of the Guar D'Azeville who surrendered. He lined them up before the wall. You murderers of peasants, he said. You who would shoot your own mothers. And they knelt by the wall and Pablo passed behind each of them and shot them in the back of the head.
Then he said, Pilar, let us go get coffee. But remembering these, these were evil men he killed.
[00:18:29] Unknown:
What happened to the others? The other fascists in the village.
[00:18:33] Unknown:
There were 20. Pablo had them beaten to death and then thrown over the cliff into the river. Listen, Inglis, and I will tell you of that day. Pablo organized it as he did the attack on the barracks. Pablo is very intelligent, but very brutal. He had them seized the fascists and held in the city hall, and then he ordered the priest to confess them. Think of it, Inglis. See it in your mind. The plaza in the sun with the city hall and a great crowd outside. Pablo placed all the men in two lines between the door of the city hall across the plaza to the cliff. They were armed with flails such as are used to beat out the grain, and some had oxgolds or pitchforks.
And at the end of the line, the men were carrying sickles and reaping hooks. A few were already drunk and shouting, but most of the people were very quiet and respectful.
[00:19:35] Unknown:
Will there be women?
[00:19:37] Unknown:
Are you hooked for the sake of Christ? No. Pilar. Pilar. Will there be women? No. Women. Why should we kill women? I never killed him, man. You will learn.
[00:19:48] Unknown:
That is the beauty of Pablo's plan. Each man will have responsibility. Why are you crying, Joaquin? I cannot help it, Pilar. I have never killed anyone.
[00:19:58] Unknown:
Here comes the first one.
[00:20:02] Unknown:
It was Don Benito Garcia, the mayor. And he came out bareheaded walking slowly from the door and down the porch and nothing happened. He passed two men, four men, eight men, 10 men, and nothing happened. What's the matter, Carlos? And still Don Benito walked on steadily, his fat face gray. And then suddenly a man raised his flail high and let it fall. And they beat him until he fell, and they dragged him through the dust of the plaza to the edge of the cliff. And then came Don Federico Gonzalez, and he looked very short and angry, and he spat on the ground. He could spit the actual saliva, which in such a circumstance is rare.
And he cursed the peasants. So they clubbed him to death very quickly because of the insult. Then there was Don Faustino Rivera, who was a great annoyer of girls and a dandy and a coward. Pablo pushed him out with a shot peasants pushed him from behind and he cried out loud and high as he fell. It was then I knew the lines had become cruel. The insults of Don Federico and the cowardice of Don Faustino had made them so. And then came Don Guillermo, who was a poor man and only became a fascist to be a snob. And his wife called to him from the balcony of his house, but he could not see her for his eyes were weak and his glasses had been broken.
And they hooted at his wife and hit him across the face. But Don Guillermo sat there crying to himself, not from fear, but from sadness. Then many men left the lines, but their places were taken by the drunkards. And then I was sick and went away for wine. And men killed in the hot sun in the plaza. They rushed the hall then, and I saw them flailing with clubs and striking with sickles and pruning hooks. And that was the end of the killing of the fascists in our town. And that day, Ynglais, was the day of the flails, and it was the worst day of my life until one other day.
[00:22:29] Unknown:
What other?
[00:22:33] Unknown:
Three days later when the fascists took the town. Someday, Inglis, I will tell you of that, for it is also a day to remember. It grows cold.
[00:22:52] Unknown:
It'll pass.
[00:22:54] Unknown:
It will snow before night. Now almost in June? Why not? These mountains do not know the names of the months. We are in the moon of May.
[00:23:04] Unknown:
It can't be snow. We'd never get away from the bridge. It can't snow.
[00:23:08] Unknown:
Just the same, Inglis. It will snow. The gray sky cuts off the tops of the mountains. It will snow by night.
[00:23:25] Unknown:
Wine, Maria. Bring wine.
[00:23:29] Unknown:
Trumpet.
[00:23:30] Unknown:
Bring wine. English. English.
[00:23:36] Unknown:
Well?
[00:23:38] Unknown:
We will have much snow. You do not like this snow, Inglis?
[00:23:47] Unknown:
No.
[00:23:51] Unknown:
The Inglis does not like this snow. Shut up, drunkard. Roger. With this goes your offensive, Inglis. With the wind in this direction, there will be much snow.
[00:24:04] Unknown:
Much snow. Hola. Uncle Fernando returns from Sentry.
[00:24:12] Unknown:
It is called to freeze the wings off a chicken. Give me wine, Billa. It snows
[00:24:21] Unknown:
and snows and snows. Inglis, is still falling.
[00:24:28] Unknown:
Drunk again, Pablo. He give me wine. Here. That is what kills the worm that haunts you. If we could feed that to the fascist, they will all be dead. There are dead fascists in the town of Pablo.
[00:24:46] Unknown:
Do not talk of that no more.
[00:24:49] Unknown:
Now you wish it had not happened. No. But it was barbarous.
[00:24:54] Unknown:
In those days, I was very barbarous.
[00:24:58] Unknown:
And now you are drunk. Yes.
[00:25:00] Unknown:
With your permission.
[00:25:03] Unknown:
I like you better when you are barbarous. You are a woman,
[00:25:06] Unknown:
and you do not understand. I'm drunk and wine, and I should be happy. Except for those people I have killed, all of them fill me with sorrow. I would bring them back to life. Everyone too, madre.
[00:25:25] Unknown:
Those who are fascists that you kill. I would restore them
[00:25:30] Unknown:
all to life. Listen, English.
[00:25:33] Unknown:
Pay no more attention to him. He's drunk. What were you before you came to Spain?
[00:25:39] Unknown:
I teach Spanish in a university in Montana.
[00:25:43] Unknown:
You do not look like a professor.
[00:25:47] Unknown:
He has no beard. He's a false professor.
[00:25:51] Unknown:
Hey. No mind, Inglis. He is drunk. I am not so sure.
[00:25:56] Unknown:
You, Pablo, will the snow last?
[00:26:01] Unknown:
Ask the woman. She commands.
[00:26:04] Unknown:
I asked you.
[00:26:05] Unknown:
Go drown yourself in your own spit. He is drunk, Inglis.
[00:26:10] Unknown:
You, Pablo.
[00:26:11] Unknown:
I am very drunk. That is what is important. I am much drunkard.
[00:26:19] Unknown:
Not drunkard. Coward. Your pistol Inglis, be ready.
[00:26:24] Unknown:
No, Inglis. Do not provoke me. It is not thus you get rid of me. Coward.
[00:26:34] Unknown:
The foul smelling drunkard.
[00:26:37] Unknown:
It is very possible, but I am not to be provoked. It is not worth the trouble. I do not provoke.
[00:26:47] Unknown:
You're a rare crawling mangy dog.
[00:26:52] Unknown:
Very rare, yes, and very drunk. To your health, English. To do away with me, English, you must assassinate me, because I do not provoke. And to assassinate me, you have no guts. Let me, Inglis. Yes. Listen to Fernando Inglis,
[00:27:19] Unknown:
an exemplary patriot. To mother, he let me offend.
[00:27:23] Unknown:
A patriot.
[00:27:25] Unknown:
I will shut his mouth.
[00:27:31] Unknown:
It makes no difference. I am not provoked. God. The voice. He pleasing grace. Have your pistol ready? I am not a fool. I do not provoke. I do not leave it alone. No one here has guts to kill me. And this with the hands, it is silly. Fascist. Jurors. Nor words either. I am
[00:28:17] Unknown:
far past words. I can't stand the stink of him.
[00:28:22] Unknown:
And I will be alive when you are dead. I drink to the professor, to the senior commander, to all the illusioned
[00:28:35] Unknown:
ones. You drink to no one.
[00:28:43] Unknown:
That is a waste. It is silly. I am drunk. An intelligent man must be drunk to live with fools. You
[00:28:55] Unknown:
go drown in the fears of your cowardice.
[00:28:58] Unknown:
Well, I will go to see to the horses. I care for the horses very much. Go on. Go on, Inglis. Tell them about your bridge. It is still snowing, Inglis.
[00:29:19] Unknown:
What will he do?
[00:29:21] Unknown:
Anything. He could toss a hand grenade back in here. Last night, Roberto should have killed him. Kill him?
[00:29:29] Unknown:
I am for it now. We could sell him to the fascist. None of that filthiness gypsy. We could blind him to make it easy and sell him to the fascist. Shut up, gypsy.
[00:29:40] Unknown:
You, Fernando.
[00:29:42] Unknown:
He is a danger. Heal him.
[00:29:45] Unknown:
Alright then. I'm ready to do it. Tonight.
[00:29:48] Unknown:
It's all decided. I, you you are speaking of me. I am interrupting perhaps. Maria, go draw wine from the skin.
[00:30:03] Unknown:
Give me your pistol Inglis. I have had enough up to
[00:30:07] Unknown:
here. Not here, Camerota. There's dynamite in the sacks.
[00:30:11] Unknown:
It is snowing less in less.
[00:30:15] Unknown:
It is?
[00:30:17] Unknown:
So we will have good weather for the bridge. We? Yes. We. In this of the bridge, I am with you now. What drunkard? After what you said? I was drunk. Now I have changed my mind. Do not trust him. Trust me or not. There is no one who in retreat from the bridge as I can.
[00:30:47] Unknown:
Is this right?
[00:30:49] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:30:50] Unknown:
Then you are with us now for the bridge. Why not?
[00:30:55] Unknown:
Have you no confidence in less?
[00:30:58] Unknown:
Yes. Yes. I have confidence.
[00:31:02] Unknown:
Then I drink to the
[00:31:05] Unknown:
bridge to and to the snow. To the snow.
[00:31:23] Unknown:
Is bringing you a radio version of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. If you're interested in supplementing your enjoyment of these NBC theatre productions with home study under college supervision, be sure to listen to the announcement at the close of this programme. And now our intermission commentator Diana E. Trilling.
[00:31:44] Unknown:
Ernest Hemingway is that rare phenomenon in present day fiction. A writer whose stature and reputation have increased with the appearance of each new volume. For a contemporary American, his production has been uncommonly steady. And what is more remarkable, it has been increasingly solid, and it has been unique in the influence it has had on younger authors. No writer of our day, not even the early James Joyce, has been so persistently copied as Hemingway without being equalled, For his style, while it may look easy to imitate, is actually inseparable from the content of mister Hemingway's books.
The swift directness of his narration, the visual perfection of his descriptions, the bare understatement of his dialogues, are one artist's inimitable way of dealing with a world in which action comes before reflection, in which the eye sees more than the heart or mind can encompass, and in which people are too pressed or weary or disillusioned to wish to engage in discursive talk. Like so many of his generation who began their writing careers after the First World War, Hemingway for some years considered politics outside his purview. Even a Farewell to Arms, which was a war novel, dealt only with the romance and personal tragedy of war, not with its issues.
It was not until the mid thirties that Hemingway became openly concerned with social questions. Then his sympathies captured by the loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War, he went to Spain to help fight this first large scale battle against fascism, for whom the Bell Tolls is the result of his Spanish experience. While the earlier novels of Hemingway have but a single narrative line, for whom the Bell Tolls is a complicated dramatic structure. It is many stories in one. The story of Robert Jordan, a young man who has to learn his small expendable place in the universe. It is a love story, not as authentic perhaps as the love story of a farewell to arms, but nonetheless capable of exciting the imagination.
It is a story of adventure and of the outdoors, such as Hemingway excels in. It is a story of two sides of a fierce battle, each animated by its own idealisms and prey to its own weaknesses. Scenes of the novel, which ask our pity as much as our terror, take place among their enemy. Most importantly, for whom the bell tolls is a story of the interdependency of man's fate. The novel takes its title from a sermon of the seventeenth century poet and preacher John Donne. No man is an island entire of itself. Any man's death diminishes me.
Never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee. No man, that is, is free while any other man is enslaved. We are all of us, by very reason of our individuality, members of each other. Hemingway is telling us, even with his title, what proved to be all too true, that the Spanish war was our war.
[00:34:53] Unknown:
Thank you, missus Trilling. Our radio version of For Whom the Bell Tolls will continue from Hollywood after a brief pause for station identification.
[00:35:20] Unknown:
Here, Anselmo. You can see by the pictures I have made where the dynamite must go on the bridge. It is very clear, Roberto. Here. You keep the paper. If anything should happen to me, you will blow the bridge. Will something happen, Roberto?
[00:35:34] Unknown:
Something always happens. Drinking again, Pablo? Woman, I'm working on the problem of the retreat out of these mountains. Oh, you have thought of something? Various things. Where did you find them? In the wine bowl? Perhaps. Deal the cars, gipsy. Maria,
[00:35:52] Unknown:
fill the bowl. In the wine skin itself, there should be some fine ideas. Why don't you crawl in and look for them? Deal from the top, gypsy? Well, by certainty.
[00:36:04] Unknown:
I search for ideas in the bowl. I see the future in the wine bowl.
[00:36:13] Unknown:
Oh, man sees the future. That is ignorance and superstition.
[00:36:17] Unknown:
I have seen death burned on the face of a living being as a with a branding iron. There is a smell of death. I have been with bullfighters before they go into the ring, and there is a smell of death on them.
[00:36:30] Unknown:
A smell of fear, maybe. Of death. You believe in this Pablo? There's gypsy music of the smell of death.
[00:36:38] Unknown:
I am more of your opinion. No supernatural thing has ever happened to me. Fear? Yes.
[00:36:46] Unknown:
Plenty. In the last season of the bullfighter, Ignacio Sanchez Mejia, he smelled so strongly of death that many refused to sit with him in the cafe.
[00:36:54] Unknown:
All gypsies knew of this. After the death, these things were invented.
[00:36:58] Unknown:
What she says is true, Ingress. It is a well known thing among us.
[00:37:03] Unknown:
I do not believe it.
[00:37:05] Unknown:
Where are you going, Inglis?
[00:37:07] Unknown:
Outside to sleep. In the snow. I'm used to it. I would not offend delicate gypsy senses with the smell of death.
[00:37:17] Unknown:
You are a rare one,
[00:37:19] Unknown:
unless a rare one.
[00:37:27] Unknown:
Who's there?
[00:37:28] Unknown:
Anselmo. Listen, Roberto. Listen. A horseman.
[00:37:37] Unknown:
Where?
[00:37:38] Unknown:
Beyond the woods. There. He turns into the field. He's got an automatic rifle.
[00:37:44] Unknown:
Fascist cavalry.
[00:37:46] Unknown:
Slide over, old one.
[00:37:49] Unknown:
Don't miss Roberto.
[00:37:52] Unknown:
Roberto.
[00:37:57] Unknown:
Go catch the horse, old one. Who shot that gun? I did. There's cavalry out. Go get your machine gun set up. Fernando, what passes? What passes?
[00:38:05] Unknown:
You go up to the edge of the wood. Fernando, mount the machine gun. What happened? Never mind. Get the gun set up.
[00:38:11] Unknown:
The old one has the horse now. See? By the wood.
[00:38:15] Unknown:
That is much horse.
[00:38:18] Unknown:
Yes. We will put him with the others. Oh, oh, he made tracks in here. He must make them out. They'll follow the tracks in the snow.
[00:38:26] Unknown:
True. I will ride him out and hide him till the snow melts. Inglis,
[00:38:32] Unknown:
you have much head today. Better hurry. There may be more.
[00:38:37] Unknown:
Here. Hold one. Hold the horse there. Hold him there. See? Where are you going, Inglis?
[00:38:41] Unknown:
Now we'll search the body. For money? For papers and his gun. A machine gun. A machine gun.
[00:38:48] Unknown:
That's modern cavalry.
[00:38:50] Unknown:
There's modern cavalry on his face and snow.
[00:38:56] Unknown:
There will be more horsemen, Yngwes. I know.
[00:38:59] Unknown:
They will follow the tracks of this one. Pablo may be riding straight into their mouth. He will get away. He is clever in the woods.
[00:39:08] Unknown:
Pablo is a man on a horse.
[00:39:16] Unknown:
You saw no other horseman, Pablo?
[00:39:18] Unknown:
None. By the tears of heaven, I am thirsty. No no other horsemen. Where did you leave the horse? In the canyon upstream from here. They will not find him. And you? Anselmo.
[00:39:32] Unknown:
What passed on the bridge by the road?
[00:39:35] Unknown:
There was a much movement there. Cavalry riding into these hills. Many? Here. I have marked down how many on the paper.
[00:39:43] Unknown:
A squatter.
[00:39:45] Unknown:
So
[00:39:46] Unknown:
they will hunt us. This picture shows guns, rubber tired guns.
[00:39:51] Unknown:
Four trucks passed on each such a gun and six men in each truck.
[00:39:57] Unknown:
I'll have to write a dispatch. Is there anyone to carry on over the lines? Primitivo. He's on guard above. Good. Here. Aldwin, claim you have placed the table.
[00:40:06] Unknown:
Inglis, I have admired your judgment much today.
[00:40:10] Unknown:
Quiet. I'm writing.
[00:40:12] Unknown:
That of the tracks of the horse, It was great judgment.
[00:40:17] Unknown:
Will the attack be stopped, Inglis? Well, then of the bridge.
[00:40:21] Unknown:
I can't tell. If the attack starts, there must be the bridge.
[00:40:26] Unknown:
I think then we might as well eat well tonight. The gypsy has caught two rabbits in the snow.
[00:40:33] Unknown:
Yes, Inglis. I have great confidence in you. Great confidence.
[00:40:46] Unknown:
English. English. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up and put up your pistol. It is Pilar.
[00:40:52] Unknown:
What passes will you want? Pablo is gone.
[00:40:56] Unknown:
What? When? It must be an hour. Where's my boot? He has taken something of yours. What? I do not know it was from your pack in the cave.
[00:41:05] Unknown:
Come on. Careful.
[00:41:07] Unknown:
The men sleep.
[00:41:12] Unknown:
It's time, Roberto.
[00:41:13] Unknown:
Sleep on, old one.
[00:41:15] Unknown:
Here. From the pack.
[00:41:18] Unknown:
Nothing will go on from here. Dynamite's alright. It was the other pack in place. Slit it with a knife.
[00:41:26] Unknown:
Detonators going in the fuse and the percussion caps. Is this guarding woman? I slept with my head against them and one hand touching them. You slept well? Listen. He got up in the night, and I said, where do you go, Pablo? And he said, I am sick woman. I go outside, so I slept again. When I walk again, he was not here, and I felt of the Saxon, found the slip places, and I came to you.
[00:41:50] Unknown:
Can he get out of the valley? Yes. And
[00:41:54] Unknown:
that's that. Go back to bed. Oh, Ingrace, there is nothing I would not do to bring back your property. We have both been betrayed by Pablo. We have work to do today, Pilar.
[00:42:05] Unknown:
What did he take? The exploder that works on wires from a distance, but there are other ways to do exploding. Did not Pablo have caps and fuse? He took them with him. I have looked. Get some sleep. We're better off with Pablo gone. I have betrayed you. Get Get some sleep, woman. We start for the bridge at four. I have failed you,
[00:42:26] Unknown:
and I have failed the Republic.
[00:42:29] Unknown:
Get some sleep, woman. Get some sleep.
[00:42:41] Unknown:
Take more of this too, Fernando.
[00:42:44] Unknown:
I cannot eat on such a morning. Come. Come eat, Ingrace. In a minute. What are you doing, Ingrace?
[00:42:51] Unknown:
Fixing hand grenades. You will throw bombs today, Roberto? Oh, tell me, Fernando. Are these grenades of yours always exploded?
[00:42:59] Unknown:
With a deafening roar, with a flash to blind the angels of heaven. How do you know, Gipsy? You never threw one. They always blow Pilar.
[00:43:08] Unknown:
There is no always on munitions, ours or theirs, but they blow.
[00:43:14] Unknown:
Use them for dynamite somehow.
[00:43:16] Unknown:
Eat then.
[00:43:19] Unknown:
How do you feel woman?
[00:43:21] Unknown:
In the teeth of the grave, but good. How does it seem to you? We are too few. Very few. Maria will have to hold the horses at the bridge, and I will take the post of Pablo. One other thing, Inglis. Yes? In the thing of the hand. What thing of the hand? No. No. Listen. Do not be an angry little boy. Seeing the future is all gypsy nonsense that I make to give myself importance. There is no such thing. Leave it alone. It was lying nonsense that I make. I would not have you worried in the day of the battle. I am not worried. When do we go? Anytime.
[00:44:02] Unknown:
You. You take the second pack, old one. I am ready.
[00:44:06] Unknown:
How you doing? I'm Well, so far so well. Look. I can keep the outstretched
[00:44:12] Unknown:
hand steady. Anyone can keep the whole hand steady. Point with one finger. He trembles. Mine too. Always. That is normal. Not for me. Look.
[00:44:33] Unknown:
My hand is steady. A lion of courage. But can you spit, Fernando?
[00:44:41] Unknown:
That is rare. Most rare. You filthy mule. Spit in the fire if you must want your courage.
[00:44:49] Unknown:
But the endless.
[00:44:52] Unknown:
Pablo.
[00:44:54] Unknown:
You you. Me. Hola, Ingles. I cut five men from the bands of Elias and Alejandro with their horses.
[00:45:04] Unknown:
And the exploders and the detonator and the fuse?
[00:45:07] Unknown:
Oh, I I threw them down the gorge into the river, but I have thought of a way to detonate using a grenade. So have I. Have you a drink of anything? Here. I have come back.
[00:45:28] Unknown:
So I see.
[00:45:30] Unknown:
Listening, Les. At bottom, I am no coward. I have ridden since I left here. There were not enough of you to do this bridge, so I have brought five men. When I left and took your material, I thought you would know it was impossible and would give it up. But after I had thrown away your material, I found myself too lonely. Too modest. So I rode for the others so it could be successful. I left them down the valley. So you have come back, Yes, woman.
[00:46:04] Unknown:
Well, I did not think you could be the ruin you appear to be. Do not mock me, woman. I have come back.
[00:46:11] Unknown:
I do not like to be alone. Last night, man, the hours they passed evenly. Your predecessor, the famous Judas Iscariot hanged himself. Do not talk to me that white woman. I am back. You.
[00:46:27] Unknown:
I suppose if a man has something once always something of it remains.
[00:46:32] Unknown:
I am ready now for what the day brings. Lend me another swig from your bottle, and then let us be going to your bridge.
[00:46:51] Unknown:
What, man?
[00:46:53] Unknown:
We do not have enough horses for the retreat. Enough of the retreat. Is the plan clear? With the five men of Elias, I deal with the guard post down the road. Yeah.
[00:47:05] Unknown:
This is far enough.
[00:47:09] Unknown:
Pilar,
[00:47:10] Unknown:
get the grenade sack while we hobble the horses. Listen, woman. What is it, Ingles? There is to be no attack on the guard post till the falling of the bombs in the offensive. I understand. Go about your business. And after the destruction of the bridge, you cover the road from above. Alrighty, Inglis. The horses are tied, so one pull of the rope will free them. See? You understand the plan. Why not?
[00:47:32] Unknown:
Destroy the guard post. Cut the telephone. Fall back on the bridge when you blow it. But you will cover us with the machine gun when we come back. English. Don't worry. There is still a lack of horses. Well, good luck Ingles. Luck, Pablo. Fernando, Agustin, primitivo with me. Goodbye, Roberto.
[00:47:56] Unknown:
Guard well. Goodbye, Pilar. Fight well. Well, old one.
[00:48:05] Unknown:
I am ready, Roberto.
[00:48:07] Unknown:
Walk slowly. Yeah. Time. Smoke.
[00:48:13] Unknown:
See. Thank you, Roberto.
[00:48:15] Unknown:
Robert. Yeah. Far enough. I have the glasses. Get down now, old one. It's light enough to be seen from the bridge. Si. We'll have to deal with the sentries.
[00:48:27] Unknown:
I know. And old one. See, Roberta?
[00:48:30] Unknown:
When you fire, do not think of it as a man, but as a target. You will have to go down to make sure.
[00:48:39] Unknown:
Roberta, please.
[00:48:41] Unknown:
Bombardment. Your tank starts. Here goes, Pablo. Go. Go. Hold on. Sentry. Still the Queen, Roberto. All right. All right, Nafo. Come on. Out from behind that pole. Come on. A little more. A little more. Now.
[00:49:06] Unknown:
Come on. Come on old one. And settle this way. I come.
[00:49:12] Unknown:
To the left side of the bridge.
[00:49:15] Unknown:
It is done, Roberto. I had to finish him with a knife.
[00:49:19] Unknown:
I am ashamed. I killed one. I killed one.
[00:49:22] Unknown:
We have to kill them, and we kill them.
[00:49:26] Unknown:
How about fights by the guard post? Alright. I swing under the bridge and you hand down the packages. Don't drop any.
[00:49:32] Unknown:
No Roberto.
[00:49:34] Unknown:
We're gonna have to look down. Alright. Old one. The first of the dynamite in the wire.
[00:49:41] Unknown:
Here here, Roberto. More.
[00:49:44] Unknown:
Alright. More dynamite.
[00:49:46] Unknown:
I hear
[00:49:48] Unknown:
The wooden wedges now. Che. The wedges.
[00:49:52] Unknown:
That slimy dog can dump my detonator.
[00:49:55] Unknown:
All right. The hand grenades.
[00:49:58] Unknown:
Be careful with them, Roberto. Be careful. Don't worry.
[00:50:02] Unknown:
More wire. Alright. Anselmo. Take the wire loosely. It is attached to the grenade pins. Let's get out of here. Alright. Now, walk backwards with me, paying out the wire from the spool. I I understand. Loosely though. Yeah. If you pull, she blows. Don't let it foul. I understand, Roberto. Let's go. Careful with the wire. Alright. I have to go back to the wire of the other charge. When you pull, pull hard. If tanks come, blow. I will not pull with you on the bridge, Roberto. Blow it if you have to. I'll wave my hand. Hold on, Simba.
[00:50:46] Unknown:
What they bast Stay down, Gipsy, down. Pablo fights like a demon below and pila. Oh,
[00:50:53] Unknown:
the killing. Killing is bad, Gipsy. A sin. I killed the sentry just now, and it was a scene.
[00:51:00] Unknown:
When Inglis blows the bridge, will the fragments come back this far? I do not know. I'll get behind that rock. When we blow the train, the fragments sail past my ears like wash tubs. What does he wait for? Patience, Gipsy. Patience. Here he comes. Listen. That's not Pablo's gun.
[00:51:17] Unknown:
Thanks. Floyd and Salvo. Follow the bridge. Roberto. I'll be alright, Floyd. Floyd. I hear you, Robert. I hear. No.
[00:51:36] Unknown:
Hola, dynamite. You dropped the bridge into the gorge like a birdcage. Where's Anselmo? Anselmo? He is there, Inglis. Anselmo? A piece of the Grinch Inglace. A fragment as big as a washtub. Why eat shit? Shut up. Shut up, Gypsy. Come
[00:51:50] Unknown:
on, Gypsy. Where is the old one? Dead.
[00:51:53] Unknown:
Dead.
[00:51:54] Unknown:
The bridge is blown Inglis. Remember that. We lost two at the guard post. Let's go. Pablo is still below. You are to cover Pablo. Let Pablo cover himself with mutt. No Inglis. He came back. He fought much below there. There. Listen, Inglis. He is coming back now.
[00:52:12] Unknown:
Had the explode or the old man would not have been killed, I could have blown the bridge from here.
[00:52:17] Unknown:
Come on now. Over to the horses.
[00:52:19] Unknown:
Must be firing a tank.
[00:52:21] Unknown:
Oh, Maria. Loose the horses.
[00:52:24] Unknown:
What's he firing at? Over here, Pablo.
[00:52:28] Unknown:
Thanks. Ingles. A tank.
[00:52:30] Unknown:
There it is coming around the bench. Is that a tank? If I had a bottle of gasoline, I could set it on fire. We'll have to chase it back, jepsy. Hold the legs of the machine gun. The tank, Paul's back. Get the horses Get the horses ready. Where are your men? All dead. Dead? Yeah. We have plenty of horses now, English.
[00:52:54] Unknown:
That tank covers the road. We'll have to ride past. What were you shooting at around the bend, Pablo? Did you shoot all of them, you scum?
[00:53:01] Unknown:
There were not enough horses. With a little luck, we'll be all right now. You killed your own men. Oh, they were not of our band. Alright. Let's get out. Not the horses.
[00:53:13] Unknown:
We'll have to go across under fire. Alright, Gypsy, you first.
[00:53:22] Unknown:
They didn't shoot. They will. You next, Maria.
[00:53:27] Unknown:
Together now. They will be shooting. Hey
[00:53:40] Unknown:
Ingrace.
[00:53:43] Unknown:
He's hit.
[00:53:44] Unknown:
How goes it, Ingrace?
[00:53:46] Unknown:
Left leg. Left leg's broken. We'll bind it up. Oh, get out of here. It'll be coming. Does it does it hurt much? I think the nervous Christ. Get out of here. I'm I'm done anyway. Go on.
[00:53:57] Unknown:
I I'm sorry you have this, Inglis, but there is no time. I know. Get out. Do you like anything Inglis?
[00:54:05] Unknown:
Do do you want me to shoot you, Roberto? No. Leave me the machine gun. Go on. Go on. There's no time.
[00:54:12] Unknown:
Salud Ingrace. Salud Pilar. Come on woman. There is no time.
[00:54:19] Unknown:
Hey.
[00:54:22] Unknown:
Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey Oh,
[00:54:30] Unknown:
I hate to leave it now. Take it easy. You've had a life already.
[00:54:35] Unknown:
I remember a pillar in the hand. A lot of bull. Come on, Jordan. A fascist will be coming up the road. Jordan, come on. Get the gun set up. He must be masked. Was they gone? Dying is only bad when it takes a long time coming on humiliate shots. That's why you have all the luck, John. You're through all at once. A gone goose. I wish they'd come like it's beginning to hurt.
[00:55:11] Unknown:
Lots of careful.
[00:55:13] Unknown:
Keep it up. Keep it up, boy. If you pass out, you're done. You're not so good at this, Jordan. I wanna finish this up right. There they are coming around the bend. Do it right now. Get the officer. Do it right, Jordan. Finish it up. One thing done well can make the difference. Here he comes. Come now. Come on. Come
[00:56:19] Unknown:
Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know by whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.
[00:56:49] Unknown:
You have been listening to For Whom the Bell Tolls, an NBC theatre production of the Ernest Hemingway novel. If you wish to increase your knowledge and appreciation of literature, we suggest you might enjoy the college supervised courses now being offered in connection with the NBC Theatre. For full information write to NBC Theatre in Take care of one of the following universities or colleges. The University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, the University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kansas State Teachers College, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Washington State College, Pullman, Washington, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona Texas College of Arts and Industries, Kingsville, Texas Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York.
You also have a chance to win a set of the famous Encyclopedia Britannica. Several of the universities and colleges offering these courses are giving the Encyclopedia as prizes to the students doing the best work. Enroll in a supervised course, and you may be one of the fortunate ones to win the Encyclopedia Britannica. Next week, be with us again at the NBC Theatre for a production of J. P. Mark I's Point of No Return, and the following week for William Faulkner's highly dramatic The Wild Palms. For Whom the Bell Tolls was adapted for the NBC theatre by Ernest Cunoy, Louis Jean Haidt was Jordan. Georgia Backus was Pilar. Donald Morrison was Pablo.
Nestor Paiva was the Gypsy. Ramsey Hill was Fernando. Lester Sharp was Goltz. Rolfe Sedan was Anselmo. Consuelo Young was Maria. Your announcer, Don Stanley. Our intermission commentator was Diana Trilling, whose commentary was recorded. Guitar interludes by Jose Boroso. The director of the NBC Theatre is Andrew C. Love. This program came to you from Hollywood. Tonight, NBC presents the American theatre's foremost acting couple, Alfred Lundt and Lynn Fontanne, in the whimsical comedy The Great Adventure on Theatre Guild on the Air.
And for another great adventure today, listen to Sam Spade. Remember, Alfred Lund and Lynn Fontanne on Theatre Guild and Sam Spade today on NBC. You're tuned for the stars on NBC.
Introduction to Hemingway's Adaptation
The War in Spain and the Mission
Pablo and the Guerrilla Fighters
Pilar's Story of Brutality
The Day of the Flails
Intermission Commentary by Diana Trilling
The Plan to Blow the Bridge
Pablo's Return and the Final Assault
The Aftermath and Reflections
