Ernest Hemingway Movies & TV

The Spanish Earth (1937)

A documentary about the Spanish Republican government narrated by Ernest Hemingway and John dos Passos. Hemingway covered the Spanish Civil War as a journalist in the 1930s and developed strong anti-Franco views.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)

Set in the Spanish Civil War, this is sort of the quintessential adaptation of a Hemingway novel: big, grand, sweeping, foreign setting, beautiful women, stoic men. It even has Gary Cooper, a Hemingway pal. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture (Katina Paxinou's portrayal of Pilar was the only winner, for Best Supporting Actress).

The Killers

Director Robert Siodmak's 1946 interpretation of Hemingway's short story about two hit men and their victim is said to be the only film adaptation of one of his works that Hemingway actually liked. It stars Burt Reynolds and Ava Gardner. The 1964 version is something of a cult classic. Ronald Reagan stars as a villain in his last film role before leaving Hollywood for politics. Obviously we don't know if Papa would have liked the movie, but we're guessing he probably would have liked Angie Dickinson.

The Sun Also Rises (1957)

A cast of Hollywood heavyweights acts out Hemingway's novel about expatriate Americans in Paris in the 1920s. The film has its flaws—scenes meant to take place in 1922 have cars from the 1950s zipping around—but is worth a watch if you're in the mood for drama in black and white.

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)

This is a drama in the tradition of old men-buddy pictures. In this case, the buddies in question are a retired Irish sailor (who claims he once wrestled Hemingway, hence the title) and a Cuban barber. The film isn't really about Hemingway, but its Florida setting, quiet reflections on life and other references evoke Papa's presence. A strong cast that includes Robert Duvall, Shirley MacLaine and Sandra Bullock hold the film up.

In Love and War (1996)

Chris O'Connell and Sandra Bullock (again) star in this film based loosely on the romance between a young Ernest Hemingway and nurse Agnes von Kurowsky in World War I. Hemingway used this relationship to write A Farewell to Arms, one of the greatest novels in American literature. The makers of this film used it to create the tagline "In war they found each other . . . in each other they found love." You decide which one you want to spend your time on.