2 October (1965-10-02) – 23 October 1965 (1965-10-23)
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a British television series first aired by BBC in 1965, based on the 1940 novel by Ernest Hemingway. It stars John Ronane, Ann Bell, Julian Curry, Glynn Edwards and Joan Miller. The film was adapted for television by Giles Cooper, was produced by Douglas Allen, and was directed by Rex Tucker. It consisted of four 45-minute episodes, the first of which aired on 2 October 1965. The last episode aired 23 October 1965.[1] According to the BBC archives none of the episodes of the film still exist.[citation needed]
It was the first British television adaptation of a Hemingway novel.[1][2]Robert Gerhard composed music for the adaptation that incorporated the guitar.[3]
The theatre arts professor Thomas S. Hischak called the 1965 adaptation "the most complete" and wrote, "The cast of characters, little known outside the United Kingdom, were adequate even if none looked or sounded remotely Spanish."[4]The Stage and Television Today critic Bill Edmund wrote, "This four-part serial ended with the blowing up of the bridge, leaving Robert Jordan (John Ronane)—the blower-upper—lying dead. The whole episode had a musical comedy or operatic flavour and I half expected all concerned to take time off from fighting and sing a song."[5]The Stage and Television Today critic Kari Anderson called the For Whom the Bell Tolls adaptation "deadly-dull", while the critics Leslie Halliwell and Philip Purser said, "Despite the good actor John Ronane as the hero Robert Jordan, For Whom the Bell Tolls was a turkey."[6][7]
