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Saturday Matinee: It's a Double Feature 'Farewell to Arms'



Check a big one off the bucket list. We finally made it to Key West, and to Hemingway's home, the house he lived in with his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, a Vogue and Vanity Fair editor. It was fantastic. Not so much the house, although it was, and is, the largest single family home in the city. And full of interesting pieces like the headboard in the master bedroom; converted from the gate to a Spanish monastery Pauline convinced the monks to sell them. It was absolutely fantastic to be there, to get a real sense of the big man's life, a real feeling for the actuality of his days. Heard some great anecdotes about his life with his four wives, but especially with Pauline, who stayed in the house after the divorce and Hemingway moved on to wife #3, journalist Martha Gelhorn. Have you been? Check out this link to the Hemingway House & Museum for more info. It was my absolute favorite thing about Key West. That and the chocolate covered Key Lime Pie on a stick. Bet on it; I'll be flying home Monday to a diet.




Hemingway's office above the carriage house

According to our guide, because of the difficulty she had giving birth to their first son, Pauline was the inspiration for Catherine in Farewell to Arms. In today's Saturday Matinee, Catherine is played by  Helen Hayes with Gary Cooper in the lead role of  Lt. Fredric Henry in the 1932 version. Or Jennifer Jones and Rock Hudson in the 1957 version.  Take your pick, you can watch either one this afternoon, both are available to stream on Amazon. Watch the trailers, what do you think?