Hemingway's words sizzle on silver screen

One hundred years ago this month, Ernest Hemingway was born. Thirty-eight years ago this month, Ernest Hemingway died. A suicide. In the intervening years, he became a world-famous writer, won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes and saw most of his work turned into movies.

Because bar-crawling in Havana and shooting endangered species in Africa aren't as easy as they once were, why not try a video homage to Papa's memory?-- "A FAREWELL TO ARMS" (1932) -- Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes play ill-fated lovers -- an American ambulance driver and an English nurse -- in Italy during World War I. The 1957 remake starred Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones.

Originally cast: Fredric March and Claudette Colbert.

Money matters: Coop was paid a mere $15,000 because he was a mere movie star; Hayes, imported from the theater, got $38,000.

What Hemingway thought of it: He wasn't exactly thrilled that, unlike in his book, Hayes' character lives. When the film was re-released in 1948, she quite properly died (two endings had been shot). In a letter to a friend, Hemingway also protested other changes: "The movie hero deserts because his girlfriend won't write him any letters. When he goes to look for her, the entire Army tags along so he won't get lonely."

-- "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS" (1943) -- Cooper plays a soldier of fortune fighting the Fascists in Spain and becomes romantically involved with a fiery Spanish peasant (Ingrid Bergman).

Originally cast: Coop, who by then was a Hemingway buddy, and Vera Zorina, a ballet dancer. After viewing the early rushes, the filmmakers switched to Bergman -- who was, incidentally, the novelist's first choice.

Money matters: Hemingway was paid $150,000 for the rights to his book. David O. Selznick was paid the same amount for loaning out Bergman.

What Hemingway thought of it: Bergman recalled that Hemingway told her he saw the movie five times. It was not a compliment: "After I'd seen the first five minutes, I couldn't stand it any longer so I walked out. . . . Later I went back again because I thought I must see the whole movie, and I saw a bit and again I walked out. It took me five visits to see that movie."

-- "THE KILLERS" (1946) -- Hemingway's short story is stretched into a neat film noir starring Burt Lancaster as an ex-boxer, the doomed target of two hired killers, and Ava Gardner as the woman who done him wrong. Loosely reworked by Don Siegel in 1964 with Lee Marvin and, in his last Hollywood role, Ronald Reagan.

Originally cast: Lancaster was a virtual unknown, so the studio tested "bigger" stars -- such as Wayne Morris and Sonny Tufts.