Bell for Adano, A

Bell for Adano, A (1944), a drama by Paul Osborn.[Cort Theatre, 296 perf.] Major Victor Joppolo ( Fredric March), an Italian‐American, arrives in Adano, Italy, during the war to head the Allied Military Government in that city. He is sympathetic to the needs of the Sicilians, but his commanding officer, who is stationed far away, is not. When the commander orders that carts not be allowed to impede modern traffic in the village, Joppolo ignores the order. His behavior is reported, and he is ordered transferred, but not before he has gotten the villagers one of the things they most want—a new bell to replace one that the Fascists melted down to make arms. Just as he is leaving, the new bell sounds for the first time. “It shakes the whole damned building,” Joppolo proudly tells his sergeant. With the war still raging, a realistic treatment of its brutalities was out of the question. In a sense, this play, based on John Hersey's novel, looked back to the romantic war plays of earlier times. Thus while the Leland Hayward production was unquestionably timely, it was also sentimental and idealistic.