Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man

Loosely assembled from ten of the autobiographical Nick Adams stories and the Italian segment of A Farewell to Arms, this is an ill-judged, miscast odyssey that seeks to combine the artistry of Ernest Hemingway's fiction with the macho posturing of his private life. As the titular seeker-after-experience, Richard Beymer's struggle to impose his personality on the proceedings is hampered by a script containing too many opportunities for scene-stealing cameos. Paul Newman's grotesque boxer, Fred Clark's exploitative entrepreneur and Eli Wallach's kindly orderly impress, though the standouts are Arthur Kennedy and Jessica Tandy as the hero's parents.