I rarely use the word 'dated' to describe a film, but this one seems to fall under that category. Not so much for the story itself, but for the development and motivation of the characters. The 'love at first sight' aspect of the relationship between Robert Jordan (Gary Cooper) and Maria (Ingrid Bergman) just didn't work for me. The age disparity was one thing, but it was Cooper's unemotional demeanor throughout that sort of nixed the idea that they would ever be a viable couple. Mission oriented as he was to blow up the bridge left little room for romance amid the revolutionary cause of the Republican rebels.

There's also the pacing to consider for what's nominally a war time drama. Things move quite slowly, and while tactics and procedures do take time, there seemed to be an inordinate amount of time before anything of consequence would occur. And a character like Pablo (Akim Tamiroff), who's loyalty always seemed to be in question, probably should have been dealt with after the first vote taken to put an end to his unreliability. That he pulled through at the end certainly wasn't a given with the inconsistent behavior he showed throughout.

There was an ironic statement made by Roberto early in the picture when questioned by Fernando (Fortunio Bonanova), one of the revolutionaries. When asked how he could survive in a country with the kind of anti-authoritarianism he showed as a mercenary, he stated, "...they don't shoot you for being a Republican in America". Of course, that was then and this is now, and someone like Steve Scalise would certainly beg to differ today.