From Here to Eternity Review

From Here to Eternity

Release Date: 15th October 1953 - Australia

Production Companies

Columbia Pictures (presents)

 
Distribution

Sony Pictures Australia

Genre: War/Drama

Rating: PG

Runtime: 118 minutes


Budget: $2,500,000

Box Office Gross: $30,500,000 (US)

Plot Summary
In a barracks in Hawaii before Pearl Harbor, lone wolf and boxer champ "Prew" Prewitt refuses to fight and prefers to play the bugle. Captain Holmes subjects Prew to a series of punishments, while unbeknownst to Holmes, the gruff but fair Sgt. Warden is having a secret affair with the captain's abused wife.

Cast

Burt Lancaster - Sgt. Milton Warden

Montgomery Clift - Robert E. Lee Prewitt

Deborah Kerr - Karen Holmes

Donna Reed - Alma aka Lorene

Frank Sinatra - Angelo Maggio 

Philip Ober - Capt. Dana Holmes

Mickey Shaughnessy - Sgt. Leva

Harry Bellaver - Mazzioli

Ernest Borgnine - Sgt. 'Fatso' 

Judson

Jack Warden - Corp. Buckley

John Dennis - Sgt. Ike Galovitch

Merle Travis - Sal Anderson

Tim Ryan - Sgt. Pete Karelsen

Arthur Keegan - Treadwell

Barbara Morrison - Mrs Kipfer

Claude Akins - Sgt. 'Baldy' Dhom (Uncredited)
Don Dubbins - Pvt. Friday 

Clark - Bugler (Uncredited)

George Reeves - Sgt. 

Maylon Stark (Uncredited)
Jean Wiles - Annette - Club Receptionist (Uncredited)

Crew

Director - Fred Zinnemann

Based Upon the Novel/Writer: Song
"Reenlistment Blues" - James Jones

Screenplay - Daniel Taradash

Producer - Buddy Adler

Technical Advisers - Kendall J. Fielder

and William Mullen

Art Director - Cary Odell

Gowns - Jean Louis

Set Decorator - Frank Tuttle

Director of Photography - Burnett Guffey
Film Editor - William A. Lyon

Supervising Sound Editor - John P. Livadary

(Uncredited)
Musical Director - Morris Stoloff

Background Music - George Duning

Awards

1954 Academy Awards
Best Picture - Buddy Adler (Won)
Best Supporting Actor - Frank Sinatra (Won)
Best Supporting Actress - Donna Reed (Won)
Best Director - Fred Zinnenman (Won)
Best Screenplay - Daniel Taradash (Won)
Best Cinematography, Black or White - Burnett Guffey (Won)
Best Sound - John P. Livadary (Won)
Best Film Editing - William A. Lyon (Won)
---------------------------
Best Actor - Montgomery Clift (Nominated)
Best Actor - Burt Lancaster (Nominated)
Best Actress - Deborah Kerr (Nominated)
Best Costume Design, Black or White - Jean Louis (Nominated)
Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy

Picture - Morris Stoloff and George Duning (Nominated)

Review
I wanted to see the movie for a long time because I had only seen bits of it. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY is known as a movie classic because of its well-known passionate scene on the beach between the film's stars, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr. Part of the movie's appeal was it came out in 1953. The war experience was still fresh in people's minds, and audiences would have related to the film's content. Moviegoers have not been used to such intimate scenes in a feature. But this film is more than just romance. It tells the private lives of two men during World War II and before the Pearl Harbor attacks. The movie portrays the struggles people go through during wartime, including its effect on love lives. People could relate to the frustrations and loneliness experienced by the characters.

Lancaster, Kerr, Montgomery Clift, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra are terrific in their performances as this film elevated their status as high-profile actors. I like how the romantic chemistry works between Lancaster and Kerr and Clift and Reed in intimate scenes that today may seem old-fashioned. 

As a modern viewer, I can't say I related to it very much. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY would still appeal to fans of black-and-white movies in the post-war era. I would give the film a 10 out of 10.

Star rating: (10/10) Best Movie Ever

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