The tough story on corruption in the military was given authenticity by being partially shot at Pearl Harbor.
From Here to Eternity (1953)
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:31
Rotten:4
Average Rating:8.1/10
Consensus: It has perhaps aged poorly, but this languidly paced WWII romance remains an iconic, well-acted film, featuring particularly strong performances from Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift.
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: An all-star cast brought what was considered an unfilmable novel to the screen with skill and grace with this story of the loves, hopes, and dreams of those in a close-knit Army barracks in Hawaii... An all-star cast brought what was considered an unfilmable novel to the screen with skill and grace with this story of the loves, hopes, and dreams of those in a close-knit Army barracks in Hawaii shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Montgomery Clift portrays a former boxer who refuses to fight after blinding a friend in the ring and is sent to the remote outpost as punishment for his insubordination. Love and tragedy abound in this unflattering look at military life and American thought before the war. Director Fred Zinneman's Oscar-winning film is based on the novel by James Jones. [More]
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine, Philip Ober, Jack Warden, Mickey Shaughnessy
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Screenwriter: Daniel Taradash
Producer: Buddy Adler
Composer: George Duning
Reviews for From Here to Eternity
Deserving to be seen and remembered for so much more than that kiss, this is old school drama of the highest order.
Scriptwriter Daniel Taradash rescued, if not quite a gem, then at least a high-grade industrial diamond from this rough original.
It is an important film from any angle, presenting socko entertainment for big business.
Terrific performances from Montgomery Clift and Burt Lancaster highlight this limitedly involving romance.
"If a man don't go his own way, he's nothin," says Montgomery Clift in the superbly realized melodrama, set at the oubtbreak of WWII, a motto that also sums up director Fred Zinnemann's belief system.
There's no real "action" to speak of, aside from a few fistfights and the third act bombing attack, but From Here to Eternity sure isn't boring.
The film will always be remembered for the nocturnal romp on the surf between Kerr and Lancaster.
So clear-eyed and three-dimensional that it makes the recent Pearl Harbor look like a bunch of kids playing dress up.
Rapturously received from the moment it was released in 1953, From Here to Eternity remains, half a century later, a singular cinematic experience, one of the landmarks of American film.
Contemporary audiences may not see why, even in its toned-down simplification of the novel, From Here to Eternity was the most daring movie of 1953, but it remains an acting bonanza.
Out of From Here to Eternity, a novel whose anger and compassion stirred a postwar reading public as few such works have, Columbia and a company of sensitive hands have forged a film almost as towering and persuasive as its source.
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