Rating: NR
Genre:
War
Release Date: 10/23/2001
SubTitles: English/Espanol/French/Por/TH/KO
Dubbed: English/Espanol/French/Por
Sound: DD
Run Time: 118 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
The scene is Schofield Army Barracks in Honolulu, in the languid days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, where
James Jones' acclaimed
war novel
From Here to Eternity brought the aspirations and frustrations of several people sharply into focus.
Sergeant Milt Warden (
Burt Lancaster) enters into an affair with
Karen (
Deborah Kerr), the wife of his commanding officer.
Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt (
Montgomery Clift) is a loner who lives by his own code of ethics and communicates better with his bugle than he does with words.
Prew's best friend is wisecracking
Maggio (
Frank Sinatra, in an Oscar-winning performance that revived his flagging career), who has been targeted for persecution by sadistic stockade sergeant
Fatso Judson (
Ernest Borgnine). Rounding out the principals is
Alma Lorene (
Donna Reed), a "hostess" at the euphemistically named whorehouse The New Congress Club. All these melodramatic joys and sufferings are swept away by the Japanese attack on the morning of December 7. No words could do justice to the film's most famous scene: the nocturnal romantic rendezvous on the beach, with
Burt Lancaster's and
Deborah Kerr's bodies intertwining as the waves crash over them. If you're able to take your eyes off the principals for a moment or two, keep an eye out for
George Reeves; his supporting role was shaved down when, during previews, audiences yelled "There's Superman!" and began to laugh.
From Here to Eternity won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and supporting awards to
Sinatra and
Reed.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide