Even if you've never seen From Here to Eternity, I can guarantee you've seen one very famous scene. You know the black-and-white makeout scene on the beach that's been spoofed and referenced hundreds of times since? The two actors kissing are Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity.This is a WW2 movie, and one of the best classic war films, even though there are no scenes on the battlefield. Montgomery Clift, a recent transfer to the Hawaiian army base, has a reputation for being a good boxer, but he refuses to continue fighting at his new base. To punish him for his refusal, the captain makes his life miserable to hopefully wear him down. If you want the captain to "get his", read on. The captain's wife, Deborah Kerr, has an affair with a sergeant, Burt Lancaster. In the meantime, Monty and his army pal Frank Sinatra frequent a nightclub on their nights off. While Monty finds love with a prostitute, Frankie manages to anger the very mean and violent Ernest Borgnine.See, there's plenty of drama without stepping foot on the battlefield! From Here to Eternity is a very famous movie, but it's also a fantastic one. Deborah Kerr bleached her famously red locks and tried on an American accent for the role, a seductive type she wasn't used to playing. Donna Reed, as goody-two-shoes as it gets, plays the hardened hooker Monty falls for. She won an Oscar for her against-type performance, paving the way for other good girls like Shirley Jones, who also won an Oscar when she went against type and played a prostitute in Elmer Gantry. Frank Sinatra also won an Oscar for this movie, but it's far from his best performance. He himself always said he should have won his Oscar for The Man with the Golden Arm. Montgomery Clift and Burt Lancaster, while in very different situations in the film, both fall in love with women they shouldn't, and try to stand up for their convictions even when it's difficult. It's great to see the different acting styles: Monty with the word "conflicted" tattooed on his forehead, and water boiling beneath his sensitive reserve, and Burt with gritted teeth and lava simmering beneath his strength.At the 1954 Oscars, the film swept Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Sound, Editing, Cinematography, and Supporting Actor and Actress awards. While Burt and Monty were pitted against each other for Best Actor, William Holden beat them out in the overrated Stalag 17. Deborah Kerr, who never won a competitive Oscar, lost to the ridiculous performance of Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.

Whereas the film is fun to watch on its own merits, it begs going back and reading the book if it can be got hold of nowadays. (December 2016 is when I type this review.) I have a number of questions, not the least of which is, where are the other officers in captain Holmes' company? A company was (and still is) composed of a number of platoons (three in those days; I thin that still holds true today) each led by a second lieutenant. Whether or not a fourth, 'heavy weapons' platoon (with mortars and machine guns) was also included, I don't know. I have it on good information that by July 1943 an infantry rifle company n the U.S. Army had six officers and one hundred and eighty-seven enlisted men; I'm not sure about the order-of-battle strength as of the 1941 Table of Organization. I also know that the 1943 company did in fact have a heavy weapons platoon, but that's really neither here nor there; the point is, there should have been a number of lieutenants in the company, one or more of which might not have approved of what the non-coms were doing in order to get Prewitt to box. That might have generated more conflict between Holmes, these officers, and the non-coms in question. It would become a conflict of the captain and the non-coms against Prewitt and the Lieutenants, with Warden caught in the middle. How's that sound? Other than that, the movies is always a good watch, but like I said above, it makes yo want to go back and read the book. The same holds true for the Harry Potter films and any other film based on a book. That way, you're never in the dark about what characters might be thinking. You also get to see what was left out of the film and, in this case, what all the fuss was about.Every character has his 'character merits', but Warden, the consummate professional staff enlisted man, is my favorite. It's guys like that who make the army run smoothly from day to day. I also like the way he takes charge as the Japanese air strike unfolds. Prewitt was right; he would have made a good officer.

While I was wearing out my first copy of Sarris's American Cinema, checking off his top films for each year, most people I know were calling films like this one a "Great Movie!". I was confused. How can a film like this - acknowledged "Great Movie" - rank so low chez Sarris? Meanwhile, I guess I became a cinema snob. Watched hundreds and hundreds of films, but never saw most of those "AFI Classics". Well, thank you Turner Classic Movies - you're like one big mopping - up operation! Checking 'em off, one by one...This one? A classic Ersatz Masterpiece. If Iconic Acting equals Great Movie, then it's Great Movie. But it doesn't - not really...However, as Auteurism recedes into history, you can love those Suffering Stonefaces for the icons that they are. The Gravitas of Burt Lancaster. It's downright operatic.The Pained Intensity of Montgomery Clift. You know he was in the closet! Did you hear that? And he messed up his face! The photography is yummy, too.This movie isn't about anything. Even people who like it a lot admit that it doesn't really have much directorial POV. And the thing in the surf is really short. But maybe that's actually genius: having a two - second shot that becomes so classic. Maybe that's "restraint". Is it?Was I entertained? Sort of...I guess. I'm actually not so sure what that even means anymore. If I'm engaged I'm entertained. I stuck through it, so...who knows. OK TCM and AFI List, bring on Shane and A Place In The Sun!

From Here to Eternity is one of the finest movies every made. It featured a great cast and wonderful script. I always wondered though, if the movie would have been even better in color, considering the scene was set in Hawaii. I understand they were trying to capture the feeling of the World War II era by filming in black and white, but color preceded WWII, and many blockbuster movies of WWII were filmed in color. In the early 80's they did a remake in the form of a mini-series. The acting wasn't bad, and the story actually included parts of the book that were not included in the 1953 movie. The mini-series also capitalized on the colorful backdrop of Hawaii. Was it as good as the 1953 move...no! But it wasn't bad. Just a thought