Arguably the Most Over-Rated Film of All Time.

Rating: Null/10 (2 January 2003)

James Jones' risque trash masterpiece "From Here to Eternity" quickly got the red carpet treatment by 1953 and was turned into a motion picture that shocked audiences with strong sexual undertones and intense situations during the backdrop of upcoming doom at Pearl Harbor. Officer Burt Lancaster (Oscar-nominated) has the hots for his superior's wife (Oscar-nominee Deborah Kerr). She is upset and bored with her husband and a lightning fast affair based more upon lust than love quickly comes about. New bugle man Montgomery Clift (another Oscar-nominee) has an odd past in the military as he refuses to do prize-fighting for the Army. Thus he pens up his anger and becomes more of a ticking timebomb. He finds short-term happiness with a beautiful prostitute (Donna Reed in her Oscar-winning role), but their relationship is also strained to say the least. The likeable Frank Sinatra (Oscar-winning) locks horns with the crazed Ernest Borgnine and his safety becomes a major concern. While all this goes on, the Japanese attack becomes imminent. Watching "From Here to Eternity" is a study in caring for rotten characters. It is bad when Sinatra is the most endearing performer by a landslide. This production is not patriotic and in fact it is a down-right sad commentary on U.S. soldiers in Hawaii just prior to the attack. Jones was actually a soldier that experienced Pearl Harbor firsthand and also got a stay in Guadalcanal (using that as his inspiration for the equally crazed novel "The Thin Red Line"). While Jones' writing skill cannot be questioned, his want to shock was always puzzling to me. "From Here to Eternity" was definitely trail-blazing with its undertones, but the film is far from excellent and it is a curiosity more than a classic. Director Fred Zinnemann picked up his first of two directing Oscars with this one. 4 stars out of 5.