Summary notes from my recent introduction of this wonderful & powerful classic...

Rating: 8/10 (6 May 2010)

Few movies were greeted with more anticipation than Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity when it opened in 1953. Adapted from one of the best-selling novels of the previous decade, filmgoers had high expectations. It lived up to all of them -- even adding a new level of violence and frankness to popular dramatic films. It was based on James Jones' hefty, 859-page smoldering, 1951 novel taking its title from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Gentlemen Rankers" which had the line about soldiers of the British Empire who had lost there way and wereÂ… "damned, from here to eternity." However, Jones' sprawling and complex story-line about Army life with its strong language, violence and raw sexual content was considered unsuitable and unfilmable. Nevertheless, major concessions and changes from the novel had to be and were made. About the cast: Burt Lancaster plays macho Sergeant Milton Warden, the professional soldier who wet-nurses a weak, pompous commanding officer and the GIs under him. It is a performance to which he gives depth of character as well as muscle; Montgomery Clift, with a reputation for sensitive, three-dimensional performances plays the independent GI who refuses to join the company boxing team, taking instead the "treatment." Montgomery Clift threw himself into the character of Prewitt, learning to play the bugle and taking boxing lessons. Ernest Borgnine dominated every scene he was in as Sgt. Judson, a vicious brute far from his Oscar winning character Marty or in TV's McHale's Navy (in 2010 he had five films in production and was 93!); Beautiful Deborah Kerr, previously known for her innocent, lady-like roles, got to play an unabashedly sexual woman, and a married one at that; Donna Reed, cast against type as a prostitute gives an honest and gut wrenching performance; And Frank Sinatra, cast against all prevailing wisdom, became a great actor overnight as the doomed Maggio. While some may be amazed at Sinatra's versatility, it will come as no surprise to those who knew he was much more than a crooner. Burt Lancaster agreed, commenting that "Sinatra's hunger and passion had something to do with the character of Maggio, but also what he had gone through in recent years. A sense of defeat and the whole world crashing in on him... it all came out in that amazing performance." In gritty, documentary-style and black-and-white photography, Fred Zinnemann (who had directed High Noon a year earlier) accurately captured the isolation and boredom of the military personnel in a close- knit Army barracks on the island of Oahu, combining social and military history with the drama of the personal lives of its main characters - an enlisted man and a neglected officer's wife, a prostitute and a military outcast. The major male characters wage their own 'battle' against corruption high up in the military ranks, each in their own ways. The film, was both critically and financially successful becoming the second biggest hit of 1953, just behind The Robe (the first CinemaScope film released) and ahead of Shane (the Alan Ladd western.) That said, the ground-breaking film's subjects still include prostitution, adultery, military injustice, corruption, violence, alcohol abuse, and murder. From Here to Eternity raised the bar for realism and the harsh or ugly side of life in war movies, and in movies in general. There is an urban myth regarding the casting of Frank Sinatra that the Mafia made Columbia Pictures an offer they couldn't refuse. This of course was fiction, director Zinneman said that "The legend about a horse's head having been cut off is pure invention, a poetic license on the part of Mario Puzo who wrote The Godfather." The real reason for Sinatra's casting was mainly his then-wife Ava Gardner suggesting Sinatra to studio head Harry Cohn according to biographer Kitty Kelly. And Cohn realized Sinatra's stock was so low at the time that he could get this once big name cheap. Sinatra lobbied hard for the role, even suggesting he would do it for nothing, he was eventually hired for the token sum of $8,000. From Here To Eternity reignited his now iconic career. Another rumor has been circulating for years that George Reeves, who played Sgt. Stark, had his role shortened after preview audiences recognized him as TV's Superman and laughed. This is depicted in the drama Hollywoodland (2006). That too is not true. Look for author James Jones who can be seen briefly in the background over Ernest Borgnine's right shoulder as he plays the piano at the New Congress Club. Jones is the one with the bald spot that keeps his face down while flirting with a bunch of so called "hostesses." The now classic scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the rushing water on the beach was a last minute inspiration from the director. And the classic clinch on the beach was to be filmed standing up, it was Lancaster's idea to "do it horizontally in the surf." The chemistry between Lancaster and Kerr was alleged to be real, they supposedly became romantically involved during filming. The MPAA banned photos of the famous "horizontal & passionate" kiss on the beach for being too erotic. Notice on the posters the image of the tangled legs are blurred out so that only two of the four legs appear. The scene was filmed at Halona Cove on the eastern side of Oahu, near Koko Head Crater and Sandy Beach, it has since become a major tourist attraction. Shot on location (including a three-week shoot in Hawaii's Schofield Barracks), this film was a monumental award winner - Tied with Gone with the Wind for the most Oscars won by a single film up to that point in time. By coincidence, George Reeves appears briefly in both films. William Holden, who won the Best Actor Oscar for Stalag 17, said that Lancaster should have won. A final bit of trivia, From Here To Eternity is the last Academy Award Best Picture winner to receive nominations in all of the four acting categories.