The best movie of the 50's

Rating: 10/10 (16 August 1999)

Realistic, uncompromising, and at sometimes shocking, Fred Zinnemann's adaptation of James Jones's novel is simply perfect. This story about military injustice somewhat differs from Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of glory" for two reasons because it shows how two G.I.'s are bullied whereas "Paths of glory" shows how careless the army is towards its soldiers and it deals with other themes than military injustice like adultery for example. "From here to eternity" is a little ahead of its time because of its heavy references to adult themes like prostitution, alcohol abuse, violence, and murder. Lancaster and Clift lead a terrific cast which also includes legends such as Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, and Donna Reed (who is as beautiful as ever). Reed and Sinatra took home well-deserved supporting actors Oscars.
Another reason for which I love this movie is that it is the movie that sent Sinatra to stardom. After its release, he became a lot more popular in Hollywood and was offered many more important roles than before.
All in all, "From here to eternity" is a great, compelling, realistic movie. The Clift-Reed, Clift-army, Clift-Lancaster, Clift-Sinatra, Lancaster-army, and Lancaster-Kerr relations are extremely well interpreted. This is one of those films that are worth at least five viewings. It's great.