What is more eternal than love and brotherhood?

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2015)

Its power may have waned a little bit since it first came out over 50 years ago, but FROM HERE TO ETERNITY still remains one of the classic war films as well as an interesting look into military life circa 1941. The story follows a handful of characters whose lives all intersect in Hawaii during the months prior to the bombing at Pearl Harbor. You have Montgomery Clift as Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt: a loner with a troubled past, Burt Lancaster as Sgt. Warden: a tough, but understanding NCO, Deborah Kerr as Karen Holmes: the company commander's wife, and Frank Sinatra as Angelo Maggio: a wiry Italian fellow who befriends Prewitt and loves to drink. As was typical for films of the period, there is a romantic/melodramatic element which forms the basis for the story and informs the way we see the characters. This aspect was kind of dated, but it allows the casual viewer a window into these characters' lives the way a straight military picture couldn't have done. The two main romantic narrative threads are between Montgomery Clift and a girl, Loreen/Alma (Donna Reed) who works at a club he frequents, and Burt Lancaster with Deborah Kerr. Both of these couples lament the situation that life has put them in and desire to get away from it all. Montgomery Clift has become the target of cruel treatment based on his decision not to join the company's boxing team, while Donna Reed's character has grown weary of her employment at a gentleman's club where she has to entertain service members. Parallel to that, Burt Lancaster romances the wife of his CO, a philanderer who has lost interest in her. One common element is the desire to return to the States and get married, which would provide the stability that they all want. However, fate has other plans as the bombing at Pearl Harbor throws their somewhat stable world into chaos and the men of the Army must put aside petty differences to fight the bigger enemy. These are rather heady themes to be tackled in a film that could easily have been a fluff piece for the Armed Forces, yet FROM HERE TO ETERNITY never feels like propaganda. The biggest thing on its mind seems to be portraying what happens when something unexpected throws our best-laid plans into disarray. When that happens, the best we can do is to band together and make the best of a bad situation. In the end, our commitment to each other will outlast any temporary plans that we have. Overall, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY does feel "of its time" but it's also the only Pearl Harbor film worth watching.