I wanted to but couldn't!

hyped garbage

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Here are characters we don't care about, having nothing happening to them, coming to an unhappy ending in which everyone looses. This is the quintessential neurotic film of the 1950's.

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.

Copyright 15 September 1953 by Columbia Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Capitol: 5 August 1953. U.S. release: September 1953. U.K. release: 25 January 1954. Australian release: 15 October 1953. Sydney opening at the State. Full-length 118-120 minutes version shown in North America and Australia. Censored to 114 minutes in the U.K.Best Film of 1953 — annual Film Daily poll of over 500 American film critics. Best Film of 1953 — annual Photoplay Gold Medal Award, as voted by over three million North American picture-goers. Best Motion Picture of 1953 — New York Film Critics. Best Male Performance of 1953, Burt Lancaster — New York Film Critics. Best Direction of 1953, Fred Zinnemann — New York Film Critics.The National Board of Review cast a dissenting note by voting "From Here To Eternity" into 3rd position behind "Julius Caesar" and "Shane". With a domestic rentals gross of $12.2 million, 3rd at the U.S./Canadian box-office to "The Robe" and "This Is Cinerama". One of the top twenty movies at U.K. ticket windows for 1954. A colossal money-spinner in Australia, the film came in 3rd to "The Greatest Show On Earth" and "Shane". Most Outstanding Directorial Achievement of 1953, Fred Zinnemann — Screen Directors Guild Award. Best Film of 1953 — Golden Globe Award. COMMENT: Zinnemann himself persuaded Montgomery Clift to undertake the pivotal role of Prewitt, ex-bugler, ex-boxer and professional soldier. He has been transferred to Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, where he refuses to join his company's boxing team despite Captain Philip Ober's determination to win the regimental championship. Ober orders Sergeant Burt Lancaster to give Clift "the treatment".Prewitt's spirit is sustained partly by his buddy, Frank Sinatra, who is beaten to death by a sadistic sergeant, Ernest Borgnine. Even this does not break Prewitt, whose girl, a prostitute from the New Congress Club (played by Donna Reed), cannot understand his loyalty. "What'd the army ever do for you, except treat you like dirt?" she asks bitterly, as he prepares to return to his company after the Pearl Harbor attack. To which Prewitt replies very simply: "What do I want to go back to the army for? I'm a soldier."The screenplay retains all the violence and pace of the novel, whilst eliminating much of its vulgarity and a little of its sex. Taradash has enormously improved the narrative structure, giving it a compactness and a polish that is lacking in James Jones's sprawling original. To it, Zinnemann has added his own refined craftsmanship. He has drawn superlative portrayals from his cast (Deborah Kerr's performance is possibly the best of her career), taut images from his wide-screen camera, and has effectively re- employed the editing devices of "High Noon". — John Howard Reid in "A Man for All Movies: The Films of Fred Zinnemann".AVAILABLE on an excellent Sony DVD.

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!