Classic From The Vault
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Director: Fred Zimmeman
By Alex Watson
Most times when you watch a classic war movie, it focuses on the men’s heroics on the battle field and the courage that goes with it, but we rarely see the struggle faced by soldiers at home. In 1953, director Fred Zinneman adapted James Jones’ well received novel From Here to Eternity, which focuses on a US Army Base on the lead up to the Pearl Harbour attacks in 1943, the result was one of the most iconic and heartbreaking war movies of all time and gave birth to one of cinema’s most notorious kissing scenes!
Private Robert E Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) arrives at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii after being transferred. His new superior Captain Dana Holmes (Philip Ober) knows of his boxing past and is keen to use him in the upcoming boxing championships, Prewitt however relents due to quitting boxing. To get him to fight, Holmes encourages all NCO’s to make his life hell on a daily basis until he gives in! Meanwhile Holmes’ bored wife Karen (Deborah Kerr) takes up an affair with his trusted aide Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster) which will lead them down a dangerous path!
Winner of the Best Picture Oscar in 1953, Zinneman’s From Here to Eternity is an excellent war movie in ever sense of the word and its depiction of internal struggle of portrayed splendidly. In this movie, each man is fight his own personal war but unlike the battle field, here there can be no possible victory! Prewitt is the subject of horrendous prejudice by the NCO’s of his platoon because of his refusal to fight and his disillusion with army life increases throughout the movie despite the odd kind word by Warden. Eventually he is pushed to breaking point, and when he is old fighting spirit reappears it is both glorious but also devastating! He does find solace however, in a romance with nightclub girl Lorene (Donna Reed), although their ideals for the perfect life may not correspond.
Warden and Karen’s romance is the movies true centre point and it gives way to the infamous beach scene where the pair kiss on the sand whilst being hit by the waves! Their romance initially is a way for the manly Warden to get one over on his arrogant superior, despite warnings from fellow soldiers about Karen’s previous affairs! Although their romance blossoms into something much deeper, Warden wrestles with his desire to start a new life with Karen and his commitment to the Army, but from the very start their romance is doomed to fail because Warden is already married to the service and cannot imagine life anywhere else! But perhaps the real tragedy comes from the downfall of Private Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra), Prewitt’s confident friend who is bullied severely by racist Sergeant ‘Fatso’ Judson (Ernest Borgnine), who enjoys regularly beating his soldiers in the stockade!
The actual Pearl Harbour bombings pay only a small part in From Here to Eternity, but when they hit the result mirrors the confusion and terror faced by the soldiers involved and their peaceful base is literally blown to pieces by the Japanese bombers, Tora, Tora, Tora would give a much more in depth look at this 17 years later!
Both Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift give towering and Oscar nominated performances in this movie, Lancaster’s Sergeant Warden is a man dedicated serviceman, but soon learns that opening his heart might be a dangerous thing to the woman he yearns to love! This a reminder of what a dominant force that Lancaster could be one our screen and the 1950’s belonged to him! Montgomery Clift plays a far more sensitive and suffering man, Prewitt just wants to play his bugle and forget about boxing, but his unable to forget to tragic incident that made him quit! One of cinema forgotten talents, Clift’s affecting turn gives Zinneman’s film its soul.
Supporting wise, Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed (who won an Oscar) are both coequally superb and Kerr gives the film its key female presence and despite this being a male dominated movie, she truly stands out as the woman who desired to find something resembling happiness in life! But the Oscar winning Frank Sinatra steals the supporting honours as Angelo and many forget what a capable actor Ol’ Blue Eyes was! Though how he got the role would later influence the horse head sequence in The Godfather years later!
From Here to Eternity is a true golden oldie and through its strong performances and affecting story, it a film that deserves revisiting again and serves as proof that not all wars are fought on the battlefield! Just be careful recreating the beach kiss, those waves might just ruin the moment!
Closer to the Edge 