Tuchergson Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

SunnyHello Nice effects though.

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

JohnHowardReid 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.

Leofwine_draca I suppose that FROM HERE TO ETERNITY can best be described as the FULL METAL JACKET of the 1950s. It stars the eternally youthful Montgomery Clift (fresh from playing the role of the tormented priest in Hitchcock's I CONFESS) as a raw army recruit based in Hawaii during World War 2 who is subjected to endless bullying and bad behaviour for an unlikely reason: in peacetime Clift was an amateur boxing champion, and his superiors want him to join the army boxing team, but he refuses due to personal circumstances.It's a slight premise but as a film FROM HERE TO ETERNITY works very well indeed, in fact achieving the status of something of a classic. That's because it has real narrative depth and various sub-plots that interact in ways both expected and unexpected. The film boasts from a gritty realism and a lack of sentimentality that means not all of the characters are going to have happy endings. Frank Sinatra shines in the role of a brash young recruit who falls foul of Ernest Borgnine in a star-making performance as a bully. Burt Lancaster is the weary sergeant trying to hold everything together. The story climaxes with the attack on Pearl Harbor, portrayed in a way that is just as powerful as you could hope for.

Hitchcoc This is a bit of a soap opera prior to the events of Pearl Harbor. Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift are the stars here. The romance is intense as it will always be in a military setting. What we all know is coming is a morning in December when Japanese planes made their way to the Hawaiian Islands, setting things in motion for the U.S. to enter the second world war. The special effects as the stupefied residents see the planes overhead are gut wrenching. What I remember most the incredible distress and lack of a plan as the bombs are dropping. The isolationist mentality has some strengths, but it can also create a vulnerability that is devastating. One can have weapons to retaliate, but there'd better be a method to deliver them.

Jonathan Roberts 'From Here to Eternity' is a film set at Pearl Harbor in the weeks or months preceding the Japanese attack of 1941. The title is awarded a great performance by Montgomery Clift as the 'Cool Hand Luke'-esque Robert E. Lee Prewitt, and Clift manages to project a level of complexity that I haven't seen since I watched Laurence Olivier in 'Rebecca'. The character of Prewitt, after transferring to the Schofield base, is urged by his superior, well-played by Philip Ober, to replicate his allegedly remarkable boxing talents and champion his new company. Prewitt is reluctant, and consequently a large portion of 'From Here to Eternity' charts the character's awkward integration into the new company. In the film, Clift is joined by Burt Lancaster; his performance is equally solid, but not quite mesmerising. I feel that this reflects the design of the characters, though, as opposed to Lancaster's acting. Another enjoyable performance to look out for is Ernest Borgnine's, who lends his easily menacing talents to this title, and his role as Sgt '(don't ever call me) Fatso' Judson is very enjoyable. Most of all, I didn't expect to find a Frank Sinatra performance so impressive. The only other films I've seen (so far) starring the swing legend are 'Ocean's Eleven' and 'The Devil at Four O'Clock', and I think he was outperformed in both of those films, by Dean Martin and Spencer Tracy respectively. However, one could consider him in the same league as the likes of Bogart and the aforesaid Tracy in this title as the live-hard-die-young Angelo Maggio. Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed similarly enhance 'From Here to Eternity' with their performances, but they rarely get a chance to shine given the "life in the barracks" focus of this title. (However, there is one brilliant, even iconic, scene featuring Kerr, alluded to by the cover poster of the film.)The cast is far from the only winning quality of the film; another of the title's incredible traits is its framing of its fictional story in the larger context of the all-too- real war. At one point, the film employs some real footage from the Second World War, and it is absorbed within 'From Here to Eternity' excellently, feeling both symbolic and convincing. One of the messages I take from this film is that history is often, to its detriment, acknowledged only in response to great events, and this is amplified in times of war. 'From Here to Eternity' doesn't chart the Schofield troops' unfathomable plight against the invading forces, and the Pearl Harbor that people know and remember (i.e. the bombings), whilst integral to the story, doesn't dominate the film. It brings the characters to life, and shows that the people in history aren't represented by lists of achievements, statistics and the like; they were often very ordinary, doing very human things. I rarely give ten stars to a film, but I felt compelled to do so in this case. I was absolutely amazed by 'From Here to Eternity', and I currently rank it as one of my top five films.