Review by Lars Lindahl (larsattacks@mail.com)
"From Here to Eternity" (1953) ***1/2 (out of four)
Directed by Fred Zinneman Written by Daniel Taradash
Starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed, Deborah Kerr, Philip Ober, and Ernest Borgnine
"We may seem all alike. We ain't all alike." Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) tells his newly found lover in the middle of a crowded Hawaiian bar. Prewitt is representing men in society - how they ostensibly are exactly the same, but in actuality are as individual as can be. The 1953 classic From Here to Eternity dedicates its entire running time to proving this quote, and with all of the interesting male characters it introduces - it succeeds. From the loner, to the alcoholic, to the adulterer, to the torturer, to the gentleman, the only thing that links these unique individuals is the military suit they wear to work everyday. Living in the same vicinity just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the cooperation of these men seems infinitely more difficult to them than fighting in the war.
Between these five central characters preparing for a world war, a powerful emotional war takes place. And when the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor occurs starting World War II in America, it provides a thunderous conclusion to this war. The film opens with the arrival of the sensitive Prewitt, a former professional bugle player and boxer for the army who inexplicably wants to become a private. This is all sounds perfect to Captain Dana Holmes (Philip Ober), a man eager to become a major and finds the only way to move up a rank is to have a winning boxing team. But Prewitt has quit boxing and says there is nothing in the world that will convince him to do so again. This angers Holmes who has his officers, including Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster), train Prewitt especially hard until he finally changes his mind. The only soldier who supports Prewitt is Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra), a man who knows all the hot spots in town and regularly gets drunk for entertainment. So drunk at times that it gets him an enemy named Sergeant "Fatso" Judson (Ernest Borgnine) who swears he will get Maggio one day. Meanwhile Sergeant Warden is having an illicit affair with his Captain's depressed and lonely wife (Deborah Kerr).
Did that just sound like an example of your everyday soap opera? Yes, there are a lot of characters in From Here to Eternity (in fact I left out Lorene (Donna Reed), a woman Prewitt meets and falls in love with at one of the clubs he stops by at). Do not be mistaken, this movie is a soap opera, several things are happening at the same time - but unlike something on CBS at 2 P.M., the acting and directing in this movie is amazing. Also despite the large cast, impressively there isn't one confusing moment and the script, based on the controversial novel by James Jones, ingeniously connects everyone with everyone. By the end, there will be a large collision.
The mistake the film makes is that the female characters stand in the way. The relationships between Prewitt and Lorene, and Warden and the Captain's wife Karen, are both unconvincing due to expedient set ups by director Fred Zinneman. Just when you start to believe that these people actually are beginning to love each other, the movie is already ten steps ahead, raising the possibility of marriage. Both love affairs are so melodramatic and predictable that they hold back the entire movie.
Winner of 8 Academy Awards in 1953 including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Donna Reed), and Best Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra), I was somewhat shocked that Reed won. She just didn't amaze me as much as other winners of the prestigious award (at least she was better than Beatrice Straight in Network). Sinatra, on the other hand, really surprised me as Angelo Maggio. Simultaneously hilarious and depressing, he single-handedly shifted this film's status from good to classic.
Zinneman, to show his range, directed this movie just before Oklahoma! and just after High Noon. He skillfully hints at the upcoming Pearl Harbor attack with newspaper articles, dates, and images scattered everywhere that tease the audience and build up suspense for the unavoidable incident. And when the moment finally comes, the execution is satisfyingly accurate. You can tell this was a surprise attack by men running back and forth for cover with just towels on.
>From Here to Eternity revolves around a war yet to happen. It looks at American society right before the country's entry in the war; a quiet period compared to the disorder that soon follows. But the beauty of the film is that it is far from quiet. The emotional dilemmas that these characters face is as powerful and realistic as any battle sequence in a World War II film such as Saving Private Ryan.
Grade: ***1/2 (out of four)
Lars Attacks! A teenager attacks past and present cinema http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/larsattacks
larsattacks@mail.com (c) 2000 Lars Lindahl
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