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Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra ... see more see more... , Ernest Borgnine , Philip Ober , Mickey Shaughnessy , Harry Bellaver , Jack Warden , John Dennis , Merle Travis , Tim Ryan , Arthur Keegan , Barbara Morrison , Jean Willes , Claude Akins , Robert Karnes , Robert J. Wilke , Douglas Henderson , George Reeves , Don Dubbins , John L. Cason , Kristine Miller , John Bryant , Willis B. Bouchey , Mary Carver , Mack Chandler , Weaver Levy , Freeman Lusk , Tyler McVey , Patrick Miller , Fay Roope , Delia Salvi , Joan Shawlee , Angela Stevens , Carleton Young , Alvin Sargent , Joseph Sargent , John Patrick Veitch , Allen Pinson , James Jones , Joe Roach , James Brick Sullivan , William Lundmark , Louise Saraydar , Guy Way , John Davis

The scene is Schofield Army Barracks in Honolulu, in the languid days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, where James Jones' acclaimed war novel From Here to Eternity brought the aspirations and frustr... read more read more...ations of several people sharply into focus. Sergeant Milt Warden (Burt Lancaster) enters into an affair with Karen (Deborah Kerr), the wife of his commanding officer. Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) is a loner who lives by his own code of ethics and communicates better with his bugle than he does with words. Prew's best friend is wisecracking Maggio (Frank Sinatra, in an Oscar-winning performance that revived his flagging career), who has been targeted for persecution by sadistic stockade sergeant Fatso Judson (Ernest Borgnine). Rounding out the principals is Alma Lorene (Donna Reed), a "hostess" at the euphemistically named whorehouse The New Congress Club. All these melodramatic joys and sufferings are swept away by the Japanese attack on the morning of December 7. No words could do justice to the film's most famous scene: the nocturnal romantic rendezvous on the beach, with Burt Lancaster's and Deborah Kerr's bodies intertwining as the waves crash over them. If you're able to take your eyes off the principals for a moment or two, keep an eye out for George Reeves; his supporting role was shaved down when, during previews, audiences yelled "There's Superman!" and began to laugh. From Here to Eternity won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and supporting awards to Sinatra and Reed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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83% liked it

13,404 ratings

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88% liked it

40 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 58 min.

Directed by: Fred Zinnemann

Release Date: August 5, 1953

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DVD Release Date: October 23, 2001

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Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity From Here to Eternity Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr From Here to Eternity Fred Zinnemann and Ernest Borgnine Montgomey Clift and Burt Lancaster Donna Reed in From Here to Eternity Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity From Here to Eternity French Poster Donna Reed in From Here to Eternity Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed with Oscar for From Here to Eternity Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra & Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity Donna Reed in From Here to Eternity Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity Montgomery Clift & Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity
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Flixster Reviews (767)

  • cosmo313
    March 15, 2012
    cosmo313
    Set in the weeks leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, this is an easy paced (re: leisurely) melodrama focusing on several people at and around the Schofield Army Barracks in Honolulu. It's based on an acclaimed novel (though the film was heavily toned down) and won a ton of ... read moreOscars, including Best Picture.

    It's a fair enough film, although I think it's mostly carried by the performances rather than the story lines, and also the performances probably stand out as better overall than the film as a whole. I wasn't sure I'd like it, what with all you ever seem to hear about it being in reference to the legendary scene where Lancaster and Kerr embrace on a beach as waves crash around them. There's some macho guy type stuff, and that's good, but I could have used more of that, and just an uncompromised adaptation in general.

    The cast is notable, with appearances from Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank SInatra (in a great, Oscar winning role), and the wonderful Ernest Borgnine as an antagonist of sorts. They all do a great job, and Sinatra I feel did really deserve his Oscar.

    All in all, a decent enough film. Zinnemann knew how to tell a great story, and it is shot well, but I don't think it's as good as it's made out to be. Still though, I was entertained, and it is better than the similar stuff that Michael Bay did in his infamous account of Pearl Harbor, so take that as some sort of recommendation.
  • SirPant
    January 11, 2012
    SirPant
    I think the reason that From here to Eternity is such a classic is down to the performances rather than the film itself. The story is actually quite wishy-washy and the characters, excluding Burt Lancaster's Private Robert E. Lee, aren't particularly well written, that is as far ... read moreas the film is concerned. I feel a lot was sacrificed in the adaptation of book into film but that said, I never really thought that much of the book anyway. Where the film does improve on the book however, is in the classic scenes - particularly the 'Beach' scene with Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster. Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift are the two shining stars of this film though and the two most convincing performances for sure. I don't think Deborah Kerr was given half the screen time she deserved and the film is all the worse for it. Overrated but still great.
  • BEACHBUNNI
    November 21, 2010
    BEACHBUNNI
    an oldiie but a goodie a real "classic"~!!!
    just look at the cast...Burt Lancaster Deborah Kerr Ernest Borgnine Donna Reed Frank Sinatra...wow~!!!
    The film (and the book before it) tells the story of bored soldiers stationed in Hawaii in the six months or so before the Japanese... read more bomb Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
    the actors all played there parts well in this one.Its a Romantic Masterpiece and more of a chick flick than a war movie in my opinion.
  • ajv2688
    November 7, 2010
    ajv2688
    An absolute classic fifties movie about love and war. Highly dramatic, highly exciting, and highly romantic. A terrific movie.
  • hobster1
    February 22, 2010
    hobster1
    Leisurely paced WWII story about the months preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Best remembered for the romantic rendezvous between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr embracing on the beach as the waves crash over them. Be that as it may,... read more this film is better appreciated as an acting powerhouse featuring one of the greatest casts of any film. Montgomery Clift is memorable as a private whose life is made miserable by an army captain when he refuses to fight in the regiment's boxing team. Burt Lancaster is also excellent as a sergeant involved in an affair with his commander's wife. Too emotionally sentimental to be a war movie and too macho to be a romantic drama. This entertaining (albeit overrated) literary adaptation fits somewhere in the middle. Received thirteen Academy Award nominations and won eight, including Best Picture.
  • bottcorecords1
    March 6, 2009
    bottcorecords1
    From Here to Eternity is an old-fashioned blockbuster of a movie. Set in Hawaii, 1941, at the Schofield barracks (as the opening caption informs us), the ultimate destination of this film is Pearl Harbor, but Pearl Harbor is incidental in this movie to the story of the soldiers'... read more lives leading up to that point. Montgomery Clift plays Pvt. Prewitt, a young "Rebel Without A Cause"/ James Dean (or "Cool Hand Luke", which this movie is reminiscent of)-type who's transferred to Sgt. Warden's (Burt Lancaster) division. He's a multi-talented kid, and one of those talents happens to be the very coveted talent of boxing. So it's much to his great misfortune that his new home is under the command of Capt. 'Dynamite' Holmes, a slimy officer obsessed with winning another boxing trophy for his mantle. He and the other boxers in the division make things rough indeed for the pacifist Prewitt. Meanwhile, The Captain's wife (Deborah Kerr) is trapped in a loveless marriage, and since Sgt. Warden "hates to see a good woman go to waste", the two have a steamy affair (and roll around on the beach). George "Superman" Reeves is there to make sure the Sgt. knows he's not the first soldier she's been with, though. Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra play the friends of Prewitt, but are there mainly to be in awe of him and his greatness, it seems. The soldiers all seem to spend their time getting blind drunk everyday (if that was the case, it's no wonder the Japanese caught us offguard!), and carousing in whorehouses. Years later, a carbon copy of this film will be made, an almost carbon-copy of it in fact, right down to main plot being a love story and the ending having a climatic battle scene. But where 2001's "Pearl Harbor" featured computerized graphics that had all the emotional impact of one set of trans-formers fighting another set of trans-formers, From Here To Eternity's battle scenes seem real (and not just because they incorporated actual battle footage into the movie) and tense. For a movie made in the 1950s, you'll find no evidence of Leave it to Beaver's "gosh oh golly" innocence here. This movie, though, is about love not war (even if both end in tragedy), and the men who chose war over love.
  • garyX
    November 9, 2008
    garyX
    From Here To Eternity is something of a classic and relaunched the career of Oscar winner Frank Sinatra who allegedly got the part because a friend of the family made an offer that couldn't be refused...It's a rather soapy affair as it follows the trials and tribulations of a gro... read moreup of soldiers posted at a base in Pearl Harbour in the days leading up to the Japanese attack. To be honest, it's not really the kind of film I usually enjoy; the love scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr is one of the most famous ever filmed, but I personally much preferred the on base drama between he, stubborn conscientious objector Montgomery Clift and likable sidekick Sinatra than the romantic melodrama that punctuates it. But that's probably just because of that pesky Y chromosome. The plot could easily have descended into corn territory, but strong performances from all the main characters keep it just the right side of cheese, and it's infinitely more sophisticated and mature than the cinematic war crime that is Pearl Harbor.
  • sanjurosamurai
    April 1, 2008
    sanjurosamurai
    this film deserves its reputation as a piece of classic cinema. great performances, excellent character development, and solid build up to the war scenes at the end. clift's storyline specifically made the film. there was a glaring flaw in the final scene of the film, but ever... read morey moment until then was fantastic.
  • tsigur
    November 25, 2007
    tsigur
    As my grandfather said, "Clift was depression personified."
  • Redlats
    October 21, 2007
    Redlats
    When we visited Hawa'ii, we were told about the famous Burt Lancaster-Deborah Kerr scene on the Hawai'i beach, so I had to see this movie when the opportunity arose. Who knew it was another Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbour movie? It won eight Oscars in 1953

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Critic Reviews

February 18, 2009
TIME Magazine

Scriptwriter Daniel Taradash rescued, if not quite a gem, then at least a high-grade industrial diamond from this rough original. Full Review

William Brogdon
November 1, 2007
William Brogdon, Variety

It is an important film from any angle, presenting socko entertainment for big business. Full Review

Dave Kehr
December 13, 2006
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Sominex is cheaper and probably safer. Full Review

Ty Burr
December 12, 2003
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

So clear-eyed and three-dimensional that it makes the recent Pearl Harbor look like a bunch of kids playing dress up. Full Review

Kenneth Turan
December 4, 2003
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Rapturously received from the moment it was released in 1953, From Here to Eternity remains, half a century later, a singular cinematic experience, one of the landmarks of American film. Full Review

J. Hoberman
December 2, 2003
J. Hoberman, Village Voice

Contemporary audiences may not see why, even in its toned-down simplification of the novel, From Here to Eternity was the most daring movie of 1953, but it remains an acting bonanza. Full Review

A.H. Weiler
May 20, 2003
A.H. Weiler, New York Times

Out of From Here to Eternity, a novel whose anger and compassion stirred a postwar reading public as few such works have, Columbia and a company of sensitive hands have forged a film almost as towerin... Full Review

Derek Malcolm
September 29, 2010
Derek Malcolm, This is London

The cast includes Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift and Ernest Borgnine, all of whom are fine, in what is essentially a melodrama. Full Review

Tim Robey
September 23, 2010
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph

A high-calibre Hollywood prestige drama, sharp and sobering, with top-drawer work from Lancaster, Clift and Sinatra. Full Review

Peter Bradshaw
September 23, 2010
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

I have to say that Clift's plot is far less compelling than Lancaster's and something of the zip goes when Frank Sinatra disappears from the action, sent to the stockade. But what a punch this movie s... Full Review

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From Here to Eternity Trivia

  • US army in Hawaii, 1941: a soldier who is also a champion boxer who killed a man in the ring refuses to box, his friend dies after escaping from the stockade, and a sergeant has an affair with his commanding officer's wife. And, by the way, the Japanese also attack Pearl Harbour.  Answer »
  • Charlton Heston did not star in which one of these movies>  Answer »
  • The following movies were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture in 1953. Which movie won the Oscar? HINT: Remember the kiss-on-the-beach scene from Shrek 2 ??  Answer »
  • Which of these films, nominated in 1954, took home the Oscar for Best Picture?   Answer »
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