From Here to Eternity
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Movie Reviews of From Here to Eternity
Movie Review: GOOD MOVIE - NOT GREAT
Summary: 4 Stars
.....I know my review will be in the minority but I think this is an overrated movie more famous as the "movie" that saved Frank Sinatra's career than for it's dramatic content.
.....The only acting performances that deserved to be praised were turned in by Burt Lancaster and Debra Kerr but in typical perverse Hollywood tradition Sinatra and Reed walked away with Oscars.
.....This was Sinatra's first big dramatic part and it showed. Although, in time, he learned to act and to develop an on-screen personna, in this movie he was just plain awful, as bad as another non-actor, Elvis Presely was in his first movie Love Me Tender. Sinatra got the part due to the clout of his paramour Ava Gardner and was, at that time, at the nadir of his career, deserted by his fans for divorcing his childhood sweetheart for Gardner. Fans were still sensitive to such things in those days. Hollywood, anxious to restore Sinatra to box office dynamite rewarded him with an Oscar for his deer-in-the-headlights on screen mugging.
.....Donna Reed (Mary Bailey in Wonderful Life and star of the Donna Reed Show) sacrificed her good girl image to play a cynical hard bitten prostitute and was totally unbelievable in the part. But Hollywod has a habit of giving Oscars to actresses who are willing to debase themselves with unsavory parts (Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry) and so Reed joined the club.
.....Montgomery Cliff, who always seemed to be a watered down version of Marlon Brando in his mumbling performances was suited for this role but was hard to believe as a boxing champion in the worn out theme of a boxer who quits the ring because he killed an opponent with his fists. Cliff looked much too slight, more like a lightweight than a middleweight to have such a lethal punch. John Wayne was much more believable in "The Quiet Man". Montgomery Cliffs popularity was hard to fathom because with the exception of this movie and his role with Elizabeth Taylor in "A Place in the Sun", he seemed miscast in most of his roles, especially with John Wayne in "Red River", a part that much more suited for Jack Beutel of "Outlaw" fame.
.....Ernest Borgnine turned in a fine performance as the sadistic Stockade guard.
.....This movie was not shown on Military Bases when it was released because the Military did not like to show how its disciplined structure could be corrupted and used to persecute men by their superior officers. The theme was too close to the reality for the Brass.
.....This is a good movie but not as great as its hype. If you like good acting, it is worth the price for the performances of Lancaster and Kerr.
Movie Review: Original Theatrical Release Format is 1.33:1
Summary: 4 Stars
Now pay attention, widescreen DVD fans (I am among them)...! Do not go looking for widescreen format before 1954, because with a couple of exceptions (see "sir-critic" below), they don't exist. One must be a student of history to some extent as a classic movie fan: when collecting a video library, know your format history; the key year is 1954. (Interestingly, it is the same key year for stereo music recordings, at least in the Classical world.) Also remember that a post-1954 movie is not necessarily a widescreen film, either, especially in the first few years. (See my review of "Moonstruck" for more aspect ratio commentary that you'll find very interesting, if this one is interesting to you. I ranted about its full-frame release and found out that I didn't know what I was talking about, more or less.)
"From Here to Eternity" is a great classic film that was shot and originally released in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Like many, many other pre-1954 movies, this film was probably re-released several times in theaters with a "widescreen" format, but they just lopped off the top and bottom of the picture for the release. This was a grotesque practice, butchering many fine films and ruining the painstaking framing of shots by the cinematographer. You don't want a widescreen version of "From Here to Eternity", because it's butchered, I mean, ALTERED.
The important thing for DVD collectors / film buffs is ORIGINAL Theatrical Release Format, i.e., what the director and cinematographer intended you to see. The video release companies should be heavily encouraged by us to provide this information on the DVD and VHS boxes, so that we know a film's true original aspect ratio, and whether the particular edition is or is not altered, I mean, BUTCHERED.
Why is the television screen a 1.33:1 aspect ratio? Because movies' ratios were 1.33:1. TV programs and movies were filmed with the same cameras and film. By the early '50s, TV was becoming so important that film studios needed a new hook to keep people coming to the theaters, so Cinemascope and others were born to amaze audiences. Try to imagine seeing a 2.55:1 Cinemascope picture in the theater when all you've ever seen up to then was 1.33:1 films and TV. WOW!! THAT would keep you coming back to the cinema! Later cinematic hooks would be in sound, still more or less unachievable at home -- remember Surround Sound's forerunner, "Sensurround" (used for "Midway" and "Earthquake")?
Remember film fans, you might have to do a little research on a given movie before assuming that a video release is not the true format.
Movie Review: From Here to a Half Century in the Past
Summary: 4 Stars
This film deserves its status as a classic if for no other reason than the fact that it pushed the boundaries of what could be depicted in the Hollywood of the early Fifties. Set on pre-war O'ahu and only a dozen years after the famous historical event that serves as its backdrop, this film avoids an easy reliance on the attack on Pearl Harbor to capture its audience. Indeed, we are given only occasional reminders of this imminent military disaster, which contributes to the tone of dramatic irony in this film. For despite the very real anguish in the lives of these characters, and the trials of military treatment, we as the audience know it pales by comparison to what will soon ensue. Paradise, too, is mostly a backdrop as the action fixates on a small group of soldiers and their personal lives. Herein is the strength of the film: its round characterization, which is convincing and therefore engaging. Sinatra gives his role more zeal than it deserves and Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed are (dare I say it?) too old for their roles, but other than that the acting is superb. If you've ever visited Hawaii, you'll enjoy the vistas, although they're actually few and far between. If you've lived in Hawaii, or been stationed on one of the bases there, you'll quickly be scratching your head at the lack of local flavor. That is, this is nearly an all-haole (re: white) production in place where whites even then were not the majority. You do see the occasional Chinese, although those walking Chinatown near Nuuanu Street look like they walked out of a Qing Dynasty mural. Still, the conflicts are genuinely configured and the resulting tension is thick and suspenseful. For this reason, more than any other, this film deserves a place on your home video shelf. And need I say that the film benefits from the endearing title of the novel on which its crisp screenplay is based?Movie Review: Pearl Harbor Background for Human Destinies
Summary: 4 Stars
Sweeping Oscars in 1953, this war drama becomes truly war at the very end, when the two main characters - brave soldiers played by Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift - are along with their female darlings caught in the fire of 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. One of the first US movies to deal with this blow dealt by Japan, "From Here to Eternity" nevertheless pushed forward the boundaries for various topics in film, having come not ahead of its time, but right at the nick of it. Frankness in intimate relationships, violence and army abuse are tackled with realism unheard-of before. The film has somehow got dated with time, but it still is carried on broad shoulders of Burt Lancaster, whose steaming beach encounter with Deborah Kerr (wife of his superior) remains among the most memorable love scenes ever put on the screen. Another main character, Robert E.Lee Prewitt (then bright young star Clift), is the centerpiece of the story. The talented boxer and bugle-man, who nevertheless has his own code of conduct, becomes an outcast of the army machinery despite his very desirable soldier qualities. The role of his friend Maggio brought a Best Supporting Oscar to Frank Sinatra, who allegedly got the role thanks to his underworld connections. Donna Reed (It's A Wonderful Life) won her Oscar for supporting actress as Prewitt's flame Alma, a luxurious prostitute whose only dream is to return home with the money and live a "decent" life. The film also got six more Academy Awards (total eight of 13 noms), including Best Picture and Best Director for Fred Zinnemann (High Noon, A Man for All Seasons).Movie Review: Gazing at stars
Summary: 4 Stars
I am spending some time on July 4th with American movie classics. Fred Zinnemann's film version of James Jones' novel about the last days before Pearl Harbour in an army outfit in a Hawaii barracks is great Hollywood.
But really, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr are not doing their stuff in the surf while the bombs are falling, as the DVD cover seems to suggest by mounting the surf tumble together with the bomber squad. That's annoying.
Apart from the stupid DVD cover I have not much to complain about.
Well, maybe one might observe that Frank Sinatra's part and his acting are not really all that great. As everyone knows from the Godfather, Sinatra got his part through connections... of course Puzo didn't really prove his claim, but it does sound plausible.
The rest is bright shining honest star-based professional cinema. Clift, Lancaster, and the 2 girls Kerr and Reed are just too true to be good. Marvellous show. And Borgnine as the evil one.
Hollywood rarely got much better.
(The star deduction is for the DVD cover photo and for Sinatra's make believe performance.)