Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity (1953)

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A small cove. A wave crashes into the cove, and we follow it as it envelopes a couple locked in an embrace on the sand. This is one of the most easily recognized scenes in the history of cinema, one of the most erotic, and one that the Greene commission didn't want us to see. From Here to Eternity was one of those books that was considered far too controversial, anti-military, and sexual to ever be brought to the screen, but Columbia bought the rights. Daniel Taradash wrote a brilliant first script, and made the entire project possible, but not without serious censorship problems from both the Army and the Greene commission.

First, a reminder plot summary. Pvt. Robert E. Lee Pruitt (Montgomery Clift) takes a two level drop in rank to transfer out of the bugle corps when someone's nephew is given the top bugler spot that he earned and held. He ends up in a rifle company at Schofield Barracks due to the intervention of the company commander, Captain Dana Holmes (Philip Ober), who is trying to leverage his position as coach of the division boxing team into a promotion. Pruitt is a talented middleweight who has given up boxing after blinding a friend while sparing. To help pressure Pruitt into boxing, Holmes uses his top sergeant, First Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster) to harass Pruitt. Warden does as ordered, but is a consummate soldier, and is ultimately fair. Things get very interesting as Pruitt won't give an inch, and Milton starts an affair with the Captain’s wife (Deborah Kerr). Meanwhile, Pruitt falls for a girl at a social club, Donna Reed, and his best friend, Pvt. Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra) is thrown into the stockade, and the clutches of "Fatso," the kind of serious asshole and sadist that only the military can create, played to perfection by Ernest Borgnine.

The film ends with Pearl Harbor Day. Filming in Hawaii was deemed a necessity. To get the Army's permission, they had to cut some scenes of physical abuse in the stockade, and had to have the Captain disgraced. In the original script, the Captain was promoted. The Greene commission, who realized how sexually charged the script was, was all over it. First, Donna Reed changed from a hooker in a whore house to a hostess. Second, they went over the famous beach scene again and again, requiring that Kerr wear a small skirt over her bathing suite, forbidding certain angles, etc. They really didn't like the water crashing either, but the film makers won that round, and one of the most erotic moments in cinema stayed in the film.

I can't give this classic less than an A.

Critics Vote: It was the megga winner at the academy awards, winning 8 of 12 nominations including best picture, and critics agree at 4 stars.

IMDB Summary: It is still rated 8.0/10.


Written by: Tuna …courtesy of Scoopy.net