Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Movie review
From Time Out London
It’s odd that programmers would choose Fred Zinneman’s lip-smacking ensemble melodrama from 1953 as the centrepiece of a BFI retrospective of the work of actress Deborah Kerr – it’s a stretch to call her one of the film’s key players. Yes, she gets to canoodle in the Hawaiian surf with Burt Lancaster, but the film mostly focuses on the band of dysfunctional tyros at a nearby army base whose carefree, pre-Pearl Harbor lives are on the road to ruin long before the bombs drop. ‘From Here to Eternity’ remains a garish but compelling ode to the lonely lot of the pacifist, and Montgomery Clift is outstanding as the blighted boxing-champ-cum-bugle-player who is constantly goaded by friends (Frank Sinatra), enemies (Ernest Borgnine) and lovers (Donna Reed) to unleash his ferocious alter-ego. The film is anonymously directed, functionally paced and hysterical at times, though it seduces as a hot-blooded spectacle that stitches emotional detail onto the epic canvas of history.Author: David Jenkins
Time Out London Issue 2092: 23–29 September, 2010
User reviews of this film
-
- Ray said...
- Posted on Nov 14 2010 10:37 apologies for some typo's and double post
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Ray said...
- Posted on Nov 14 2010 10:36 Watchd last night for thevery first time, very much a 50's movie but great performances all round, Sinatra in good form devoid of too much indulgence, Lancaster very believable as the loyal army man. Watching it now you get the sense it didnt escape the attention of many of that generations filmmakers, although perhaps not a driectors film it certainly stages certain scenes very well and fr the sheer scale of the intertwining stories and setting of the film, its still stands up
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Ray said...
- Posted on Nov 14 2010 10:36 Watchd last night for thevery first time, very much a 50's movie but great performances all round, Sinatra in good form devoid of too much indulgence, Lancaster very believable as the loyal army man. Watching it now you get the sense it didnt escape the attention of many of that generations filmmakers, although perhaps not a driectors film it certainly stages certain scenes very well and fr the sheer scale of the intertwining stories and setting of the film, its still stands up
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Producer: Buddy Adler
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Donna Reed, Ernest Borgnine, Philip Ober, Jack Warden full cast
Rated: PG
Duration: 118 mins
UK Release: Sep 24 2010
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects






What do you think?
Post your review now