Featuring that iconic roll in the surf, between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, this Oscar-winner was adapted from James "The Thin Red Line" Jones' novel and details barrack life on Hawaii prior to the attack on Pearl Harbour. Packed with familiar faces, including Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and Ernest Borgnine.
DVD Extras:
Trailer, commentary with director Fred Zinnemann's son, Tim, featurettes.The classic beach clinch sells From Here To Eternity as an epic love story, but that scene is actually less than a minute, while the rest of the movie is a study of boredom, alcoholism and simmering resentment in the pressure cooker confines of military barracks. With promiscuity, knife fights, friendly fire casualties and institutional brutality, no wonder the US Army insisted on a softening of the edges before they cooperated. It's a soap opera made watchable by a raft of stars shot in stunning black and white under the Pacific sun, but at nearly two hours it runs longer than its slim narrative deserves. The blink and you miss them featurettes add little too.
