A Movie Review: From Here to Eternity

From Here to Eternity. Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) plans to make it as a military man in 1941 Hawaii. First; however, he has to deal with Captain Dana Holmes (Philip Ober). It so happens that Robert is an excellent boxer. So excellent that he almost killed his friend during a sparing match. Due to this, Robert refuses to fight. Captain Holmes does not like this answer as he wants his unit to win the boxing championship. The captain makes life as difficult as possible for Robert. Meanwhile, Sgt. Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster) has eyes for the Captain's wife, Karen Holmes (Deborah Kerr). Probably due to this factor, he tries his best to cover for Robert.

This is an interesting film where in one sense the female characters show far more desire/ambition than their male counterparts. Perhaps one could argue that they're even willing to cross over the line to get what they desire. Karen Holmes does in fact fall for Sgt Warden; however, she doesn't want to give up the prestige associated with being an officer's wife. So she pushes Sgt. Warden to pursue an officer's commission. Alma (Donna Reed) is a young woman that Robert pursues romantically. She intends to marry up in life and so tells Robert that he is really just her boy toy. At the conclusion of the movie, we learn that she is willing to lie to get what she desires. Now perhaps this all can be viewed as sexist, that a woman needs a man to be seen as important. On the other hand, I found the two female characters far more aggressive then the male counterparts in the movie.

Other than starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed; there are supporting roles from Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine and Jack Warden.

A solid movie that holds up well.