From Here to Eternity review

 Number 465 on the top 1000 films of all time is the romantic-drama 'From Here to Eternity.'

Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) is a soldier and former boxer stationed in 1941 Oahu. Despite pressure from his unit he refuses to join the regimental boxing team. They then proceed to make his life hell. His only friends are the Italian-American Private Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra) and Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster.)

This is the film that famously won Frank Sinatra the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. It was just one of his many successful film roles. Yet I think labelling it "supporting" is stretching things just a bit too far. He only seemed to feature in a few key scenes before going AWOL to only reappear at the film's conclusion. He was certainly good enough - maybe not as quite as good as his performance in the Manchurian Candidate, but did he have enough screentime to justify a Best Supporting Oscar?

I was also confused to see that it was Burt Lancaster and not Montgomery Clift who received the Best Actor nomination. Lancaster also received star billing over Clift. Yet it was Prewitt and his tortured past that was driving the film forward. Clift was great in the lead role too, as he conveyed Prewitt's inner turmoil. Of course, this isn't to diminish Lancaster either, but of the two, Clift was the star of the film.

The film culminates in a thrilling conclusion, as we see the Pearl Harbour attack happen in real time. This was an enthralling ending which surely captured the confusion and tragedy of the time.

From Here to Eternity was certainly an enjoyable film, but I'm not sure it was Oscar-worthy.