FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

This was a hugely successful film in its day (1953) but I hadn't got around to watching it until now, probably because I suspected (correctly as it turned out) that it wouldn't be my cup of tea, despite the presence of two of my faves, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr.

It's set in a US army base in Hawaii in 1941, before America enters World War II. 

Lancaster is an extremely capable First Sergeant and Kerr is the dissatisfied wife of his commanding officer.  

Inevitably they start a passionate affair, the highlight of which is the iconic scene of them kissing on a beach at night, although I'm sure most people have forgotten that the scene ends with them having a row because he is jealous of the many lovers she has had before him.

Until now I hadn't really thought of Kerr as sexy but here she proves that there really wasn't any role she couldn't play convincingly, even one such as this where she is somewhat miscast.

I was very happy whenever Lancaster and Kerr were on screen together but unfortunately their story is one of only three unfolding over the duration of the picture.  

There's also a dull romance between Montgomery Clift's Private Prewitt and Donna Reed's 'hostess', Lorene. 

And inevitably there is quite a lot of bullying going on (it's the military after all), aimed initially at Prewitt but also at Private Maggio (played by Frank Sinatra when his career was at a low ebb), leading eventually to the latter's death at the hands of Staff Sergeant "Fatso" Judson (well played by Ernest Borgnine).  

I couldn't get too interested in any of this, due to its predictability.  

In fact I could happily have done without Maggio in the film altogether, in which case we would have been left with two love stories in which both women lose out to the allure of the army, so that the film ends with them together on a boat leaving Hawaii.

Given that the dramas being played out aren't that compelling it's no surprise that the attack on Pearl Harbor is thrown in at the end, but it feels rather tacked on.  

And I found Prewitt's death to be laughably contrived, which contributed to an anti-climactic ending.

This might be the film where I finally faced up to the fact that I am not a huge fan of Clift's acting style, which somehow always makes me feel uncomfortable, although this may in part be due to my knowledge of the sad way in which his life ended.

It's all capably directed by Fred Zinnemann, but the love this film received from the Academy now seems ludicrous - eight Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and (absurdly) Best Supporting Actor and Actress to Sinatra and Reed respectively.

But definitely worth watching for that one scene alone.

RATING: ✓ Cheers