A weekly television Hollywood Entertainment series that takes viewers behind the scenes of the latest Hollywood movies, and productions. Five camera crews are in action all week bringing audiences the best in film premieres, music events, award ceremonies, charity events, fashion shows and celebrity parties. A unique segment of Tinseltown TV is "The Spiritual Side Of Hollywood" (with Zarina Ramzan), featuring in-depth interviews with A-List Stars about their spirituality.
Eli Wallach accepted the role of Angelo Maggio, but then turned it down because he had agreed to appear in Elia Kazan's Broadway production of "Camino Real" and had a scheduling problem.
Joan Crawford refused a role because she abhorred the costumes.
Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn wanted Aldo Ray to play Prewitt and Joan Crawford for the Karen Holmes role. Director Fred Zinnemann had his own ideas.
The scene in which Maggio meets Prew and Lorene in the bar after he walks off guard duty, was actually Frank Sinatra's screen test for the part of Maggio. To impress director Fred Zinnemann, he did an ad-lib using olives as dice and pretending to shoot craps. The entire sequence was kept as is and used in the picture.
A false rumor has been circulating for years that George Reeves, who played Sgt. Maylon Stark, had his role drastically edited after preview audiences recognized him as TV's "Superman". According to director Fred Zinnemann, screenwriter Daniel Taradash and assistant director Earl Bellamy, the rumor is false. Every scene written for Reeves' character was filmed, and each of those scenes is still present in its entirety in the film as released. This rumor is nonetheless repeated as truth in Hollywoodland (2006), a movie about the investigation into Reeves' death.
Montgomery Clift didn't manage to move like a boxer despite extensive boxing lessons, so he had to be doubled by a real boxer for the long shots in the boxing match. The fight had to be carefully edited so the close-ups and other shots matched satisfactorily. Nonetheless, the use of the double is obvious if you pay attention to the details.
In the scene where Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift play drunk sitting on the street, Clift actually was drunk, but Lancaster was not.
The novel was deemed unfilmable for a long time because of its negative portrayal of the US army (which would prevent the army from supporting the film with people and hardware/logistics) and the profanity. To get army support and pass the censorship of the time crucial details had to be changed. The brothel became a night club, the whores hostesses. The profanity was removed, the brutal treatment in the stockade toned down and Captain Holmes removed from the army instead of promoted.
Joan Fontaine was offered the role of Karen Holmes but had to decline due to family problems. She now regrets it and blames the failure of her late career to turning down the offer.
The now classic scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the rushing water on the beach was not written to take place there. The idea to film with the waves hitting them was a last minute inspiration from the director.
Harry Cohn was so convinced that Deborah Kerr could not be "sexy" enough to play the lead in this film that he almost did not cast her.
The novel was a best seller when it was released. One actor always bragged to his friends that if they ever made a film of the book, he'd play a part. Shortly after saying this, he was actually called to audition for the film. The actor was Ernest Borgnine.
Cameo: [James Jones] in the background chatting with hostesses and other soldiers over Ernest Borgnine's shoulder as Fatso (Borgnine) plays the piano at the New Congress Club.
Shot in a mere 41 days and for only $1 million.
Frank Sinatra had to campaign especially hard to get this part as his career had hit a low point by this time
The title phrase comes originally from Rudyard Kipling's 1892 poem "Gentlemen-Rankers", about soldiers of the British Empire who had "lost [their] way" and were "damned from here to eternity".
Shelley Winters turned down the role of Alma, as she had just given birth to her daughter Vittoria.
Ronald Reagan and Walter Matthau were among the actors considered for the role of Sgt. Warden.
If Columbia head Harry Cohn had gotten his way, the film would have starred Aldo Ray as Prewitt, Edmond O'Brien as Warden, Joan Crawford as Karen, Julie Harris as Lorene and Eli Wallach as Maggio.
An urban myth regarding the casting of Frank Sinatra was that the Mafia made Columbia Pictures an offer they couldn't refuse. This of course was fictionalized in Mario Puzo's novel "The Godfather" and its subsequent film adaptation. The real reason for Sinatra's casting was mainly his then-wife Ava Gardner, who was shooting a film for Columbia head Harry Cohn and suggested to him that he use Sinatra. Although initially reluctant, Cohn eventually saw this as being a good idea, as Sinatra's stock was so low at the time that he would sign for a very low salary. Sinatra had been lobbying hard for the role,even suggesting he would do it for nothing, but he was eventually hired for the token amount of $8,000.
Future screenwriter Alvin Sargent has a bit part in the film. He was paid $400 for a week's work in Hawaii. Sargent would later go on to win an Oscar for Julia (1977), also directed by Fred Zinnemann.
Original novelist James Jones was not happy with the film, as he considered it to be too sanitized.
Harry Cohn resisted the idea of casting Montgomery Clift as Prewitt as "he was no soldier, no boxer and probably a homosexual". Fred Zinnemann refused to make the film without him.
The film went on to gross $18 million, the tenth highest grossing film of the 1950s.
Dubbed "Cohn's Folly" because many thought the novel was too long and too adult to be filmed. Harry Cohn paid $82,000 for the rights.
James Jones himself was one of the numerous writers who had attempted to adapt the book for the screen.
The US Army was initially reluctant to lend their co-operation to the production. Producer Buddy Adler had been a Lieutenant Colonel in the Signal Corps during WWII and was able to bring his influence to bear.
A nationwide search of Army surplus stores yielded pre-Pearl Harbor style Springfield rifles, canvas leggings, campaign hats and flat steel helmets. The extras - who were all real soldiers - were all drilled to learn how to use all this outdated equipment.
Fred Zinnemann insisted on filming in black and white, as he felt that "color would have made it look trivial". He also eschewed the use of any of the popular new widescreen ratios.
Fred Zinnemann was chosen to direct the project largely at the suggestion of screenwriter Daniel Taradash, who had been impressed with Zinnemann's handling of the previous war-themed movies The Search (1948), The Men (1950) and Teresa (1951).
Fred Zinnemann was initially reluctant to make the film, as he had an inherent distrust of Columbia head Harry Cohn. He also felt that in the then climate of McCarthyism, to voice anything that cast any doubt over such institutions as the Army, the Navy or the FBI was just asking for trouble.
Montgomery Clift threw himself into the character of Prewitt, learning to play the bugle (even though he knew he'd be dubbed) and taking boxing lessons. Fred Zinnemann said, "Clift forced the other actors to be much better than they really were. That's the only way I can put it. He got performances from the other actors, he got reactions from the other actors that were totally genuine."
Burt Lancaster was nervous when he started the film. Most of his previous pictures had been fairly lightweight productions, and this was his first "serious" role. He was especially intimidated by Montgomery Clift's skill and intensity.
Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and author James Jones were very close during the filming, frequently embarking on monumental drinking binges. Clift coached Sinatra on how to play Maggio during their more sober moments, for which Sinatra was eternally grateful.
As scripted, Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster's classic clinch on the beach was to be filmed standing up. It was Lancaster's idea to do it horizontally in the surf. The scene was filmed at Halona Cove on the eastern side of Oahu, near Koko Head Crater and Sandy Beach, and the location became a major tourist attraction for years after.
The MPAA banned photos of the famous Burt Lancaster-Deborah Kerr passionate kiss on the beach for being too erotic. Many prints had shortened versions of the scene because projectionists would cut out frames to keep as souvenirs.
With 8 Oscars, the most awarded film by the Academy since Gone with the Wind (1939).
The film helped to popularize Aloha shirts.
The censors demanded that Deborah Kerr's swimsuit should feature a skirt in its design so as to not be too sexually provocative.
Debut of Claude Akins.
Angelo Maggio:
Only my friends can call me a little wop!
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Nobody ever lies about being lonely.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
A man don't go his own way, he's nothing.
Sergeant Milton Warden:
Maybe back in the days of the pioneers a man could go his own way, but today you got to play ball.
Karen Holmes:
Come back here, Sergeant. I'll tell you the story; you can take it back to the barracks with you. I'd only been married to Dana two years when I found out he was cheating. And by that time I was pregnant. I thought I had something to hope for. I was almost happy the night the pains began. I remember Dana was going to an officers' conference. I told him to get home early, to bring the doctor with him. And maybe he would have... if his "conference" hadn't been with a hat-check girl! He was drunk when he came in at 5 AM. I was lying on the floor. I begged him to go for the doctor, but he fell on the couch and passed out. The baby was born about an hour later. Of course it was dead. It was a boy. But they worked over me at the hospital, they fixed me up fine, they even took my appendix out -- they threw that in free.
Sergeant Milton Warden:
Karen...
Karen Holmes:
And one more thing: no more children. Sure I went out with men after that. And if I'd ever found one that...
Sergeant Milton Warden:
Karen, listen to me, listen.
Karen Holmes:
I know. Until I met you I didn't think it was possible either.
Alma:
Sit down and -- and get comfortable. I'll make you a martini and see what's to cook for dinner.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Hey, this is like being married, ain't it?
Alma:
It's better.
[Warden brings papers to Holmes' house for his signature, knowing that only his wife would be there.]
Karen Holmes:
Are these really important?
Sergeant Milton Warden:
Yes, but not important they get signed today. Tomorrow's okay.
[She rips them up.]
Sergeant Milton Warden:
I have copies at the office, so it won't be much work to fix 'em up.
Karen Holmes:
That's what I like about you, Sergeant: you have confidence. It's also what I dislike about you.
Sergeant Milton Warden:
It's not confidence, ma'am; it's honesty. I just hate to see a beautiful woman going all to waste.
Karen Holmes:
Waste, did you say? There's a subject I might tell you something about. I know several kinds of waste, Sergeant. You're probably not even remotely aware of some of them. Would you like to hear? For instance, what about the house without a child? There's one sort for you. Then there's another... You're doing fine, Sergeant. My husband's off somewhere, and it's raining outside, and we're both drinking now. You've probably only got one thing wrong. The lady herself. The lady's not what she seems. She's a... washout, if you know what I mean... and I'm sure you know what I mean!
Sergeant Milton Warden:
You going to cry?
Karen Holmes:
Not if I can help it. What are you doing?
Sergeant Milton Warden:
I'm leaving. Isn't that what you want?
Karen Holmes:
I don't know, Sergeant. I don't know.
[He kisses her.]
Karen Holmes:
Don't try to be gallant, Sergeant. If you think this is a mistake, come right out and say so. ...Well, I guess it's about time for me to be heading home, isn't it? ...Well, isn't it?
Sergeant Milton Warden:
What's the matter? What started all this, anyway? You think I'd be here if I thought it was a mistake? Taking a chance on 20 years in Leavenworth for making dates with the company commander's wife? And her acting like-- like Lady Astor's horse, and all because I got here on time!
Karen Holmes:
Well, on the other hand, I've got a bathing suit under my dress...
Sergeant Milton Warden:
Me too!
Karen Holmes:
I never knew it could be like this! Nobody ever kissed me the way you do.
Sergeant Milton Warden:
Nobody?
Karen Holmes:
No, nobody.
Sergeant Milton Warden:
Not even one? Out of all the men you've been kissed by?
Karen Holmes:
[giggling] Now that'd take some figuring. How many men do you think there've been?
Sergeant Milton Warden:
I wouldn't know. Can't you give me a rough estimate?
Karen Holmes:
Not without an adding machine. Do you have the adding machine with you?
Sergeant Milton Warden:
I forgot to bring it.
Karen Holmes:
You certainly chose a lovely spot for our meeting. I've had three chances to be picked up in the last five minutes.
Captain Dana Holmes:
You know why you were assigned to G Company?
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
No, sir.
Captain Dana Holmes:
I pulled a few strings. I'm the regimental boxing coach, you know.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Yes, sir.
Captain Dana Holmes:
I saw your fight with Connors in the Bowl, year before last. You should've won it.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Thank you, sir.
Captain Dana Holmes:
Our regiment got beaten in the finals last December, but I mean to win this year. All I've needed is a top middleweight.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
I'm sorry, sir. I quit fighting.
Captain Dana Holmes:
Quit fighting? When? What for?
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Well, over a year ago. Maybe you heard about what happened with Dixie Wells?
Captain Dana Holmes:
You mean that fellow that got hurt?
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Yes sir.
Captain Dana Holmes:
Yes, I heard about that. It's too bad. I can understand how you feel, but those things happen.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
That's WHY I decided I would quit, sir.
Captain Dana Holmes:
You might as well say stop war because one man got killed!
Alma:
Prew, it's true we love each other now, we need each other, but back in the States it might be different.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
That ain't the real reason.
Alma:
You're right, it's not.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
What is the real reason?
Alma:
I -- I won't marry you because I don't want to be the wife of a soldier.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Well, that... would be about the best I could ever do for you.
Alma:
Because nobody's going to stop me from my plan. Nobody, nothing. Because I want to be proper!
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Proper.
Alma:
Yes, proper! In another year I'll have enough money saved. Then I'm going to go back to my home town in Oregon, and I'm going to build a house for my mother and myself, and join the country club and take up golf. Then I'll meet the proper man with the proper position, to make a proper wife, and can run a proper home and raise proper children. And I'll be HAPPY because when you're PROPER you're SAFE!
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
You've got guts, honey. I hope you can pull that off.
Alma:
I do mean it when I say I need you. 'Cause I'm lonely. You think I'm lying, don't you?
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Nobody ever lies about being lonely.
Sergeant Maylon Stark:
Leva tells me you've been eyeing the Captain's wife like a hound dog at hunting time.
Angelo Maggio:
Let's go to a phone booth or something, huh? Where I will unveil a fifth of whiskey, I have hidden here under my loose, flowing sports shirt.
Annette:
That'll be four bucks, babyface. Two for initiation fee, two for this month's dues.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
What do I get for it?
Annette:
Members are entitled to all privileges of the club, which includes dancing, snack bar, soft drink bar, and gentlemanly relaxation with the opposite gender -- so long as they ARE gentlemen, and no liquor is permitted, got it?
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
Well, what am I? I'm a private no-class dogface. The way most civilians look at that, that's two steps up from nothin'.
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
A man should be what he can do.
Karen Holmes:
If you're looking for the Captain... he ain't here.
Sergeant Milton Warden:
[eyes Karen coyly] And if I ain't lookin' for the Captain?
Karen Holmes:
Then he still ain't here.
Karen Holmes:
[to Sgt. Warden standing outside her porch in the pouring rain] Well, you'd better come inside.... you'll get wet.
Alma:
[Maggio offers her a drink] No, thanks, I don't drink.
[Maggio gives her a look]
Alma:
I think it's a weakness.
Angelo Maggio:
I grant ya that.
Alma:
[to Prewitt] You don't like weakness do you?
Robert E. Lee "Prew' Prewitt:
No, I don't like weakness... but I like to drink!
Factual errors: The impromptu bugle solo in the club is obviously a trumpet solo dubbed into the scene. There's no way a valve-less bugle could achieve the range of notes heard in that solo.
Continuity: In the bar fight scene between Fatso and Maggio, Sgt. Warden breaks a bottle to stop the fight and eventually throws the broken bottle across the room. Later, the smashed bottle is visible on the table in a close-up.
Continuity: When Sergeant Warden walks over with Private Prewitt to the Supply store, we first see Corporal Leva with his hand at his ear. In the next shot, his hand is down on the table.
Continuity: When Private Maggio is dressing and using the talcum powder, he's holding it with his right hand after the last soldiers leave and then powders his left arm. In the next shot immediately after, he's placing it on a shelf in his locker with his left hand.
Boom mike visible: When 1st Sgt. Milton Warden is walking Pvt. Robert E. Lee 'Prew' Prewitt over to Supply, the shadow of the boom mike can be seen on Prewitt's blouse.
Continuity: During Sgt. Warden's visit (pretending to look for Capt. Holmes), Karen tells him that she will phone her husband and walks to the dining room. When she stands in the doorway, we see two chairs inside, on the left. In the next shot, they both enter the room and the chairs are not there.
Continuity: Inside the dining room, Sgt. Warden puts some rolled up sheets of paper on the table. When Karen picks them up, they are unrolled.
Continuity: When policing the grounds on his hands and knees, the box/can is inconsistently placed.
Version of
"From Here to Eternity" (1979) (mini)
"From Here to Eternity" (1980)
Edited from
December 7th (1943)
References
At Land (1944)
Referenced in
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
- Spoofs the famous beach scene
Et Dieu... créa la femme (1956)
Hollywood or Bust (1956)
- Steve mentions Burt and Deborah kiss on the beach when he's on the water bank.
Hud (1963)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The Godfather (1972)
Carry on Matron (1972)
Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra (1973) (TV)
- Sinatra jokes about the film.
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Frank Sinatra (1977) (TV)
- Ernest Borgnine reprises his part from this movie
Grease (1978)
Same Time, Next Year (1978)
- Still photo of the beach scene in transitional montage
California Suite (1978)
Summer School (1987)
- At the end of the movie, there is a scene where the two leads kiss while lying down on the beach with the waves coming on at them. This scene is exactly like in "From Here to Eternity".
"Red Dwarf: Thanks for the Memory (#2.3)" (1988)
- Referenced by name
Weekend at Bernie's (1989)
- Namechecked in a beach scene
"Mystery Science Theater 3000: Tormented (#5.14)" (1992)
- "You be Debra Kerr, I'll be Burt Lancaster"
Anni 90 - Parte II (1993)
"The Simpsons: Boy Scoutz n the Hood (#5.8)" (1993)
- Ernest Borgnine says he thinks everyone knows him best as his role in this film.
"Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Skydivers (#7.9)" (1994)
- Servo: What if this was playing at the same theater with From Here to Eternity and you wanted to see that, but your friend wanted to see this?
Ritorno a casa Gori (1996)
Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998)
Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
- Passionate wet kiss on a Pacific island beach
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) (TV)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
"Charmed: From Fear to Eternity (#1.13)" (1999)
- The title is a reference to the title of the movie.
"Mystery Science Theater 3000: Horrors of Spider Island (#11.11)" (1999)
- Mike: (two people kiss on a beach) Burt Lancaster he's not.
"Mystery Science Theater 3000: Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (#11.3)" (1999)
- Servo: (describing an Ernest Borgnine film) ...someone pledges their love from here to eternity...
The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) (TV)
"Family Guy: Road to Rhode Island (#2.13)" (2000)
- Stewie plays "6 degrees" with Brian in the car, this is one of the movies he uses.
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Molly Shannon (2001) (V)
- referenced in 'Leg up'
Far East (2001) (TV)
Pearl Harbor (2001)
George Stevens: The Filmmakers Who Knew Him (2001) (V)
- mentionned once
"Beck: Okänd avsändare (#2.5)" (2002)
- This is the movie that the victim rents at the video store.
Shirtless: Hollywood's Sexiest Men (2002) (TV)
Rugrats Go Wild (2003)
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)
- dialogue
Big Fish (2003)
- Title is on movie marquee
The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)
- One of the films on the list
Three (2005)
- Two people lie on the beach and kiss as the waves crash over them
Relative Strangers (2006)
- guess during Charades
MovieReal: Hollywoodland (2006) (TV)
- discussion of this film is part of the film
"ER: From Here to Paternity (#13.17)" (2007)
- The episode title is a reference to the movie title.
Featured in
The Lord's of Flatbush (1974)
Montgomery Clift (1983)
Starman (1984)
Precious Images (1986)
"Fejezetek a film történetéböl: Amerikai filmtípusok - Egyén és társadalom (#1.7)" (1989)
Mac (1992)
- The movie is playing on the television
100 Years at the Movies (1994)
A Century of Cinema (1994)
Mr. Wrong (1996)
The Nutty Professor (1996)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: Against the Grain (1998) (TV)
- Cited as one of best 100 movies in last 100 years
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) (TV)
The Lady with the Torch (1999)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions (2002) (TV)
Taxi für eine Leiche (2002)
- they watch it in the cinema
13 Going on 30 (2004)
- Jenna watches the beach scene on TV
The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) (TV)
The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)
- Clips are shown
"Getaway: Found (#14.20)" (2005)
- A clip from this movie is shown during a story on places in Hawaii used as movie locations, when the story shows the beach used in the movie's most famous scene.
Hollywoodland (2006)
- clip of the earlier film is integrated into this film
Spoofed in
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell (1968)
10 from Your Show of Shows (1973)
Airplane! (1980)
Sällskapsresan (1980)
The Nutty Professor (1996)
From Hare to Eternity (1997)
Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998)
Pearl Harbor II: Pearlmageddon (2001)
- when ben and gwen run up the beach and lay down to kiss, it spoofs the scene from "from here the eternity"
Gay Propaganda (2002)
- lesbian characters in the segment
Rugrats Go Wild (2003)
Shrek 2 (2004)
- Parody of the kiss on the beach scene.
"Tripping the Rift: Creaturepalooza (#2.11)" (2005)
- Chode and Six are hit by waves as they kiss on the beach