The sweeping romantic drama that 2001’s Pearl Harbor wanted to be, From Here to Eternity follows the tumultuous lives of three Army men stationed in Honolulu during the days leading up to Dec. 7, 1941. A coiled, volatile Montgomery Clift stars as Robert Prewitt, a young private who loves the Army but can’t quite adjust to its regimented ways. His sergeant is played with a stern compassion by a strapping Burt Lancaster, while his hard-drinking friend is played by Frank Sinatra, who won an Oscar for his efforts. All three of these men struggle to find their place in military society, especially when women come into play (Donna Reed and Deborah Kerr each make indelible impressions as the love interests, the latter of whom takes that famous roll in the surf with Lancaster). Unlike in Pearl Harbor, these relationships are at the fore, not just filler until we can get to the warring special effects.
