One Paragraph Movie Review: From Here To Eternity

One hundred and sixty-fourth film: From Here To Eternity, a film that is surprisingly known for a two-second hot pash on the beach rather than Montgomery Clift’s serratus muscles as it absolutely should be. Set on an army base in Hawaii just before the Pearl Harbour attack, this unmitigated sausage-fest swings from soldiers getting drunk to soldiers punching each other to soldiers sleeping with each other’s wives to soldiers being attacked by the Japanese with all the ease and tempo of a Frank Sinatra medley, a clever analogy because Frank Sinatra is in it. There’s a lot of implied sex stuff, a lot of irritated, beautiful women not wanting to marry people who aren’t officers, and a lot of macho guys smashing bottles on tables during bar fights. There’s also countless excellent lines like “He’d strangle on his own spit if he didn’t have me to swab his throat out for him” and “There hasn’t been a man around the house since the cat died” which are welcome respite from the sweaty brows and straining shirts. Because mostly, this movie is about manly men being big men in tough man town. And probably sandy gussets. Which are all fine, except for the gussets. Three stacked crates to stab people behind out of five.