We’re Giving Too Much Credit to the Wrong Romance in From Here To Eternity (1953)

Every year, my comrades at The Deucecast, a podcast that I am occasionally roped into appearing on, assign me a list of romantic films to watch in January and February. It’s not an assignment I asked for exactly, but it’s one I never turn down because many of my cinematic blindspots are romances and romantic comedies.

This year, one of my assigned films was From Here To Eternity, a film that I only knew a couple things about. I knew that it involved WWII soldiers on the brink of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and I knew that there was a legendarily steamy scene between two actors on a beach. That’s pretty much it.

Yes, From Here To Eternity was a smash hit in its day, winning eight Oscars (along with five other nominations) and becoming one of the biggest box office draws of the decade.* But that one scene seems to be the only thing that anybody remembers about the film, especially if they haven’t seen it recently.

It’s the only real scene shown in the first trailer that pops up on YouTube. It’s the first several results you’ll get when you do a Google image search for the film. It’s the header image for the film’s page on Letterboxd. And while it’s not featured in what appears to be the main theatrical poster, there are other poster variants that feature this iconic image.

Needless to say, I assumed that the main story of the film, or at least the main romantic thread, would revolve around those two characters. Reader, this is not the case. (At least not in this writer’s opinion.)

Those two people fornicating in the sand, as you may know, are Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr. Lancaster is the top-billed performer of the whole ensemble just about anywhere you look—the poster, the trailer, IMDb, Letterboxd. And Kerr is consistently billed above any other actress in the film. (Which includes a total of, I don’t know, three other women with speaking parts? This was the 50s, after all.)

But this film absolutely belongs to Montgomery Clift and Donna Reed. And theirs is the superior on-screen romance in the film.

First of all, I’m not afraid to say it: They’re the sexier pair. Clift’s character is a quiet, tormented soul, a boxer who doesn’t want to box and a soldier who doesn’t get a fair shake.** And Reed, whom you may know and love from It’s A Wonderful Life, is equally charming here (though in a much different way) as a disenchanted employee of the social club near the Army base. When they’re on screen together, there are fireworks, folks.

Meanwhile, Lancaster and Kerr both possessed movie star looks, but the one-note roles they’re given here don’t do them any favors. Lancaster plays a first sergeant who is having an affair with Kerr, the wife of his captain. Though their coming together is scandalous at first, the intrigue quickly wears off, and the film only gives them fleeting moments together as the narrative increasingly focuses on Clift (and Reed by proxy).

Oh, and that scene where they make out in the surf? I hate to say it, but much of the steaminess has evaporated; it’s pretty tame to a modern viewer.***

Clift is the beating heart of the film, and Reed presents his most compelling source of tension—a much more intriguing romantic scenario than that of their higher-billed costars (that climaxes in a terrific final moment from Reed). Given that Reed and Kerr receive roughly the same amount of screen time, I think it’s kinda ridiculous that Kerr was competing in the Best Actress race while Reed was reduced to the Best Supporting Actress category.****

It goes to show you, folks. The Greatest Generation was just as prone to Hollywood sensationalism as we are. (They just weren’t as good at it.)

*This film was such a hit that it received five Oscar nominations in the four main acting categories (including two for Best Actor). Only three other films have earned five nominations across all four acting races: Mrs. Miniver, Bonnie and Clyde, and Network.

**Clift’s character reminds me a lot of what Paul Newman went on to do in Cool Hand Luke a decade later. Those guys are my kinda guys.

***Lancaster and Kerr were reported to have had a real-life romantic entanglement off screen during the making of this film. Assuming this was known at the time of release, I’m sure it had a lot to do with the reception of their famous scene together.

****Reed actually won, though. And Kerr did not. I’m not sure the Academy can be deemed as arbiters of justice in this case, but I’ll take it.

From Here To Eternity is now streaming on HBO Max, and it is available to rent elsewhere.