From Here to Eternity (1953)

US 118m, B&W
Director: Fred Zinnemann; Cast: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine, Philip Ober, Jack Warden

From Here to Eternity is an overrated post-war melodrama that uses the bombing of Pearl Harbour as a cheap plot device in what is otherwise a love story. Though critically acclaimed and the winner of eight Oscars, this is a badly outdated film that is filled with cliched dialogue, unlikeable characters and hammy performances. Revolving around a soldier named Prewitt whose life is made miserable by his CO because he refuses to fight on the company boxing team, this is a soap opera that fails to generate any real sympathy for its main character, which ultimately undermines its “shocking” conclusion (Klaus Ming December 2014).