Day 85- Movie 82. From Here to Eternity (1953)

I've been meaning to watch an Academy Award winner for Best Picture since I started this whole thing. It only took me 82 movies to finally get around to it. I watched From Here to Eternity for the first time. I  have to say that I loved this movie. It was such a beautifully crafted film on every level. It features an incredible cast, remarkable performances, terrific writing, drama, action, romance, and some very humorous parts. It has just about everything you could ask for in a movie. It was excellent.

I was blown away by the cast. Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr are very good as two people struggling with keeping their affair a secret. They have the film's most famous, iconic moment in the kissing scene on the beach. Even though I've never seen this movie, I was familiar with that image- it is certainly the most powerful, lasting single image of the film. I thought they worked well together. Montgomery Clift was incredible as Prewitt. He gives one of the most enjoyable performances I've ever seen. His stubbornness and his determination to walk his own path are inspirational. He worked well with his love interest, Donna Reed. I liked Reed, who matched up well with Clift. This movie also features a career salvaging performance by Frank Sinatra and a memorable performance by Ernest Borgnine. The cast is one of the best I've seen.

It's pretty amazing that this film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, and won 8. Frank Sinatra won  Best Supporting Actor and Donna Reed won Best Supporting Actress. In addition, Montgomery Clift was nominated for Best Actor, Burt Lancaster also received a Best Actor nomination, and Deborah Kerr was nominated for Best Actress. That's 5 acting nominations and 2 wins. Pretty incredible.

The movie features all these different storylines revolving around different soldiers stationed in Hawaii in the 1940s- each one compelling and fascinating in its own right. We have the romantic affair between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr. We have Montgomery Clift being put through hell in the army for refusing to join the boxing team, all while trying to develop a relationship with Donna Reed. We have the friendship between Clift and Frank Sinatra, and Sinatra's growing tendency to get himself into trouble, especially with his enemy, Ernest Borgnine. All these stories are weaved together in a incredible way. I found the film to be entertaining, funny, emotionally powerful, and memorable. It was very enjoyable to watch.

It's probably not all that exciting to read someone waxing on and on about how much they loved a movie. I'll just conclude this by saying that From Here to Eternity is one of the best movies I have seen in a long, long time, and I'll give it a much deserved 8.5/10. If you haven't seen this movie, I can't recommend it highly enough.

On a similar note, I'm interested to see how many Academy Award Best Picture winners you've seen. There's been 82 winners. I've listed the films below (note- the date is when the movie was released, not when it won Best Picture) and bolded the titles to mark the ones I've seen:

2009 - “The Hurt Locker”

2008 - “Slumdog Millionaire”
2007 - “No Country for Old Men”
2006 - “The Departed”
2005 - “Crash”
2004 - “Million Dollar Baby”
2003 - “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
2002 - “Chicago”
2001 - “A Beautiful Mind”
2000 - “Gladiator”
1999 - “American Beauty”
1998 - “Shakespeare in Love”
1997 - “Titanic”
1996 - “The English Patient”
1995 - “Braveheart”
1994 - “Forrest Gump”
1993 - “Schindler’s List”
1992 - “Unforgiven”
1991 - “The Silence of the Lambs”
1990 - “Dances with Wolves”
1989 - “Driving Miss Daisy”
1988 - “Rain Man”
1987 - “The Last Emperor”
1986 - “Platoon”
1985 - “Out of Africa”
1984 - “Amadeus”
1983 - “Terms of Endearment”
1982 - “Gandhi”
1981 - “Chariots of Fire”
1980 - “Ordinary People”
1979 - “Kramer vs. Kramer”
1978 - “The Deer Hunter”
1977 - “Annie Hall”
1976 - “Rocky”
1975 - “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest”
1974 - “The Godfather Part II”
1973 - “The Sting”
1972 - “The Godfather”
1971 - “The French Connection”
1970 - “Patton”
1969 - “Midnight Cowboy”

1968 - “Oliver!”
1967 - “In the Heat of the Night”
1966 - “A Man for All Seasons”
1965 - “The Sound of Music”
1964 - “My Fair Lady”
1963 - “Tom Jones”
1962 - “Lawrence of Arabia”
1961 - “West Side Story”
1960 - “The Apartment”
1959 - “Ben-Hur”
1958 - “Gigi”
1957 - “The Bridge on the River Kwai”
1956 - “Around the World in 80 Days”
1955 - “Marty”
1954 - “On the Waterfront”
1953 - “From Here to Eternity”
1952 - “The Greatest Show on Earth”
1951 - “An American in Paris”
1950 - “All about Eve”
1949 - “All the Kings Men”
1948 - “Hamlet”
1947 - “Gentleman's Agreement”
1946 - “The Best Years of Our Lives”
1945 - “The Lost Weekend”
1944 - “Going My Way”
1943 - “Casablanca”
1942 - “Mrs. Miniver”
1941 - “How Green Was My Valley”
1940 - “Rebecca”
1939 - “Gone with the Wind”
1938 - “You Can't Take It with You”
1937 - “The Life of Emile Zola”
1936 - “The Great Ziegfeld”
1935 - “Mutiny on the Bounty”
1934 - “It Happened One Night”
1932/1933 - “Cavalcade”
1931/1932 - “Grand Hotel”
1930/1931 - “Cimarron”
1929/1930 - “All Quiet on the Western Front”
1928/1929 - “The Broadway Melody”
1927/1928 - “Wings”

By my count, I've seen 61 Best Picture winners, and I have 21 to go. I should mention that's 61 in my "official count." I've seen West Side Story, so it would actually be 62, but I need to watch that movie again. Thus, officially, it stands at 61. That's not too bad, but I still need to get busy watching those other movies. After I finish seeing every film to win Best Picture, I'll move on to trying to watch every film to win Best Actor. Just a little FYI in case you were interested.

Anyone care to share how many B.P. winners you've seen? I have a feeling that if you've seen The King's Speech, you'll be able to add one more to your list this weekend (although I'm still hoping The Social Network pulls it out)