From Here to Eternity story
From Here to Eternity is a 1953 American romantic war drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. It deals with the tribulations of three United States Army soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and Frank Sinatra, stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed portray the women in their lives. The supporting cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Philip Ober, Jack Warden, Mickey Shaughnessy, Claude Akins, and George Reeves.
21 total · 4 choice · 8 major · 9 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| compromising one's ethical principles for personal advantage | choice | A central drama revolves around Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt's refusal to participate in the boxing team despite the many perks that doing so would entail, and despite the immense bullying he was subjected to in order to persuade him. |
| love vs. career | choice | Central to the story was First Sergeant Warden's inner struggle between becoming an officer to please his love interest, Karen, and remaining an enlisted man. Warden despised the officer class and wanted no part of it. |
| military related work | choice | The story is set on a military base in Hawaii and focuses on the lives of some army men in the lead-up to the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. |
| romantic love | choice | The plot is anchored in two romances. First Sergeant Warden fell passionately in love with Karen, who happened to be stuck in a loveless marriage with Warden's commanding officer. Private Prewitt fell in love with the cabaret girl Lorene, and she returned the sentiment. |
| extramarital affair | major | The failed marriage between Captain Dana "Dynamite" Holmes and Karen, and her affair with First Sergeant Milton Warden, was a focal point of the story. Karen's husband was a well known philanderer as well. |
| harassment | major | Both Prewitt and Maggio were tormented by fellow servicemen to an extent that was obviously illegal. Captain Holmes would have been court martialed for letting Prewitt be bullied, had he not agreed to resign instead. |
| historical event | major | The story is set on a military base in Hawaii and focuses on the lives of some army men in the lead-up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. [1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor] |
| husband and wife | major | The failed marriage between Captain Dana "Dynamite" Holmes and Karen, and her affair with First Sergeant Milton Warden, was a focal point of the story. |
| remorse | major | Private Prewitt was torn up inside over having blinded a man with a right cross. It was for this reason that he had resolved never to box again. |
| stubbornness | major | Warden repeatedly lamented Prewitt's hardheadedness that saw Prewitt bullied mercilessly, and that, according to Warden, also got him killed in the end. |