Editing From Here to Eternity (section)

==Reception==
Opening to rave reviews, ''From Here to Eternity'' proved to be an instant hit with critics and public alike, the Southern California Motion Picture Council extolling: "A motion picture so great in its starkly realistic and appealing drama that mere words cannot justly describe it."{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' agreed:

<blockquote>The James Jones bestseller, ''From Here to Eternity'', has become an outstanding motion picture in this smash screen adaptation. It is an important film from any angle, presenting socko entertainment for big business. The cast names are exceptionally good, the exploitation and word-of-mouth values are topnotch, and the prospects in all playdates are very bright, whether special key bookings or general run.<ref name="Variety"/></blockquote>

Of the actors, ''Variety'' went on to say,

<blockquote>Burt Lancaster, whose presence adds measurably to the marquee weight of the strong cast names, wallops the character of First Sergeant Milton Warden, the professional soldier who wet-nurses a weak, pompous commanding officer and the GIs under him. It is a performance to which he gives depth of character as well as the muscles which had gained marquee importance for his name. Montgomery Clift, with a reputation for sensitive, three-dimensional performances, adds another to his growing list as the independent GI who refuses to join the company boxing team, taking instead the 'treatment' dished out at the C.O.'s instructions. Frank Sinatra scores a decided hit as Angelo Maggio, a violent, likeable Italo-American GI. While some may be amazed at this expression of the Sinatra talent versatility, it will come as no surprise to those who remember the few times he has had a chance to be something other than a crooner in films.<ref name="Variety"/></blockquote>

The ''[[New York Post]]'' applauded Frank Sinatra, remarking, "He proves he is an actor by playing the luckless Maggio with a kind of doomed gaiety that is both real and immensely touching."{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} ''[[Newsweek]]'' also stated that, "Frank Sinatra, a crooner long since turned actor, knew what he was doing when he plugged for the role of Maggio."{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} [[John McCarten]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' concurred, writing that the film "reveals that Frank Sinatra, in the part of Mr. Clift's best friend who winds up in the stockade, is a first-rate actor."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=McCarten |first=John |date=August 8, 1953 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |page=52 }}</ref>

The cast agreed; [[Burt Lancaster]] commented in the book ''Sinatra: An American Legend'' that, "[Sinatra's] fervour, his bitterness had something to do with the character of Maggio, but also with what he had gone through the last number of years. A sense of defeat and the whole world crashing in on him... They all came out in that performance."{{sfn|Sinatra|1995|p=106}}

Despite the rivalry between their respective characters, Sinatra and Borgnine, both from Italian roots, became lifelong friends. They corresponded with each other at Christmas season by exchanging cards signed using their film characters' names, "Maggio" and "Fatso". At a [[Dean Martin Celebrity Roast]] honoring Sinatra, Borgnine mockingly reprised his Fatso Judson character.

The film was number one in the United States for four weeks during September 1953, with a gross of $2,087,000.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=12 Biggest Pix Grossers in September Paced by 'Eternity' ('Robe' Excluded)|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 7, 1953|page=4|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety192-1953-10#page/n3/mode/1up|access-date=September 23, 2019|via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref> With a final gross of $30.5 million equating to earnings of $12.2 million, ''From Here to Eternity'' not only became [[1953 in film|one of the highest-grossing films of 1953]], but also one of the ten highest-grossing films of the decade. Adjusted for inflation, its box office gross would exceed US$277 million in 2017 dollars.<ref name ="Numbers"/>

Despite the positive response of the critics and public, the Army was reportedly not pleased with its depiction in the finished film, and refused to let its name be used in the opening credits. The [[United States Navy|Navy]] banned the film from being shown to its servicemen on its ships or Naval shore installations, calling it "derogatory of a sister service" and a "discredit to the armed services", although the Army and Air Force Motion Picture services purchased the film for screenings.{{sfn|Smyth|2014|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-7HWAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 p. 147]}}<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=Navy Nixes 'Eternity' Although Army OK's It|date=September 2, 1953|page=3|url=https://archive.org/details/variety191-1953-09/page/n2/mode/1up?view=theater|access-date=February 24, 2024|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a score of 88% from 100 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "It has perhaps aged poorly, but this languidly paced WWII romance remains an iconic, well-acted film, featuring particularly strong performances from Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift."<ref>{{Cite web |title=From Here to Eternity |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1007931-from_here_to_eternity |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]]}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film holds a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{Cite web |title=From Here to Eternity Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/from-here-to-eternity-re-release |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[Fandom, Inc.]]}}</ref>