Damn to all eternity
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Damn to all eternity |
| Original title | From Here to Eternity |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1953 |
| length | 118 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Fred Zinnemann |
| script | Daniel Taradash |
| production |
Buddy Adler for Columbia Pictures |
| music |
Morris Stoloff , George Duning |
| camera | Burnett Guffey |
| cut | William A. Lyon |
| occupation | |
| |
Damn For Eternity is an American military drama from 1953 directed by Fred Zinnemann . The novel of the same name by James Jones served as a literary model .
action
Hawaii , summer 1941: Soldier Robert E. Lee Prewitt reports for duty at Schofield Barracks. His superior, Captain Dana Holmes, has the ambition to have the best boxing squadron in the garrison. Prewitt is considered the best middleweight in the garrison, which is why he is very welcome to Holmes at first. To his disappointment, however, Holmes finds that Prewitt no longer wants to box after he accidentally blinded a comrade. Holmes and the members of the boxing squadron Prewitt then make life hell, but he sticks to his negative attitude. Only in the happy, Italian-American soldier Maggio does he find a friend. The spit of the company called Milton Warden is also fair to Prewitt, although he cannot understand Prewitt's negative stance against boxing. As Holmes's deputy, Warden has to do everything that would actually be the job of the lazy and drinking captain.
Holmes' wife Karen often comes to the barracks to see her husband, who is rarely seen there. As a result, Warden is her point of contact and he is interested in Karen Holmes, although there are many rumors about her personal life. An affair develops between Warden and Karen. They meet secretly, swim in the ocean, lie on the beach, washed over by the waves of the sea. He learns her story: She lost a child because her husband was with another woman when she needed him. Afterwards she could not have any more children and she consoled herself indiscriminately with other men.
On their days off, Prewitt and Maggio, like the other US soldiers, enjoy themselves in a gentlemen's club . Prewitt falls in love with Lorene, who works there in order to build a better life in America with the money she has earned. In the restaurant there is a repeated argument between Maggio and "Fatso" Judson, the sergeant of the army prison. Only Warden's intervention prevents worse. When Sergeant Galovitch deliberately knocks over the dirt bucket in the boxing ring, Prewitt refuses to mop up, but Warden saves him from court-martialed for insubordination. When Galovitch humiliates him again, Prewitt lets himself be provoked into a boxing match with his bare fists. Holmes is notified, but first observes the fight before intervening.
Maggio leaves his guard duty without permission and resists his arrest, completely drunk. He is sentenced to six months' arrest by the court martial and now has to deal with Fatso, who takes the long-awaited opportunity to get back at his prisoner with brutal methods. Maggio manages to escape, but is seriously injured while trying to escape. With the last of his strength, he reaches Prewitt and, dying, sinks into his arms. Prewitt avenges his friend's death. There is a knife fight between him and Fatso. While Fatso dies, Prewitt is seriously injured. He is hiding with Lorene, who takes care of him. Captain Holmes has since been demoted for his position on the Prewitt case. Warden wants to marry Karen, but she demands that he pursue an officer career. He doesn't want that, he hates officers. Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941: the Japanese attacked the US barracks and the port and sank US battleships. Prewitt hears the news and, despite his injury, wants to return to his unit. But he can no longer reach them, because as a result of a misunderstanding, he is shot by a patrol. In the last scene, Karen and Lorene leave Hawaii by ship.
background
The original title of the novel and film, From Here to Eternity , comes from a poem by Rudyard Kipling , which was set to music several times as a soldier's song. The German title translates the complete Kipling line "damned from here to eternity", while Jones could assume that in the Anglo-Saxon-speaking area the audience would add the first word in their minds. Jones' novel was considered one of the great bestsellers in the early 1950s , but not suitable material for a film adaptation. Nevertheless bought the head of Columbia Pictures , Harry Cohn , for $ 87,000 the rights. The finished film partly deviates from the literary model.
Problems arose with the cast. Cohn was determined to use Columbia actors to keep production costs down. He therefore initially suggested Aldo Ray or John Derek for the role, which then Montgomery Clift played. Edmond O'Brien was slated for Burt Lancaster's role. Joan Crawford was offered the role of bored officer's wife. However, this refused; allegedly because the studio did not accommodate requests regarding their wardrobe. Also Rita Hayworth was for the role in an interview, also said, however from.
The efforts to cast the role of Angelo Maggio are already legendary. Frank Sinatra knew about the film early on and really wanted to be cast. At this point, however, his career seemed to have come to an end. Eli Wallach was the first choice for the producers and also for the director Zinnemann. Sinatra even offered to take on the no-fee role. When Wallach finally canceled because he wanted to appear in a new Tennessee Williams play on Broadway , Sinatra got the role for just $ 8,000. For comparison: Clift received $ 150,000, Lancaster $ 120,000.
The film was shot on location in Hawaii. On-site filming lasted 41 days. As usual with war films, the United States Army was to provide technical support for the shooting. However, the Army requested changes to the script. In the novel, Dana Holmes is promoted by the superiors, but the army felt this approach to be hostile to the army. In the film, Holmes is therefore urged to submit his departure .
Production costs were $ 2 million and the film grossed $ 18 million at the box office. It was the tenth most successful films of the 1950s.
The trumpet solo Taps - the Zapfenstreich - played by Montgomery Clift in the barracks yard, was a popular track on radio broadcasts in the 1950s. The singer Merle Travis had a supporting role as a soldier and sang the reenlistment blues in two scenes .
synchronization
| role | actor | German speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Sgt.Milton Warden | Burt Lancaster | Wolfgang Lukschy |
| Robert Lee Prewitt | Montgomery Clift | Dietrich Haugk |
| Karen Holmes | Deborah Kerr | Marianne Kehlau |
| Alma "Lorene" Burke | Donna Reed | ? |
| Angelo Maggio | Frank Sinatra | John Pauls-Harding |
| Captain Dana Holmes | Philip Ober | Siegfried Schürenberg |
| James "Fatso" Judson | Ernest Borgnine | Wolfgang Eichberger |
| Corporal Buckley | Jack Warden | Walter Clemens |
| Sergeant Leva | Mickey Shaughnessy | Gert Frobe |
| Sergeant Galovitch | John Dennis | Wolfgang Buettner |
Reviews
| source | rating |
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| Rotten tomatoes | |
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| Metacritic | |
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Damn in all eternity was very popular with critics when it was released, and today the film is still seen mostly positively. At Rotten Tomatoes it has a positive rating of 92% based on 49 reviews. The Critical Consensus writes, "He may have aged badly, but this slow World War II romance remains an iconic, well-acted film, with particularly strong portrayals of Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift."
"The multi-award-winning film adaptation of James Jones' bestseller by Fred Zinnemann - one of the best men's films in Hollywood."
Awards
The film won 8 Academy Awards in 1954 with a total of 13 nominations. The film won in the following categories:
- Best movie
- Best Supporting Actor ( Frank Sinatra )
- Best Supporting Actress ( Donna Reed )
- Best Director ( Fred Zinnemann )
- Best camera
- Best cut
- Best script
- Best tone
Nominated were Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift for best actor, Deborah Kerr as best actress, music and costume design (black and white film).
The film received two Golden Globes: Fred Zinnemann for best director and Frank Sinatra for best supporting role in a drama.
At the Cannes Film Festival in 1954, Fred Zinnemann received a special award for his work on this film
Entry into the National Film Registry 2002
Others
The famous (then unheard-of) beach scene is quoted in the film The 7th Year Itch . It is also parodied in The Incredible Journey in a Crazy Plane .
literature
- Geoff Andrews: Damn it for all eternity. From Here to Eternity (1953). In: Steven Jay Schneider (Ed.): 1001 films. Edition Olms, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-283-00497-8 , p. 284.
- James Jones : Damn it for all eternity. Roman (Original title: From Here to Eternity ). German by Otto Schrag. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-596-16015-4 .
- Dieter Krusche, Jürgen Labenski : Reclam's film guide. 7th edition, Reclam, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-15-010205-7 , p. 212f.
- Hans-Jürgen Kubiak: The Oscar Films. The best films from 1927/28 to 2004. The best non-English language films from 1947 to 2004. The best animated films from 2001 to 2004. Schüren, Marburg 2005, ISBN 3-89472-386-6 .
Web links
- Eternity in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- From Here to Eternity Image of the original film poster
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for damned forever . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 6916 / V).
- ↑ Damn in all eternity , German dubbing index . Retrieved 2018-04-05.
- ↑ a b Damn it for all eternity from Rotten Tomatoes , accessed April 6, 2015.
- ↑ Here to Eternity in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ From Here to Eternity (Rotten Tomatoes). Accessed June 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Damn it for all eternity. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed November 27, 2016 .