I thought that Donna Reed and Montgomery Clift were great but the other performances were not. Especially Sinatra's.I've seen him better in at least 5 movies especially "Suddenly" I'd have given Sinatra's Oscar to Jack Palance for "Shane".
share. . . Eternity was a bigger hit . . . though I must say Sinatra did carry the part, he fit the character . . .
shareSinatra did not fit the character in the book. At 38 he was twice the age of Maggio in the book- and looked it.
I don't think either Sintra or Red deserved their awards. Jack Palance was much better in "Shane."
Palance getting an oscar for Shane...holy $hit, my sides hurt from that one.
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino
I thought Sinatra did a great job. The one I don't get is Donna Reed...she didn't get Lorene across at all. Just played her like the girl next door instead of the obviously mixed-up and troubled girl the character was.
shareNot true. See it again. There was a lot of resentment, bitterness about not being accepted at home and how she was going to stick it to them when she got back there. Much more too. She allowed herself to love Prew despite her rigid plan. A complex character well-played. Deserving an award.
In fact all 5 main characters should have had Oscars, but Clift split playing time with Lancaster and Kerr with Reed. Incredible acting all around.
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I agree, he was good but not really brilliant.
shareAgain, people unfamiliar with Reed's career pre-FHTE have no idea what a wallop her role as a "hostess" packed. She had mostly been cast as girl-next-door types (IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE being the best one).
"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is more than she ever did."
Sinatra was ALWAYS a better actor than he was a singer. Very overrated as a vocalist. Dean Martin or Tony Bennett could sing rings around Frank.
shareThat sounds like an idiotic statement to most of the rest of us! Considering Frank was the most successful ever crooner.
Jeanne, Gloria, Toby, Mitzi, Eleanor(2), Frances, Deborah - are adorable - I love them all.
I prefer other performances than Sinatra's in From Here to Eternity but he was good at being the comic relief.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
I felt he was very good in this but not Oscar-worthy and not even by favorite performance of his.
I agree Jack Palance should have won. That's why he won his "make-up" Oscar for City Slickers. Nobody has ever done as much with so little screen time as Jack did in Shane. Awesome.
It's important to remember that Fred Zinnemann never had any intention of casting Sinatra as Maggio. Sinatra cast himself.
Zinnemann did, however, put in a strong word for Montgomery Clift -- against Harry Cohn's wishes. So, Clift almost didn't get cast in the film. His presence is the most Zinnemann-ian thing about it.
I liked him a lot. In fact, I loved all performances bar Deborah Kerr's- then again, I'm not her biggest fan in general and she had very few scenes here.
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Not sure there was anything in Sinatra's performance that even deserved a nomination.
Its that man again!!
Sinatra was in a major carrer slum right before ..,,,,Eternity.
The movie was a huge hit. Does wonders for Clift, Lancaster, Kerr, Reed and issued a major come back for Sinatra.
I think this, along with the sympathetic character sealed it.
I know he was 19 in the book, but come on. It's Sinatra. It's not like he was bad.
Behind every win considered weak or unjust there is a story. Try to find it.