I loved the scene and I thought the fight was great, but I think it could've been so much better. The fight with Prewitt and Golovitch was awesome, but the one with Fatso was pretty short and could've been a lot better. If only it had been shot more creatively.
shareI thought it was a well blocked out scene and I like how the stab was off camera but it could have been a little longer.
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I did sixty in five minutes once...
If your in a knife fight with someone you want to finish it quick. Especially with puny switchblades. A knife is not a gun, because its sharp any part that touches will cut and it would take strength stamina and cunning to maneuver your foe into a vulnerable position. Even a big guy like Fatso got taken out by the very skinny Pruitt because maybe all the sweat from fight caused him to lose a grip on Prewitts knife hand and he got it in the gut, a very mortal injury in those days I believe. Meanwhile Prewitt while putting it into Judsons gut didn't focus on on the fact that you dont die from a gut would right away, allowing Fatso to slice him on the side and get up and walk a few feet before collapsing.
Thats my humble take on what probably occurred. Which is why people practice throwing Knives, cause your really don't want a close encounter blade to blade. Which I guess is why people refer to Bowie as a knife fighter are describing someone who is dueling with his knife rather then fighting with it. You take a big bowie knife and you can take on a saber mono on mono and except for the length difference, actually be able to dodge, fent and get up close to deliver deadly blow.
Well, I'm not going to offer any opinion on knife fighting but I think it was quite well done. You imagine whatever you want in your version but I don't think the detail is important.
We don't need to see what happens to Judson; it's implicit at the end. Until he collapses on the ground, we don't even know what has happened and it doesn't matter. It's subtle and it allows the viewer to paint whatever picture they want in their own mind.
I suppose in a contemporary movie we'd be totally literal and have a CGI of the knife point going into his guts. It's moronic but if that's what people want then From Here to Eternity probably isn't for them.
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If your in a knife fight with someone you want to finish it quick. Especially with puny switchblades.
A knife is not a gun, because its sharp any part that touches will cut and it would take strength stamina and cunning to maneuver your foe into a vulnerable position. Even a big guy like Fatso got taken out by the very skinny Pruitt because maybe all the sweat from fight caused him to lose a grip on Prewitts knife hand and he got it in the gut, a very mortal injury in those days I believe.
Which I guess is why people refer to Bowie as a knife fighter are describing someone who is dueling with his knife rather then fighting with it. You take a big bowie knife and you can take on a saber mono on mono and except for the length difference, actually be able to dodge, fent and get up close to deliver deadly blow.
The knife scene obviously ran into censorship issues.
Its that man again!!
I read they worked a long time on filming the scene. The emotions are slightly mixed because Ernest Borgnine almost seems sympathetic at the start of the scene. He said they cut a line at the end where he says "You killed me," after he had spent a lot of time practicing how to say the line.They probably thought it would create too much sympathy for his character.
shareIn the book, the author makes a point of saying that knife fights are over very quickly.
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You got your mind right, Luke?
The scene is brilliant in its realism, not the least of which is the sound which consists of distant traffic, Saturday night revelers carrying on in the street and somebody's radio in the distance along with the faint sound of the scuffling of the combatants. First-rate scene.
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