History. It’s a subject in school that some like learning about, some don’t and others couldn’t care less. As for myself, History was always one of my favorite subjects, so I’d like to acknowledge a major historical event that occurred today: 69 years ago today Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, which immediately led to our nation’s involvement in WWII. So many innocent lives were lost on this tragic day, but the US was able to work with the allied forces in defeating one of the greatest evils ever to sweep across this world!
I learned about the bombing of Pearl Harbor in my US History class in high school - and it was around this time that I watched a movie that just happened to deal with this historical event, a movie that became one of my all time favorites. There have been many movies made about Pearl Harbor, but this one is my favorite. Yes, I realize this is yet another movie blog post, but at least this isn’t a Christmas movie, so there’s a little variety this month:
From Here To Eternity (1953)
This brilliant film earned 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film takes place at Schofield Barracks Hawaii in 1941 and follows the lives of a sergeant (played by Burt Lancaster), a private (played by Montgomery Clift) and the women they become romantically involved with (played by Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed) with somber results.
Frank Sinatra won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his terrific performance as Clift’s charming best friend in the army (Angelo Maggio), while Donna Reed won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her fine work as Clift’s girlfriend (Lorene), a “hostess” at The New Congress Club. All of the performances in this film are exceptional and it has one of the most memorable love scenes in film history:
But the complicated romances and relationships take a back seat to the unfolding of the horrific events that occurred on Sunday December 7th 1941, just a few minutes before 8 am. The film successfully incorporates actual stock footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the results are very dramatic and powerful, culminating into an exceptional motion picture experience. Like I mentioned before, this is one of my favorite movies!
No comments:
Post a Comment