From Here to Eternity is a 1953 American drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by James Jones. The film takes place in the weeks leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and follows several characters stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.
The main character, Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (played by Montgomery Clift), is a former boxer who refuses to join his unit's boxing team due to a prior injury which left a fellow soldier blind. As a result, Prewitt is cruelly punished by his superiors, including Captain Holmes (Philip Ober) and Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster).
Meanwhile, Captain Holmes' wife Karen (Deborah Kerr) is unhappy in her marriage and begins a secret love affair with Warden. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that Holmes is suspicious of his wife's behavior and Warden's own conflicted feelings about breaking the military's strict code of conduct.
Other characters include Private Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra), a friend of Prewitt's who faces his own struggles with the military hierarchy, and Sergeant James R. "Fatso" Judson (Ernest Borgnine), a sadistic soldier who delights in tormenting Prewitt and Maggio.
From Here to Eternity was a critical and commercial success, winning eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Sinatra. It is widely regarded as a classic of the war film genre and a landmark in Hollywood cinema.