Monday, September 24, 2007 12:18 AM CDT
Adaptation of Jones' 'From Here to Eternity' difficult challenge
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — “Bonfire of the Vanities” was a good book that made for a horrible movie. In contrast, “To Kill a Mockingbird” demonstrates how a classic work of literature translated well to film, according to film critic Chuck Koplinski.
Fortunately, “From Here to Eternity” falls into the latter category — although the journey from the pages of James Jones’ novel to the silver screen was not without its hurdles, Koplinski said during a presentation Saturday at the Embarras Valley Film Festival.
“Adaptations can be tricky,” said Koplinski, film critic for the Illinois Times newspaper in Springfield. “‘From Here to Eternity’ did present more than its share of difficulties.”
The EVFF this year featured Jones, a Robinson native and author whose World War II experiences inspired such books as “The Thin Red Line” and “Some Came Running,” as well as “From Here to Eternity,” which he penned while at the Handy Writers’ Colony in Marshall.
The cinematic version in 1953 starred Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed — all of whom were subsequently nominated for Academy Awards. “From Here to Eternity” ultimately collected eight Oscars, including Best Picture as well as Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Sinatra and Reed, respectively.
The book and the movie chronicle the seediness and scandal on a Hawaiian military base in the days leading up to the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor. Jones, who was later injured at Guadalcanal, witnessed the 1941 attack firsthand.
The film project started when studio head Harry Cohn paid Jones about $82,000 for the movie rights to the novel. Fred Zinnemann directed and Buddy Adler produced.
Koplinski said one of the first chores was condensing Jones’ 870-page, profanity-laced tome into a relatively concise and less-than-explicit screenplay. Numerous writers, including Jones himself, took stabs at the script.
The screenplay by Daniel Taradash finally got the nod, and it proved good enough to earn him the Academy Award for Best Writing.
In the toned-down movie adaptation, Kerr’s character — an adulterous wife — does not have any children. In the book, she has a son. And as the two sail away from a smoldering Pearl Harbor, the boy expresses regret he is not old enough to fight, and wonders if the war will last.
His mother replies, “You might miss this one, but you’ll be just the right age for the next one.”
Koplinski said, “What a great moment that was lost.”
But there were other bits of realism that survived the transformation from book to movie.
For one, producers secured the use of real military barracks in Hawaii for on-location filming. Koplinski said this “really helps” set “From Here to Eternity” apart from other contemporary war films.
And in some ways, the movie was superior to the novel, according to Koplinski. Take the iconic scene of Lancaster and Kerr’s romantic interlude on a secluded beach.
“When you read about this in the book, it really doesn’t come off this well,” Koplinski said.
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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