From Here to Eternity

The film's most famous scene was not in the script. Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr kissing as the surf breaks over them was not written for the beach at all; the idea of letting the waves hit them came to Fred Zinnemann at the last minute. Negotiating with the Army also shaped the film. To shoot at Schofield Barracks, Zinnemann made two story concessions: Captain Holmes, promoted to major in the novel, would be punished instead, and Maggio's beating and torture in the stockade by Fatso would not be shown on screen. Nobody wanted Frank Sinatra. His singing career had collapsed, he was convinced Maggio had been written for him, and he pursued Harry Cohn and Zinnemann until they relented. He signed for a token fee of $8,000 and won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for it. The story follows an infantry company in Hawaii in 1941 before Pearl Harbor: a private who refuses to box, a first sergeant, and the commanding officer's wife. Who it is for: viewers who want classic Hollywood drama and an army portrayed by working around the censor. Who it is not for: readers who loved the James Jones novel. Its profanity, its racism and its brothel sections are softened or removed entirely.