Cast This: "From Here To Eternity" Redux
Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 8:01PM 
By now you may have heard the news that an uncensored version of the famous novel From Here To Eternity, a "director's cut" to speak in film parlance, is being released on e-books next month? It will restore profanity and some homosexual content to the military epic; In the 1950s, you didn't ask and they certainly didn't want any telling (or cussing).
"THE BOLDEST BOOK OF OUR TIME... HONESTLY, FEARLESSLY ON THE SCREEN!"
It's maybe a bit corrupt of me to play a casting game with a remake I've never rooted for -- it's a terrific movie as is -- but "Cast This" is fun, isn't it? And in the case of a this new author's cut, why not? Movies have been remade for far stupider reasons. And I don't feel too bad at proposing a remake of 1955's Best Picture From Here To Eternity because it's already been remade once as a television miniseries in the late 70s.
The reinserted homosexual content would be mostly in reference to offscreen events but it got me to thinking about the movie and the fact that Frank Sinatra, an able actor and massively popular singer won an Oscar for the role that contains the content. (Basically it amounts to him being gay for pay, a hustler.)
Monty & Sinatra in From Here To Eternity | Sinatra's Oscar Win
Meanwhile Montgomery Clift, an actual homosexual and one of the defining actors of the 20th century, never won one. What a world. I don't know how close Monty ever came to winning in his four times at bat, but it would make sense that he had a reasonable shot with From Here to Eternity. It was a wildly popular film and won eight other Oscars. It's also one of those rare films where every principle member of the cast was nominated.
CAST THIS
So who would you place in the five main roles?
Prewitt & Lurene, bickering loversPrewitt (The Monty part) is a stubborn principled transfer from the Bugle corps who used to box but refuses to fight anymore... even when provoked violently. He takes up with a nightclub girl and keeps getting dragged into Maggio's troubles, some violent. This actor should be handsome and believable as a former fighter and be a bit of an enigma.
Lurene (the Donna Reed part) is a girl of somewhat shady reputation -- and conflicted about it -- who works at the nightclub where all the soldiers go for entertainment. She wants to be something other than what she is and return to the mainland (if I remember correctly?)
Maggio (the Sinatra part) is the undisciplined volatile Private and loyal friend to Prewitt, who has a hustling past and gets in bar fights and is later violently abused by a superior officer.
Karen (The Deborah Kerr part) is the Base Commandes's neglected and unfaithful wife. She takes up with the Sergeant under her husband and is eager for him to become ambitious so she can divorce her husband and marry him without, one presumes, losing her way of life. She has a great line I've never fully understood which I've written about before when she's flirting with the Sergeant and invites him in.
You're doing fine sergeant. My husband is off somewhere and it's raining outside and we're both drinking now. You probably only got one thing wrong: the lady herself. The lady is not what she seems. She's a washout if you know what I mean. And I'm sure you know what I mean.
Sgt Warden and his Captain's WifeI don't!
Like every other character in the story, she's pretty conflicted about her own desires and action.
Sgt. Warden (The Burt Lancaster part) is a man who's conflicted about cheating on his Commanding officer by bedding his wife. This actor should be masculine, confident someone you'd take orders from but who is complacent about being a cog in the machine. So a leader but not too much of one.
Obviously Sgt. Warden and Karen have to have sizzling chemistry for their legendary beach sex scene.
GO!
Reader Comments (32)
Prewitt: Ryan Gosling
Lurene: Mila Kunis
Maggio: Jeremy Renner
Karen: Michelle Williams
Sgt. Warden: Tobey Maguire
Sgt. 'Fatso' Judson: Ernest Borgnine (again)
I was with Travis until the last two names. ;-) I'd say Daniel Craig for Sgt. Warden and Michael Chiklis for Fatso,
I had a feeling that Ryan Gosling would be mentioned straightaway and there he is :) Tobey Maguire is an interesting choice for Warden though. What prompted that?
George Clooney and Vera Farmiga as Warden and Karen. We know they have sizzling chemistry.
Mark Wahlberg as Prewitt, believable as a boxer. Kerry Washington as Lurene and I second Travis' choice of Renner as Maggio.
I've read an unabridged Sixties-vintage paperback of the novel and the homosexual content is there, if perhaps not as explicit as in the forthcoming edition. After long familiarity with a pretty good movie, the book was a revelation. The only casting thought that popped into my head was M. Wahlberg as Warden, though I agree with Travis that Borgnine could reprise his role with ease!
i can see Wahlberg as Warden, yeah. Though I love Clooney & Farmiga as a couple so i have to second Murtada's vote for a reunion.
i don't understand why George, who obviously has power in Hollywood, wouldn't demand a reunion with Farmiga. She just felt so right for him as a screen foil.
oh and Samuel, your comments make me want to read the book even more because I liked the movie quite a lot but the book was such a huge hit in its day that maybe there's more than to all the characters?
Prewitt: Ryan Gosling (like that idea)
Lurene: Sienna Miller (underrated in Factory Girl, Interview, Edge of Reason, etc. And easy to buy as a bit loose)
Maggio: Michael Fassbender (he needs to be in everything)
Karen: Emily Blunt (classy and naughty)
Sgt. Warden: Tom Hardy (So masculine, and I feel like him and Emily would sizzle)
Opps meant, "Edge of Love" for Sienna. Girlfriend was not in fact in the Bridget Jones sequel.
Clooney and Farmiga would be great, though would that age up the whole cast?
Prewitt: Ryan Gosling (He getting that leading man status)
Lurene: Olivia Wilde, Evan Rachael Wood, or Mila Kunis (Any of these lady's I think would have wonderfull chemistry with Ryan)
Maggio: Jeremy Renner
Karen: Anika Noni Rose (I know I am taking a chance here but whatever)
Sgt. Warden: Michael Ealy or Idris Elba (The latter seems right for me)
Oh and I Terrence Howard could also could play the warrden character
Heh, Maguire was the BF's (random) pick, as he wanted to leave and I was taking tooooo long pondering :) I was actually leaning toward Ben Affleck or George Clooney. I like the idea of a re-teaming of Clooney and Farmiga; however, the idea of Tom Hardy and Emily Blunt is simply and utterly sexy.
Viggo and Maria for Warden and Karen! They're not too old, right?
Now that I read the comments Clooney and Farmiga could work too, but I stay with my first choices hehe...
for Prewitt I would have said Tom Cruise a few years ago, now I think Jake Gyllenhaal could work...
I can totally see Drew Barrymore as Lurene (I mean someone has to throw the girl a bone) or maybe Rachel McAdams
and I would prefer Ryan Gosling as Maggio instead of Prewitt like other suggestions...
Prewitt: Gordon-Levitt (because he's Monty Clift reincarnated)
Lurene: Lohan (perfect comeback role)
Maggio: Benjamin Walker (prestige project after Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter)
Karen: Beckinsale (because she needs to prove she's a great actress again)
Warden: Hamm (the epitome of 1950's masculinity)
I've never seen the original movie or read the book, but as I read the descriptions of the characters I had names popping up in my head, so even if I may be completely off ... hey, what the ..., I'm just posting it for fun:
Prewitt - Russell Crowe
Lurene - January Jones
Maggio - Owen Wilson (then I thought: no! no! no!, I can't do that, this is not supposed to be a comedy... but then again, maybe I'm underestimating him, who knows?)
Karen - Reese Witherspoon (then I thought; no not really, then again: why not?)
Sgt. Warden - Jake Gyllenhaal
They never hinted at Sinatra's character possibly being gay in the original film, right? Would "hustler" have really had gay overtones back then? And why was the book edited with the orignal content removed? I can understand the film being censored, but not the book.
Please don't let them make an actual remake of this. The film's brilliant as is.
Leslie -- i don't know if they used the word "hustler" but the content is gay according to the articles as in sex with men for money. Apparently the author fought for the content but had to acquiesce that BBC article linked has more details and what happened and what the content is.
Drew B -- love the Hardy/Blunt idea.
Prewitt.- Colin Farrell
Lurene.- Penélope Cruz
Maggio.- Mark Ruffalo
Karen.- Amy Adams
Warden.- James Franco
Murtada -- wonderful pick - Kerry Washington as Lurene. Me likey.
garbogarbo -- i could see AMY doing it. She's going to need a full on womanly role soon. and The Fighter was like an inbetweener, right?
I've only seen this movie once like four years ago, but doesn't Deborah Kerr's line have something to do with the fact that she's barren, and can't have kids? I seem to remember them mentioning that (or at least dropping hints) throughout the film, and that's how I read it.
I thought Gosling for Prewitt, too, but I'd like to see Anthony Mackie audition, too. They'd both be great.
Nick -- Mackie & Washington could have a screen reunion :)
The Jack -- oh. i hadn't thought of that but it sounds plausible. Maybe the book is more clear or least period lingo specific.
Nat - From what I remember there seems to be a couple of references that hint towards it, I'd have to watch the movie again though. Haven't read the book so I couldn't say if I'm definitely right. I did re-read your old article that you linked to though, and you say you had a theory on what the line might mean. Care to share? :)
Love this movie sooo much...and have also read the book - I'm excited for the upcoming version! The Kerr line is indeed related to her not being able to have children; in the book she elaborates more on this, and the story is also much more harrowing that the movie (*SPOILER ALERT* - in the book, she does have a child but then gets an STD when her husband semi-rapes her one night, and has to have a hysterectomy as a result. She feels hollow and not a real woman anymore and that's why she starts sleeping around so she can feel the void. It's really sad, actually)
As for casting...First of all I hope they *don't* remake this, as the movie is as close to perfect in my eyes as possible (and the Natalie Wood/William Devane remake proved it's really hard to recreate). But....I do like some of the ideas here. :-) I'll think of my own casting and post again.
Umm, that was supposed to be *fill* the void. Sorry about that. but yes - that's why she feels like a washout. So sad.
Some of these suggestions are awful. James Franco? Mila Kunis? Seriously? Burt Lancaster would slap them.
I don't know the book, and haven't seen the film from beginning to end at one stretch (though I've seen bits of it often enough), but here goes.
Warden (Lancaster): there's no real modern match for Big Burt's terrifying masculinity. I suppose the actors who get closest are Viggo Mortensen (already mentioned) and Timothy Olyphant. VM is probably a bit too old, while Olyphant's recent work in Justified, etc, suggests he's more Mitchum than Lancaster, and you don't want to mix those two up.
Karen (Kerr): assuming she's played as a repressed blonde, the obvious choice would be January Jones. She may seem a bit young, but in fact she's the same age as Deborah Kerr when she played the part. Plus she'd look fantastic in that swimsuit.
Prewitt (Clift): lots of Clift types out there - as Nathaniel R says, he was a defining actor. I can see Peter Sarsgaard doing interesting work with the role.
Maggio (Sinatra): the vulnerable type, I suppose - certainly someone who gives good death. I'm thinking a Ben of some kind: maybe Whishaw, maybe Foster?
Lurene: I don't really remember her from the film. But judging by Nathaniel's description of the character, I'd go for Eva Mendes. (And who wouldn't?)
I would cast Chris Pine as Prewitt. He has similar features as Monty Clift and would be excellent. I was thinking that if they ever did a biography on Clift, Chris Pine would be the man.
Prewitt: Hayden Christensen
Lurene: Greta Gerwig
Maggio: Taylor Lautner
Karen: Ally Sheedy
Sgt. Warden: Crispin Glover
Sgt Warden - Mark Wahlberg
Maggio - Cillian Murphy
Karen - Natalie Portman