From Here to Eternity Trivia Quiz

Answer: Won for This Movie

Private Maggio was a soldier who enjoyed a good time, sometimes with his friend "Prew", but who also could get into a bit of trouble. Running afoul of "Fatso" Judson, the stockade sergeant, eventually proved to be Maggio's undoing.

It has often been said that winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, for his role as Maggio, saved Frank Sinatra's career, or at least gave it a second wind. His popularity as a teenage heartthrob crooner had begun to wane, and his dramatic portrayal of the doomed Maggio allowed the public to see Sinatra in a new light. He was nominated for Best Actor a couple of years later, for "The Man with the Golden Arm" (1955), but lost out to Ernest Borgnine in "Marty"(1955). Oh, by the way, it was Borgnine who played Maggio's nemesis Fatso Judson.

Answer: Won for This Movie

Alma was a girl from a small town in Oregon, who dreamed of returning there and settling down with a man with a 'proper' job to lead a 'proper' life. Lorene was her alter ego, who met and fell in love with a soldier named Prew in Hawaii, just days before Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Donna Reed won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing Alma/Lorene a few years after appearing as Mary in "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) and a few years before becoming a household name starring in the long running "The Donna Reed Show" (1958-66) on television.

Answer: Won for a Different Movie

Warden was a tough but fair sergeant, whose life was complicated when he fell for his captain's wife and had a number of encounters with her, including a pretty famous one on a beach. Trying to look after his men occupied the rest of his time, until Japanese bombers disrupted daily life for everyone on Oahu.

Burt Lancaster, who played Warden, was Oscar-nominated for this film, but lost the Best Actor award that year to William Holden in "Stalag 17". He won Best Actor for "Elmer Gantry" (1960) in which he played the title character, a salesman turned evangelist. Lancaster was also nominated in the same category for "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962) and "Atlantic City" (1980).

Answer: Won for a Different Movie

'Fatso' Judson was the cruel, bullying stockade sergeant, who mistreated Maggio and drove Prewitt to desperate measures. He, like Maggio, did not live to fight during the war that was fast approaching Hawaii.

Ernest Borgnine was properly hateful as Judson, but won his Academy Award, as Best Actor, for quite a different role a couple of years later, from his only Oscar nomination. In "Marty", he played the title role, a butcher by trade, and a likeable guy who cared for his mother and fell in love later in life.

Answer: Nominated Never Won

Prew, as this character was known to his friends, had many talents, from playing the bugle to boxing. It was his refusal to box for his unit that got him in trouble with his captain, who was eager to win an upcoming tournament. Events intervened, and the tournament was cancelled rendering the whole dispute moot.

Montgomery Clift was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Prewitt, and like Lancaster, lost to William Holden at the awards ceremony that year. He had previously been nominated in the same category for "The Search" (1948) and "A Place in the Sun" (1951) and subsequently as Supporting Actor in "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961), losing each time.

Answer: Nominated Never Won

Karen Holmes was the wife of the boxing-mad captain, and she sought affection elsewhere, finding it in the arms of Sgt Milt Warden. There was never much chance of anything permanent coming of their affair, and the onset of war emphasised that fact.

Deborah Kerr was nominated as Best Actress for playing Karen Holmes, losing to Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday" (1953). Altogether, Kerr was nominated in the same category six times without winning, finally being recognised with an honorary award in 1994.

Answer: Nominated Never Won

Buckley was a junior non-commissioned officer in Prewitt's unit who was friendly to the young bugler.

Jack Warden, who played Buckley, was twice Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor, for "Shampoo" (1975) and "Heaven Can Wait" (1978), losing to George Burns and Christopher Walken. Warden's long career spanned fifty years.

Answer: Never Nominated

Captain Holmes was the officer who tried to force the reluctant Prewitt into boxing, and whose wife was carrying on with his First Sergeant. His methods against Prew were called into question, and he was discredited.
Although never Oscar-nominated, Philip Ober, who played Holmes, had a long career in films and television, of over thirty years. Included in his credits was a role in "Elmer Gantry" (1960), for which Burt Lancaster won his Academy Award.

Answer: Never Nominated

Shown in some listings as a sergeant, Leva was clearly wearing the two stripes of a corporal in the scene late in the film where he was refusing to open the ammunition stores without proper authority, despite the fact that Japanese aircraft were attacking the barracks.

Character actor Mickey Shaughnessy played Leva, in one of his earliest roles. He was often cast in comedic roles, as in "North to Alaska" (1960) and "Don't Go Near the Water" (1957). He was also known for his role as mentor to Elvis Presley's character in "Jailhouse Rock" (1957).

Answer: Never Nominated

Ike Galovitch had 'earned' his sergeant's stripes by boxing for the unit at Capt. Holmes request, and picked a fight with Prewitt when the latter refused to join the boxing team. Holmes' reaction to this fight eventually led to his downfall.

The role of Galovitch, the film debut for actor John Dennis, might well have been his most important role, despite a career that extended into the 1980s, and included smaller roles in such films as "Soylent Green" (1973) and "Young Frankenstein" (1974).