This is the only movie that I like Sinatra in. Maybe because the plot moves so well and you could have gotten another strong person to be Ryan(Lancaster,Kirk Douglas,ie). But I am wondering if the final shot and Ryan's attitude towards the prisoners fighting the war from their sick beds is really making a statement about the futility of war. Like the prisoners on the train weren't Maj. Battaglia, the german officer and the girl just along for the ride?
shareI think that most action-war films have some sort of underlying message, and although I do not believe that there was much intention of pushing a moral to the fore of this story, themes of comradery and the futility of war are present here, but it's all escapism and fun and a superb ride for being just that.
Check out Sinatra's None But the Brave, which was a war film intent on offering a message about the futility of war and what it does to the people involved. It was no classic, but it's a really good film that is under-appreciated IMO.
Sinatra won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "From here to Eternity".
share