FROM ETERNITY BACK TO HERE

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
dir: Fred Zinneman

FROM ETERNITY BACK TO HERE
Mad #12, June 1954
w: Harvey Kurtzman
a: Bernie Krigstein

Bernie Krigstein is considered one of the masters of comics, you can see a huge influence in Daniel Clowes' work. He only did a handful of stories for EC, and only two for MAD, one being this parody of From Here to Eternity.

Film about three men and their stories about lives as soldiers at an army base in Hawaii before the Pearl Harbor attack. Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) transfers to another base on his own free will, in this he was commanded, but it is suggested he join their boxing team, which he refuses. His passion is playing the bugle, and he carries the mouthpiece for it wherever he goes.

Sgt. Warden (Burt Lancaster) is having an affair with the wife (Deborah Kerr) of his immediate officer Capt. Holmes (Phillip Ober).

The scene of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr kissing on the beach was the only thing I knew about this movie prior to yesterday, which I'm sure is true for most people. Warden is actually present for other scenes, but as you'll see, the kissing on the beach part is necessary for the rest of the parody.

At a club later, there's a fight between Maggio (Frank Sinatra) and stockade Sergeant "Fatso" Judson (Ernest Borgnine). Warden is there to break it up, and Judson vows he'll get back at Judson some way eventually. Life is made worse for Pruitt who still refuses to box.

This was the first movie role for Frank Sinatra, who previously had only been a teen idol known for always being surrounded by girls.

At a "members only" club (whorehouse under 50s family code standards) called New Congress, Prewitt meets one of their "entertainers", Lorene (Donna Reed) and they start a relationship. In this, Mrs. Kipfer (Barbara Morrison), owner of the club, is actually Capt. Holmes trying to convince Prewitt to box for them.

They leave out the part where Maggio continues to disobey orders and does end up in the stockade under the jurisdiction of Fatso who beats him as he continues to disobey orders. He escapes and collapses to his death. Prewitt blames Maggio's death on Fatso, stabs him in an alley while they're both on leave, and Prewitt goes AWOL, hiding in Lorene's house.

The parody has Watson continuing to try to recruit him for their boxing team, though the movie has the other privates as the ones trying to get him.

The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Pruitt, still AWOL, has asked Lorene to marry him, which she will do if he will give up his career in the military. When they get news of the attack, Prewitt decides to go back into the army.

The last page spares what really happened in the movie, showing what would happen if there were no war, even though Prewitt was killed trying to come back into the army, and he did explain at the begin he no longer boxed because of an accident.

This is from Scenes We Never Got to See by Albert Meglin and Wallace Wood in MAD #42, November 1958.

FROM HERE TO THERE
Riot #1, April 1954
w: Stan Lee
a: Al Hartley

This seems to concentrate solely on Pruitt's refuse to re-enter the boxing ring. There's a bit on Warden screwing around with Mrs. Watson but mostly it's about the boxing part.

FROM HAIR TO EH-TERNITY
EH! #6, August 1954
a: Dick Ayers

Seems to be about the soldiers before the war or as if they weren't in the war or something like that.

Your Show of Shows did a parody of this movie too, back when TV shows did comedy sketches that were more than 5 minutes long and did 39 shows a year.