August 5, 1953: "From Here to Eternity" Premieres

Burt Lancaster (left) and Deborah Kerr

August 5, 1953: The film From Here to Eternity premieres, based on the 1951 novel by James Jones. Fred Zinneman directed, in his follow-up to the Western High Noon. It becomes one of the best-known films set during World War II, but is controversial.

The film is set at a U.S. Army base in Hawaii, in the weeks leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Burt Lancaster plays a Sergeant having an affair with his commanding officer's wife (Deborah Kerr). The film is best known for their love scene on the beach, with the tide flowing over them in mid-kiss.

Various self-appointed moral arbiters raised a fit over the film's affair, but probably would have lost their minds over seeing what was cut from Jones' novel, just so the film could pass the Hays Code:

* Captain Holmes, the man the moral arbiters would have wanted Karen to stay faithful to, was, himself, unfaithful, giving her a venereal disease, requiring a hysterectomy, which the film changed to a miscarriage.

* The character of Lorene (Donna Reed) is changed from a prostitute in a brothel to the hostess at a private social club.

* And several of the book's male soldiers consorted with gay men.

Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra also had significant roles, with Sinatra's struggle to get this role, at a time when his career and his personal life were both at low ebbs, reflected in the story of Johnny Fontaine (Al Martino) in The Godfather. However, his character of Private Angelo Maggio is a combination of two from the novel: There, Maggio lives in spite of the abuse he gets, while Private Bloom, who commits suicide, doesn't appear in the film, and it's Maggio who dies, and not by his own hand.

Ernest Borgnine plays the film's villain, outside of the Japanese. The film also includes The Adventures of Superman star George Reeves.

It was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, winning 8, including Best Picture, Best Director for Zinneman, Best Supporting Actor for Sinatra, and Best Supporting Actress for Reed.

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August 5, 1953 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. Gus Triandos and Billy Martin, unlikely sluggers both, hit home runs, while Mickey Mantle went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Al Kaline, an 18-year-old rookie, appeared as a pinch-runner.

* The New York Giants were swept in a doubleheader by the Chicago Cubs, 9-6 and 7-6 at the Polo Grounds. Willie Mays was unavailable to them, serving in the U.S. Army, with the Korean War having just ended. Tommy Brown singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning of the nightcap.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Jackie Robinson appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. Warren Spahn appeared for the Braves as a pinch-runner.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 5-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. They did this without Ted Williams, serving in the U.S,. Marine Corps. Ben Flowers pitched an 8-hit shutout. Don Larsen went the distance in defeat for the Browns. Within weeks, the season would end, and the Browns would be moved, becoming the Baltimore Orioles.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 9-7 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Sam Mele, later to manage the Minnesota Twins to the 1965 American League Pennant, won this game with a home run in the top of the 14th inning.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Bob Porterfield pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at the last Sportsman's Park, which had just been rebranded as the 1st Busch Stadium. Stan Musial hit a home run.