The film "From Here to Eternity, USA, 1953), became a Hollywood classic, immortalizing the famous kiss scene by the sea, with Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr.
The film was inspired by the book by James Jones, released in 1951, and tells the daily lives of soldiers stationed at a base in Hawaii in 1941, on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack in World War II.
A new version of the book, this time in e-book format, will hit the market, and with a difference: references to gay sex, which were censored from the original book – and consequently, from the film.
The new version is being published by the company Open Road Media, and was coordinated by Kaylie Jones, daughter of the original author, James Jones. According to the company, the two scenes with gay content in the book were cut in 1951, and have now been reinstated in the work.
In one of them, soldier Angelo Maggio mentions that he usually has oral sex with a man, in exchange for 5 or 10 dollars. Elsewhere, a military investigation involves alleged gay activities.
In the film, Angelo was played by Frank Sinatra, who won the Oscar for Supporting Actor for the role. If there hadn't been censorship, we would have had the singer in one of Hollywood's first gay roles.
It is worth remembering that, with or without censorship, the film "One Step From Eternity" is surrounded by a gay aura – as it starred Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift, actors who, in real life, had a connection with this universe. Clift was gay, and Lancaster was always suspicious, according to biographies. In the photo, we see the central trio in action: Clift, Lancaster and Sinatra (from left to right)
