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Before Matt Damon was The Talented Mr. Ripley, there was Alain Delon #book2movies

Donna Reed: From Here to Eternity #SaturdayMatinee #book2movies

I do a little 'born on this day' post every day on my twitter account and since today belongs to Donna Reed, how could From Here to Eternity not be our Saturday Matinee?




Donna Reed with Montgomery Clift

Donna Reed, who I grew up watching on The Donna Reed Show, won her only Oscar for playing Alma (aka Lorene) in From Here to Eternity, although you probably remember her best as the girl who won Jimmy Stewart’s heart in It’s a Wonderful Life. Or maybe that's just me? 

Donna Reed with Frank Sinatra

Despite her Best Supporting Actress win, Donna Reed was less than thrilled with how the Oscar impacted her film career. According to the New York Times 
“For years Miss Reed struggled to break out of the purity role, and finally succeeded with the part of Alma, a prostitute who befriended the soldier played by Montgomery Clift in ''From Here to Eternity.''
Her success earned Miss Reed the resentment, she said, of studio executives who had carefully nurtured her image. ''The whole point about Alma was she was a prostitute who didn't look like one,'' Miss Reed said. ''Try telling that to the studios. All the Oscar brought me was more bland Goody-Two-Shoes parts.''


It’s not quite the right season for It’s a Wonderful Life—that's a Christmas pleasure, isn’t it?—so let’s take a look at our original From Here to Eternity post and watch the movie on your favorite platform: Amazon, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu & GooglePlay. I don’t find it currently streaming on Netflix but you can order the DVD.

Donna Reed died of pancreatic cancer in 1986 at the age of 64.