In Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson’s “Hollywood: The Oral History,” the authors cite an old interview with Zinnemann in which the director marveled at Cohn’s old-fashioned showmanship. According to Zinnemann, the idea of ​​making “From Here to Eternity” in the midst of the red-light McCarthy era seemed foolish. “People called it Harry Cohn’s Folly,” the filmmaker recalled.

Cohn didn’t care and doubled down on his gamble, debuting the film at the Capitol Theatre in New York City in August. As for marketing, there would be virtually none. As Zinnemann put it:

“Now, this was 1953, and there was no such thing as air conditioning. And New York in August was a red-hot box, and nobody in their right mind would have opened a movie that month. In August. And then he said, ‘There’s to be no publicity, no advertising, except one full-page ad in the Times, which I’ll sign as president of Columbia, urging everybody to go see the picture.’ And people really thought he was crazy.”

On the opening day of the film, Zinnemann was prepared for disaster. Then he received a totally unexpected phone call from a movie star he had never met in his life.