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Why did Fred Zinnemann insist that From Here to Eternity be filmed in black and white?

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Fred Zinnemann stands between Marlon Brando, left, in a suit, and Montgomery Clift, right, in a tank top, on the set of From Here to Eternity, with lockers in the background. — Fred Zinnemann (From left to right) Marlon Brando, Fred Zinnemann, and Montgomery Clift on the set of *From Here to Eternity* (1953).

Director Fred Zinnemann insisted that the 1953 film From Here to Eternity be shot in black and white specifically to underscore the seriousness of the story's themes.1