From Here to Eternity is a Lancaster classic

The suit, filed this week in the Los Angeles Superior Court, claims MGM held back $2m (�1.27m) made from Lancaster classics such as Judgment at Nuremberg, The Birdman of Alcatraz and Elmer Gantry.

The studio declined to comment on the legal action, said MGM spokesman Joseph Fitzgerald.

According to the trustees' claim, MGM failed to pay Lancaster's estate its share of earnings from the distribution of Lancaster's films between 1996 and 2001.

Burt Lancaster died in 1994

MGM is also accused of charging excessive distribution fees and deducting excessive amounts of interest on production costs.

Lancaster died in October 1994 at the age of 80 after a career taking in more than 70 films over a period of almost 50 years.

He won an Oscar for his role preaching hellfire and damnation in 1960's Elmer Gantry.

He also received several Oscar nominations, including one for his role in The Birdman of Alcatraz in 1962 and another for From Here to Eternity.

Later in his career, in the1980s, he appeared in a number of supporting roles.