As military films go, "Strategic Air Command" is pretty run-of-the-mill. It is most likely that the lack of constant action (we are talking the post-Korean war Cold War era) is what keeps it from being very absorbing.
Jimmy Stewart, as Lt. Col. Robert 'Dutch' Holland, is a former baseball player recruited into SAC despite his initial lack of enthusiasm. And his wife June Allyson (as Sally Holland) is even less thrilled as her husband is thrust into the maelstrom of lengthy patrols, uneven schedules and seemingly endless on-call status situations. And of course there is the inherent danger and uncertainty that adds considerable stress in a military family.
June Allyson is on the short list of my least favorite Hollywood women stars. Apparently many liked her almost constant portrayals of "the gal I left behind". I instead picture her as one of the least hot women I've seen in leading roles – sort of another Doris Day. She is right on cue here, demonstrating her Susie Homemaker type, and eventually seems to be a regular spoilsport.
Jimmy Stewart, also an actor I am not too thrilled about – discounting primarily his work with Alfred Hitchcock – plays his usual mostly affable sort, but he does show us a tough streak in parts of the movie. And he does convey pretty well the effects that the strain of long flights and topsy-turvy schedules has on a person in those scenes. To his advantage in this film, Stewart was the real deal, having been a decorated Air Force pilot.
The film relies on tried-and-true Hollywood plot lines; all the usual concerns of family life are trotted out. So we are leaning pretty heavily to the sentimental side of things.
Nonetheless, the photography is remarkable. The live footage of contemporary state-of-the-art aircraft, in flight, on the ground, and even during ground operations is very good. There is a scene of in-flight refueling, which in my view is the edgiest moment of the movie, that makes us think "I still don't really see how that works", even though it is skillfully captured.
The film had an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story. That stumps me; the award it did receive was a Special Citation for the Aerial Photography from National Board of Review, and that was well deserved.
Two and a half stars.
Jimmy Stewart, as Lt. Col. Robert 'Dutch' Holland, is a former baseball player recruited into SAC despite his initial lack of enthusiasm. And his wife June Allyson (as Sally Holland) is even less thrilled as her husband is thrust into the maelstrom of lengthy patrols, uneven schedules and seemingly endless on-call status situations. And of course there is the inherent danger and uncertainty that adds considerable stress in a military family.
June Allyson is on the short list of my least favorite Hollywood women stars. Apparently many liked her almost constant portrayals of "the gal I left behind". I instead picture her as one of the least hot women I've seen in leading roles – sort of another Doris Day. She is right on cue here, demonstrating her Susie Homemaker type, and eventually seems to be a regular spoilsport.
Jimmy Stewart, also an actor I am not too thrilled about – discounting primarily his work with Alfred Hitchcock – plays his usual mostly affable sort, but he does show us a tough streak in parts of the movie. And he does convey pretty well the effects that the strain of long flights and topsy-turvy schedules has on a person in those scenes. To his advantage in this film, Stewart was the real deal, having been a decorated Air Force pilot.
The film relies on tried-and-true Hollywood plot lines; all the usual concerns of family life are trotted out. So we are leaning pretty heavily to the sentimental side of things.
Nonetheless, the photography is remarkable. The live footage of contemporary state-of-the-art aircraft, in flight, on the ground, and even during ground operations is very good. There is a scene of in-flight refueling, which in my view is the edgiest moment of the movie, that makes us think "I still don't really see how that works", even though it is skillfully captured.
The film had an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story. That stumps me; the award it did receive was a Special Citation for the Aerial Photography from National Board of Review, and that was well deserved.
Two and a half stars.