Clark Gable is stuck in the position of having to make a "Command Decision" in this 1948 film also starring Walter Pidgeon, John Hodiak, Charles Bickford, Van Johnson, and Edward Arnold. The film is based on a successful Broadway play starring Paul Kelly, James Whitmore, Paul Ford, and Arthur Franz.
Gable plays General Dennis, in charge of a World War II Air Force division that is running something called Operation Stitch (a stitch in time and all that). The Germans have developed the first jet combat plane, the Lantze-Wolf, an aircraft that would allow the Germans to rule the European skies. The plane is being assembled in three cities, and the goal is to wipe out the factories, which needs to be done in the daytime because of the need for precision and the necessity of bombing at a lower altitude. Also, our planes do not have fighter escorts for the final 100 miles because the American fighter planes don't have that kind of range. This is all based on fact, and the plane developed by the Germans was actually the Messerschmitt Me-262.
These are dangerous missions, and because of good weather, General Dennis has put Operation Stitch into operation. The loss of American soldiers is heavy, and he faces political opposition for his decisions from Walter Pidgeon as Kane, who is a man stuck in the middle between the decision-makers and the government that can give the Air Force more planes.
This is a good, if talky drama, with some long monologues, but monologues delivered by effective actors Pidgeon and Gable. Pidgeon's monologue was done without cuts, using one camera.
"Command Decision" is compared to "12 O'Clock High," which is, in my opinion, a superior film containing one of my favorite lines: "Just pretend you're already dead." The characters in the latter are more fleshed out, and the effects of battle and tension are evident. Here, they're more talked about.
This film flopped big time at the box office. Clark Gable did not have a successful postwar re-entry into Hollywood, unlike some of his fellow stars. He returned from the war still a grieving widower, and he was older than most of his colleagues. MGM saddled him with some fairly yawn-worthy projects, and it actually wasn't until they terminated his contract in 1953 that the quality of his films started to go up again (excluding, of course, Band of Angels). That's great for his legacy, but he probably didn't have a fun time living through it.
Seen today, "Command Decision" holds up well, though at the time, it was perhaps a little too cerebral for the post-war audience.
Gable plays General Dennis, in charge of a World War II Air Force division that is running something called Operation Stitch (a stitch in time and all that). The Germans have developed the first jet combat plane, the Lantze-Wolf, an aircraft that would allow the Germans to rule the European skies. The plane is being assembled in three cities, and the goal is to wipe out the factories, which needs to be done in the daytime because of the need for precision and the necessity of bombing at a lower altitude. Also, our planes do not have fighter escorts for the final 100 miles because the American fighter planes don't have that kind of range. This is all based on fact, and the plane developed by the Germans was actually the Messerschmitt Me-262.
These are dangerous missions, and because of good weather, General Dennis has put Operation Stitch into operation. The loss of American soldiers is heavy, and he faces political opposition for his decisions from Walter Pidgeon as Kane, who is a man stuck in the middle between the decision-makers and the government that can give the Air Force more planes.
This is a good, if talky drama, with some long monologues, but monologues delivered by effective actors Pidgeon and Gable. Pidgeon's monologue was done without cuts, using one camera.
"Command Decision" is compared to "12 O'Clock High," which is, in my opinion, a superior film containing one of my favorite lines: "Just pretend you're already dead." The characters in the latter are more fleshed out, and the effects of battle and tension are evident. Here, they're more talked about.
This film flopped big time at the box office. Clark Gable did not have a successful postwar re-entry into Hollywood, unlike some of his fellow stars. He returned from the war still a grieving widower, and he was older than most of his colleagues. MGM saddled him with some fairly yawn-worthy projects, and it actually wasn't until they terminated his contract in 1953 that the quality of his films started to go up again (excluding, of course, Band of Angels). That's great for his legacy, but he probably didn't have a fun time living through it.
Seen today, "Command Decision" holds up well, though at the time, it was perhaps a little too cerebral for the post-war audience.