Intimate as well as spectacular WWI airplane movie with an enjoyable cast , aerial battles and thought-provoking themes , being one of the first Hollywood films to deal with the psychological effect of war on its soldiers . The film's dedication states: "This motion picture is dedicated to those Americans, both living and dead, whose gallant effort made possible daylight precision bombing. They were the only Americans fighting in Europe in the fall of 1942. They stood alone, against the enemy and against doubts from home and abroad. This is their story" . Gen. Frank Savage (Gregory Peck , though John Wayne turned down this leading role) is sent by Gen. Pritchard (Millard Mitchell) to the combat group after the Bomber Commander Col. Keith Davenport (Gary Merrill) is relieved of duty . As a hard-as-nails general takes over a bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape . However , the newcomer General also begins to feel the strain of the leadership . This is a story of valiant twelve men as their women never knew them . It is an example of a pilot's enemy position call . During World War II pilots would call-out the positions of enemy airplanes by referring to their bearings via the use of a pretend face of a clock . In this case, 12 O'Clock meant the enemy was directly ahead, whereas 6 O'Clock would mean directly behind. "High" or "Low" referred to whether the enemy was above or below the airplane respectively. "Even" meant that the enemy was level with the pilot's plane.
This is a thrilling film dealing with patriotism and heroism , starred by a maverick General and his underlings carrying out risked feats on air and bombing German installations . However , the air battles were cut together from authentic World War II footage . In fact , the opening prologue states : "The air battle scenes in this Motion Picture were photographed in actual combat by members of the United States Air Force and the German Luftwaffe" . Much of the flick concerns the relentless fight of a brave General , masterfully played by Gregory Peck , to whip his outfit into a disciplined team in spite of heavy casualties . This film is frequently cited by surviving bomber crewmembers as the only accurate depiction from Hollywood of their life during the war . Based on a novel by Beirne Lay Jr. and Sy Bartlett ; being well adapted by these authors , they wanted the script to concentrate fully on the psychological effects of war and the theme of commanding . Many characters in this film were based on real-life people such as Gen. Savage inspired by Gen. Frank Armstrong and many others . Excellent Gregory Peck as the flight commander who takes over an England-based bomber squadron and it helped assure him a place in Hollywood immortality . Very good support cast such as Hugh Marlowe as Lt. Col. Ben Gately , Gary Merrill as Col. Keith Davenport , Millard Mitchell as Gen. Pritchard , Robert Arthur as Sgt. McIllhenny , Paul Stewart as Capt. 'Doc' Kaiser and Dean Jagger as Maj. Harvey Stovall , he won an Academy Award for secondary actor for his fine acting ; most of them inspired on real characters .
Evocative as well as sensitive musical score by the classic Alfred Newman . Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Leon Shamroy , usual cameraman of super-productions . Henry King 's direction is well crafted , though William A. Wellman was attached to direct at one point . Here Henry King is more thought-provoking and inclined toward brooding issues and no much action , as a romantic subplot, which features in the book, was dropped at the studio's insistence . King is an expert on compelling Adventure/Western genre , as he directed classic Westerns as ¨ Jesse James¨ (1939) and ¨The gunfighter¨ (1950) with Peck again . Koster was specialist on Adventure genre as proved in ¨Untamed¨ , ¨Captain King¨ , ¨Captain of Castilla¨ , ¨Black Swan¨ , ¨Stanley and Livingstone ¨and many others . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching
This is a thrilling film dealing with patriotism and heroism , starred by a maverick General and his underlings carrying out risked feats on air and bombing German installations . However , the air battles were cut together from authentic World War II footage . In fact , the opening prologue states : "The air battle scenes in this Motion Picture were photographed in actual combat by members of the United States Air Force and the German Luftwaffe" . Much of the flick concerns the relentless fight of a brave General , masterfully played by Gregory Peck , to whip his outfit into a disciplined team in spite of heavy casualties . This film is frequently cited by surviving bomber crewmembers as the only accurate depiction from Hollywood of their life during the war . Based on a novel by Beirne Lay Jr. and Sy Bartlett ; being well adapted by these authors , they wanted the script to concentrate fully on the psychological effects of war and the theme of commanding . Many characters in this film were based on real-life people such as Gen. Savage inspired by Gen. Frank Armstrong and many others . Excellent Gregory Peck as the flight commander who takes over an England-based bomber squadron and it helped assure him a place in Hollywood immortality . Very good support cast such as Hugh Marlowe as Lt. Col. Ben Gately , Gary Merrill as Col. Keith Davenport , Millard Mitchell as Gen. Pritchard , Robert Arthur as Sgt. McIllhenny , Paul Stewart as Capt. 'Doc' Kaiser and Dean Jagger as Maj. Harvey Stovall , he won an Academy Award for secondary actor for his fine acting ; most of them inspired on real characters .
Evocative as well as sensitive musical score by the classic Alfred Newman . Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Leon Shamroy , usual cameraman of super-productions . Henry King 's direction is well crafted , though William A. Wellman was attached to direct at one point . Here Henry King is more thought-provoking and inclined toward brooding issues and no much action , as a romantic subplot, which features in the book, was dropped at the studio's insistence . King is an expert on compelling Adventure/Western genre , as he directed classic Westerns as ¨ Jesse James¨ (1939) and ¨The gunfighter¨ (1950) with Peck again . Koster was specialist on Adventure genre as proved in ¨Untamed¨ , ¨Captain King¨ , ¨Captain of Castilla¨ , ¨Black Swan¨ , ¨Stanley and Livingstone ¨and many others . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching