Command Decision (1948)

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

William R. Laidlaw (screenplay) and
George Froeschel (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

February 1949 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

Heroes, cowards, fighters, braggarts, liars...and what goes on in their hearts!

Plot:

Army generals struggle with the decision to prioritize bombing the German factories producing new jet fighters over the extremely high casualties the mission will cost.

Plot Keywords:

Jet | Factory | Germany | World War Two | Army Air Force

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Brig. Gen. K.C. 'Casey' Dennis
Walter Pidgeon	...	Maj. Gen. Roland Goodlow Kane
Van Johnson	...	Tech. Sgt. Immanuel T. Evans
Brian Donlevy	...	Brig. Gen. Clifton I. Garnet
Charles Bickford	...	Elmer Brockhurst
John Hodiak	...	Col. Edward Rayton Martin
Edward Arnold	...	Congressman Arthur Malcolm
Marshall Thompson	...	Capt. George Washington Bellpepper Lee
Richard Quine	...	Maj. George Rockton
Cameron Mitchell	...	Lt. Ansel Goldberg
Clinton Sundberg	...	Maj. Homer V. Prescott
Ray Collins	...	Maj. Desmond Lansing
Warner Anderson	...	Col. Earnest Haley
John McIntire	...	Maj. Belding Davis
Moroni Olsen	...	Congressman Stone
John Ridgely	...	James Carwood
Michael Steele	...	Capt. Lucius Malcolm Jenks
Edward Earle	...	Congressman Watson
Mack Williams	...	Lt. Col. Virgil Jackson
James Millican	...	Maj. Garrett Davenport
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lane Allan	...	Officer (uncredited)
Joel Allen	...	Lt. Colonel (uncredited)
George Backus	...	Cook (uncredited)
Gregg Barton	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Jack Bonigul	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
William Cabanne	...	Flyer (uncredited)
John Cannon	...	Officer (uncredited)
Campbell Copelin	...	Correspondent (uncredited)
Bruce Cowling	...	Operations Officer (uncredited)
Bob Cunningham	...	Officer (uncredited)
James Dale	...	Operations Sergeant (uncredited)
Fred Datig Jr.	...	Flyer (uncredited)
Bert Davidson	...	Correspondent (uncredited)
Dennis Dengate	...	Flyer (uncredited)
Tay Dunn	...	Major (uncredited)
Sam Flint	...	Congressman (uncredited)
Don Garner	...	Flyer (uncredited)
Don Haggerty	...	Command Officer (uncredited)
Henry Hall	...	Congressman (uncredited)
Alvin Hammer	...	Machine Shop Sergeant Cahill (uncredited)
Tom Handley	...	Correspondent (uncredited)
Clarke Hardwicke	...	Flyer (uncredited)
Carey Harrison	...	Staff Officer (uncredited)
Holmes Herbert	...	Chairman (uncredited)
David Holt	...	Lt. Nelson (voice) (uncredited)
James Horne Jr.	...	Young Officer (uncredited)
Robin Hughes	...	R.A.F. Officer (uncredited)
John James	...	Officer (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Elevator Passenger (uncredited)
Marten Lamont	...	R.A.F. Officer (uncredited)
Billy Lechner	...	Operations Sergeant (uncredited)
William F. Leicester	...	Parker - the Chauffeur (uncredited)
Peter Martin	...	Command Sergeant (uncredited)
Frank Mayo	...	Staff Officer (uncredited)
John McGuire	...	Fly Control Officer (uncredited)
Bill McIvor	...	Jeep Driver (uncredited)
George Melford	...	Correspondent (uncredited)
John Michaels	...	Flyer (uncredited)
Bob Milton	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Staff Officer (uncredited)
William Murphy	...	Flyer (uncredited)
Bill Neff	...	Flyer (uncredited)
Barry Nelson	...	Cumquat B-Baker Crewman (voice) (uncredited)
David Newell	...	Staff Officer (uncredited)
William Nind	...	Staff Officer (uncredited)
George Offerman Jr.	...	G.I. Waiter (uncredited)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Jeep Driver (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Correspondent (uncredited)
Robert Seiter	...	Control Officer (uncredited)
Tony Shaw	...	Officer in Tower (uncredited)
Robin Short	...	Guard (uncredited)
J. Lewis Smith	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Buddy Swan	...	Flyer (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	Officer (uncredited)
Arthur Walsh	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Douglas Walton	...	Englishman on Loudspeaker (voice) (uncredited)
Harlan Warde	...	Control Officer (uncredited)
Steve Wayne	...	Command Sergeant (uncredited)
Wilson Wood	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Jimmy Zahner	...	Flyer (uncredited)

Directed by
Sam Wood

Writing credits
William R. Laidlaw		(screenplay) and
George Froeschel		(screenplay)
William Wister Haines		(play)

Produced by
Sidney Franklin	....	producer
Gottfried Reinhardt	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Miklós Rózsa		(as Miklos Rozsa)

Cinematography by
Harold Rosson

Film Editing by
Harold F. Kress

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Urie McCleary

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Al Shenberg	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sid Sidman	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Jack D. Moore	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
James Brock	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Ed Hubbell	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Lloyd Isbell	....	grip (uncredited)
Bert Kopperl	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Robert Martin	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Eugene Zador	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Kermit Bloomgarden	....	stage producer
Leslie H. Martinson	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1949) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (France) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (?) (USA) (DVD) (as 'Warner WW2 Collection, Vol. 2')

Also Known As:

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #13274) | Canada:PG (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

March Air Force Base, Riverside, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The original Broadway production ran for virtually a year - from Oct. 1 1947 through Sept. 18, 1948, a total of 409 performances, and starred Paul Kelly, Jay Fassett, James Whitmore, Paul McGrath, Edmon Ryan, Stephen Elliot, Paul Ford, Arthur Franz, and John Randolph in the roles played respectively by: Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford, John Hodiak, Edward Arnold, Michael Steele, and Cameron Mitchell.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Casey is wondering about the weather for the third straight day of maximum effort, he tells his staff to keep him informed with weather updates. But when he does so, his lips don't move.

Quotes:

[Standing next to a B-17 starting up]
Col. Edward Rayton Martin:Well... see you later.
[Col. Martin runs to get aboard the bomber]
Col. Edward Rayton Martin:Keep your temper with the big wheels!
Brig. Gen. K.C. 'Casey' Dennis:What?
Col. Edward Rayton Martin:I said; keep your temper with the big wheels! I don't want to get back and find you with a Legion of Merit and a ticket home!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Clark Gable: Tall, Dark and Handsome (1996)

People who fought WWII without hearing gunfire

Just saw this on TCM. The story of generals fighting generals, press officers, politicians, etc. There's a few cliches, like the pilot who get news his wife has had a son gets killed during a mission. Don't expect Gable to give an over-the-top performance. It was originally a stage play -- so there are lots of one-on-one confrontations -- they are all done well.

There are no special effects, no women, no air battles. There's spliced in newsreel footage of a plane that lands and explodes. 1948 audiences couldn't really appreciate the abstraction of "air supremacy" that is the heart of the fight here. In our post-Gulf War post-Afghan War -- we now can appreciate the vision of men who took these risks -- so I'd say there's a special historical importance to this film. Check around the web for info on Gable's WW II service record -- he enlisted at age 41 into the Army Air Corps.