Strategic Air Command (1955)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers:

Valentine Davies (screenplay)
Beirne Lay Jr. (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 July 1955 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

Lt. Col. Robert (Dutch) Holland was a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, not a pitcher. While...

Plot Keywords:

Airforce | U.S. Air Force | Bomber | Military | Military Wife

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

James Stewart	...	Lt. Col. Robert 'Dutch' Holland
June Allyson	...	Sally Holland
Frank Lovejoy	...	Gen. Ennis C. Hawkes
Barry Sullivan	...	Lt. Col. Rocky Samford
Alex Nicol	...	Ike Knowland
Bruce Bennett	...	Gen. Espy
Jay C. Flippen	...	Tom Doyle
James Millican	...	Major General 'Rusty' Castle
James Bell	...	Rev. Dr. Thorne
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Mrs. Thorne (as Rosemary De Camp)
Richard Shannon	...	Flight Instructor Pilot
John McKee	...	Capt. Symington (as John R. McKee)
Harry Morgan	...	Sgt. Bible (flight engineer) (as Henry Morgan)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #17126) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Al Lang Field - 180 2nd Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Third of three movies where James Stewart and June Allyson played husband and wife.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When "Dutch" is going on the practice bomb run he reports his altitude as 43 000 feet. When planes are flying above 18 000 they all set there altimeters to a pressure of 29.92 so they are flying at 'pressure altitude'. When flying this way, pilots report their altitude as FLIGHT LEVEL xxx, where xxx is in hundreds. In this case he would have reported FLIGHT LEVEL 430 instead of 43 000 feet.

Quotes:

Lieutenant: We've been bombing cities every day and every night all over the U.S., only people never know it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood or Bust (1956)

VistaVision!!!

Without sounding like some "tech-head" and quoting all sorts of technical jargon, I've just got to say, that one of the main reasons for enjoying this Cold War pic is the sheer visual impact. The flight sequence where Dutch is sent out in a Peacemaker is incredible. The color, clouds, and air-to-air photography is stunning. My one thought through the movie was, "What a shame the Steady-cam wasn't around."

One of the classic film cable channels has been showing what appears to be a well restored print, and I wonder if a DVD version will be avaliable, at some date.

And, if you are a plane fan, seeing a B-36 in motion is impressive, too. It's something to see a flight deck that has no computer, digital display, ot high tech flight control. Dials! Propellers! Incredible!

And yes, being a car fan, too, I got a big charge out of this picture.

This is a great rainy/snowy/stay inside Sunday afternoon movie. Grab a drink, pop some popcorn, turn off the current world, and set "The Way-Back Machine" to the early 50's when the BAD GUY was a Bear, and the world was a safer place.