Bombers B-52 (1957)

Sgt. Chuch Brennan always disliked playboy and hotshot, Col. Jim Herlihy. Now Chuck has even more reason to, Jim is dating his daughter, Lois.

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Irving Wallace (screenplay), Sam Rolfe (story)

Stars:

Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Marsha Hunt

Cast

Cast overview:
Natalie Wood	...	Lois Brennan
Karl Malden	...	MSgt. Chuck V. Brennan
Marsha Hunt	...	Edith Brennan
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	...	Col. Jim Herlihy
Don Kelly	...	MSgt. Darren McKine
Nelson Leigh	...	Brig. Gen. Wayne Acton
Robert Nichols	...	Wilbur 'Brooklyn' Stuart
Ray Montgomery	...	Barnes
Robert Hover	...	Simpson (as Bob Hover)

Storyline

U.S Air Force Sgt. Chuck Brennan always disliked playboy and hotshot, Col. Jim Herlihy. He first met him in Korea, where his emergency arrival for repairs while enroute for what Chuck thought was the colonels "hot date" in Tokyo, caused the death of several of his crewmen. Now several years later when Chuck, while still in the Air Force, is now weighing continued enlistment or retirement, the base's new C.O. is none other than Col. Herlihy. Compounding his dislike is a budding romance with Chuck's daughter, Lois.

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Plot Keywords:

air force | b 52 | quiz show | helicopter | father daughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

Mounting tension all the way -- with non-stop guy-girl excitement!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1958 (Austria)

Also Known As:

No Sleep till Dawn

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,400,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The B-52 Stratofortress bombers weighed 500,000 pounds and could fly at a speed of 650+ miles per hour and travel 17,000 miles without having to land (they could refuel in mid-air).

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Goofs

The B-52 is shown flying very low over the pyramids and Algiers, on a top secret mission. At the height it would have been spotted immediately and the secrecy blown. In any event, a B-52 would not have been allowed to fly at an altitude of barely 300 feet over the pyramids.

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Quotes

MSgt. Chuck V. Brennan: Women! - And they say the B-52 is an evolved hunk of machinery.

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Crazy Credits

[all lines centered] And Presenting Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

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Soundtracks

"An der schönen, blauen Donau, Op. 314 (On the Beautiful Blue Danube)"
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Strauß
Played on the television at the Burger Grille

User Reviews

Part military propaganda piece, part soap opera.

I am NOT being negative when I say that "Bombers B-52" is a propaganda piece. Not all propaganda is necessarily evil and the film clearly is a giant recruiting film for the US Air Force. It features their new B-52 bomber and is intended as a publicity piece. However, he's the odd part...the film is also, at times, a bit like a soap opera. While the general plot is a lot like the superior "Strategic Air Command" where a man struggles to decide whether to stay on active duty or move to the private sector, there is the soapy element because the man with this struggle (Karl Malden) is under the impression that his Commanding Officer (Efram Zimbalest) is a playboy trying to wood Malden's daughter (Natalie Wood). Of course, it's all just a misunderstanding that could EASILY be explained away, but most of the film Malden and Zimbalest grunt and do their macho posturing instead of just talking. This makes an otherwise decent film a bit clichéd. During a few sequences, you really wish they'd have edited out the schmaltz and theatrics! It's a shame, as the air sequences are very nice (with a few amazing aerial shots of the bomber from above in mid-flight) and the film is a decent historical look into the Cold War.

A few things to note in the film: The interesting ejection sequence--it really opened my eyes about the way a crew would leave the plane if there was an emergency as well as the low flyover in Egypt--which surely would have resulted in the Egyptians shooting at the plane as well as an international incident!