A Gathering of Eagles (1963)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Delbert Mann

Writers:

Sy Bartlett (story)
Robert Pirosh (writer)

Release Date:

21 June 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

THE HIGHER THEY FLY...THE FASTER THEY LIVE! THEY CAN'T SLOW UP EVEN FOR LOVE! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Rock Hudson plays an Air Force Colonel who has just been re-assigned as a cold war B-52 commander who...

Plot Keywords:

Cold War | Squash | Male Female Relationship | Airforce | Bomber

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Rock Hudson	...	Col. Jim Caldwell
Rod Taylor	...	Col. Hollis Farr
Mary Peach	...	Victoria Caldwell
Barry Sullivan	...	Col. Bill Fowler
Kevin McCarthy	...	Gen. 'Happy Jack' Kirby
Henry Silva	...	Col. Joe Garcia
Leora Dana	...	Mrs. Evelyn Fowler
Robert Lansing	...	Sgt. Banning
Richard Anderson	...	Col. Ralph Josten
Richard LePore	...	Sgt. Kemler
Robert Bray	...	Lt. Col. Gales
Jim Bannon	...	Col. Morse
Nelson Leigh	...	Gen. Aymes
Russ Bender	...	Col. Torrance
John McKee	...	Maj. Travis

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:12 | Finland:S | Spain:7 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, California, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

The scene where Mary Peach's character goes out "on the town" shows her exiting a theater into a grand lobby where she meets friends. That lobby is the actual foyer of the San Francisco Opera House, which looks virtually the same to this day.

Goofs:

Factual errors: During an inflight emergency when his B-52 experiences a fuel leak while refueling from a KC-135 tanker, Col Caldwell correctly orders his crew to don oxygen masks so as not to breathe the gas fumes. The crew puts on their masks, but the remaining scenes depicting the emergency show the crew with their masks off again, even though fuel is still leaking and fumes are still present.

Quotes:

Col. Hollis Farr: But what about this transfer request?
Col. Jim Caldwell: I never saw it.
Col. Hollis Farr: Aw, come on, Jim! If you hold this up, he'll only go to the Inspector General. Why go out on a limb?
Col. Jim Caldwell: Out on a limb!? How do you think I've been living since the time I got here? What's wrong with going out on a limb?
Col. Hollis Farr: I'm just saying that...
Col. Jim Caldwell: You leave this one with me. And if anyone saws off that limb it'll be my neck, not yours!

The Movie was very good

I was stationed at Beale AFB, California when the Movie "A GATHERING OF EAGLES" was filmed, and watched much of the filming. I was the crew chief on B-52G #6515 (cannot give the rest of the tail number) I spent many hours on the alert pad. And if you have never had that experience of answering to the call in the middle of the night to a klaxon from a sound sleep to running to your fast ride vehicle and being prepared to launch your aircraft and flight-crew, Then you don't what being a proud B-52G Crew Chief is like. All of the people in SAC had special jobs. I'm honored to have served with the greatest command in the world. Therefore I rate the movie very high. After the film about a year later I worked on the Aircraft that they used for the movie. I still have some local news paper articles and pictures from the filming. I went to Beale last year "2006" for an air show and got to go out on the hardstand where my air plane was parked many times. I read and agree with one of the people about the hot brakes. Also a scene where the so called fuel was coming out of the main entry hatch. The real crew chief was standing up inside the aircraft pouring water out of a bucket to simulate the fuel. I'm trying to get a copy of the movie in DVD or VHF. I would be glad to help with copies of the news paper articles. I would like to find someone else that was in the 456th OMS at Beale during the filming that was a crew chief or a ground crew member on the B-52G's

Thank you

Jerry