Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

A hard-as-nails general takes over a bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Sy Bartlett (screenplay), Beirne Lay Jr. (screenplay)

Stars:

Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gregory Peck	...	Gen. Frank Savage
Hugh Marlowe	...	Lt. Col. Ben Gately
Gary Merrill	...	Col. Davenport
Millard Mitchell	...	General Pritchard
Dean Jagger	...	Major Stovall
Robert Arthur	...	Sgt. McIllhenny
Paul Stewart	...	Maj. 'Doc' Kaiser
John Kellogg	...	Major Cobb
Robert Patten	...	Lt. Bishop (as Bob Patten)
Lee MacGregor	...	Lt. Zimmerman (as Lee Mac Gregor)
Sam Edwards	...	Birdwell
Roger Anderson	...	Interrogation Officer

Storyline

In this story of the early days of daylight bombing raids over Nazi Germany, General Frank Savage must take command of a "hard luck" bomber group. Much of the story deals with his struggle to whip his group into a disciplined fighting unit in spite of heavy losses, and withering attacks by German fighters over their targets. Actual combat footage is used in this tense war drama.

---

Plot Keywords:

american abroad | b 17 bomber | reminiscence | military leadership | world war two | 

---

Taglines:

A story of twelve men as their women never knew them...

---

Genres:

Drama | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 February 1950 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Almas en la hoguera

Filming Locations:

Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Gen. Savage (Gregory Peck) gets back from his last mission--the one before he cracks up--he's in his room with Col. Davenport (Gary Merrill), Gately (Hugh Marlowe) and a drunk Col. Stovall (Dean Jagger). Davenport asks Savage if he knows that the "Old Man" went along on the just finished mission. After Savage tells him he didn't know, Davenport continues, "He slipped into Curt May's plane". During the era when this movie takes place, Maj. Curtis LeMay (later to become a general and eventually Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) was flying bombing missions as commander of a B-17 Flying Fortress unit, the 305th Bomb Group, which was part of the Eighth Air Force.

---

Goofs

When General Savage visits Lt Col Gately in the hospital, close-up shots are taken from the left side of Gately's bed and long distance shots are taken from the right. The lighting on Gately's face is significantly brighter in the close-ups.

---

Quotes

General Pritchard: I believe that to a certain degree, a man makes his own luck.

---

Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: LONDON 1949

---

Connections

Edited into All This and World War II (1976)

---

Soundtracks

Bless 'em All
(uncredited)
Written by Fred Godfrey (1917)
Revised lyrics by Jimmy Hughes and Frank Lake (1940)
Additional lyrics by Al Stillman (1941)
Sung at the officers' club

User Reviews

How did Gregory Peck do so many great films?

In writing reviews for IMDb, I have begun to notice just how many exceptional movies Gregory Peck did. Yes, I know he made a few stinkers (such as Days of Glory and Boys From Brazil), but look at all the great movies he did--3 of the best Westerns ever made (The Big Country, The Gunfighter and Yellow Sky), some dandy dramas (To Kill a Mockingbird, Cape Fear) and two of the best war pictures of all time (The Guns of Navarone and this movie, Twelve O'Clock High).

Twelve O'Clock High is exceptional in every way. It is very similar to the excellent movie Command Decision, but goes deeper into the emotional and psychological cost of commanding the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany. Whereas Gable is all alone and hated in Command Decision, Peck goes a step further and actually goes on bombing runs with his men--only to become deeply scarred emotionally in the process. As a result, this movie is a fantastic look at the psychological effects of war--something that only rarely gets addressed in war movies.