Bombers B-52 (1957)

Sgt. Chuck 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.

---

Plot Keywords:

u.s. air force | pilot | korean war | strategic bomber | cold war | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 December 1957 (Japan)

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--an aircraft designed 63 years ago, that first flew April 15, 1952, went into service in February of 1955 and was last produced in 1962--is still in active USAF service as of 2015.

---

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.

---

Quotes

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

---

Crazy Credits

[all lines centered] And Presenting Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

---

Soundtracks

The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played each time Chuck answers the question correctly

User Reviews

A stiff sergeant confronts a colonel who falls in love for his daughter and interlaced with spectacular aerial scenes

Interesting as well as tedious film at times , though . The picture contains a silly and boring love story ; being designed to showcase the US Air Force's brand-new B-52 Stratofortress bomber, including actual footage of jet plane and as such the studio received complete cooperation from the Air Force . As 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 and they could refuel in mid-air . This aerial drama deals with Sgt. Chuch Brennan (Karl Malden who steals the show as expert sergeant) always disliked playboy and hotshot, Col. Jim Herlihy (Efrem Zimbalist , he replaced Tab Hunter) . Now Chuck has even more reason to, Jim is dating his daughter, Lois (Natalie Wood ,during shooting, she was named "Miss Stratosphere of 1957" and "Sweetheart of Castle Air Force Base") . This movie's dedication shown at the end of the film states: "With grateful appreciation for the cooperation of the United States Air Force we proudly dedicate this picture to the crew chiefs and ground personnel , the indispensable men who contribute so much to our airpower."

This is a family drama , including an usual love story between a pilot colonel and a gorgeous young with her sergeant father objecting , interwoven with nice aerial footage of B 52 maneuvers . This film is a Warner Brother official studio tribute to the B-52 Stratofortress bomber air craft and the United States Air Force. This was apparently the first film in which the US Air Force's new B-52 Stratofortress bomber was featured. It appeared in a number of films afterward, notably A Gathering of Eagles (1963), Dr. Strangelove: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), and By Dawn's Early Light (1990). Good quartet protagonist as Karl Malden , Efrem Zimbalist , Natalie Wood and Marsha Hunt . Although Natalie Wood received star billing with her name above the title, she actually only had a minor part . Fine plethora of secondaries , many of them uncredited , such as Ann Doran , John Doucette , Stuart Whitman , Bing Russell , Will Hutchins and recently deceased Juanita Moore . Colorful cinematography in Cinemascope by William H. Clothier , John Ford's usual , it was shot on location in in Merced County (California) Air Force base . Thrilling as well as rousing musical score by Leonard Rosenman .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Gordon Douglas. This is one of various and professional works of his long career as filmmaker . He was a Hollywood veteran director, directing early movies such as ¨Little rascals¨, ¨Spanky¨. He was an expert on adventures genre as ¨Black arrow¨ and ¨Fortunes of Captain Blood¨ , both starred by Louis Hayward ; but he's mainly specialist filmmaking Western , his first was ¨ Girl rush (1944)¨ and in the 40s directed ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ and ¨The Nevadan¨ for duo Harry Joe Brown-Randolph Scott . He went on directing Alan Ladd's vehicles as ¨Iron Mistress¨ and ¨The fiend who walked west¨ which resulted to be a Western rendition to ¨Kiss of death¨. In the 50s he proved his specialty on Western in the films starred by Clint Walker as ¨Fort Dobbs¨ ,¨Yellowstone Kelly¨, ¨Gold of seven Saints¨ and about legendary bandits as ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ and ¨Great Missouri raid¨ . After that , he filmed ¨Chuka(1967)¨ that bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Only the valiant¨ , the remake ¨Stagecoach (1966)¨ , and the superior ¨Rio Conchos¨. Douglas usually worked for Frank Sinatra in various films such as ¨Lady in Cement¨, ¨Tony Rome¨, ¨The detective¨ , ¨Robin and the 7 Hoods¨. Bombers B 52 , rating : Passable and acceptable , 6 . Well worth seeing .