A Gathering of Eagles (1963)

During the Cold War, Air Force Colonel Jim Caldwell shapes up his Strategic Air Command B-52 wing to pass a nuclear war readiness test.

Director:

Delbert Mann

Writers:

Robert Pirosh (screenplay), Sy Bartlett (story)

Stars:

Rock Hudson, Rod Taylor, Mary Peach

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Rock Hudson plays an Air Force Colonel who has just been re-assigned as a cold war B-52 commander who must shape up his men to pass a grueling inspection that the previous commander had failed, and had been fired for. He is also recently married, and as a tough commanding officer doing whatever he has to do to shape his men up, his wife sees a side to him that she hadn't seen before.

---

Plot Keywords:

man wrapped in a towel | cold war | nuclear war | nuclear bomb | male female relationship | 

---

Taglines:

ROCK HUDSON - HOLLYWOOD'S NO. 1 HE-MAN STAR! (original print ad - all caps)

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

---

Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the final film former MGM costume designer Irene worked on. She committed suicide the fall of 1962 prior to the release of this film. Irene provided a very simple understated wardrobe for British actress Mary Peache in this film.

---

Goofs

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. Jim Caldwell: It's been one big happy family, hasn't it? The fishing's good at Grant's Pass? Tell Hollis Farr; he'll OK a leave! You don't like the seven-day alert? Tell Hollis Farr; he aims to please! He's not out on any limb; no sir! Let the wing commander stick his neck out! Hang on as vice-commander until something cushier turns up - and don't ever get in a spot where they can turn the heat on you. Well, it's about time somebody did. And if a man can't stand the heat, the best thing to do is stay out of ...
[...]

---

Connections

Edited into Columbo: The Most Crucial Game (1972)

---

Soundtracks

The Sac Song
Words and Music by Tom Lehrer

User Reviews

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 June 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Gathering of Eagles

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,346,500 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastman Color by Pathé) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1