Overtalking but soberly gripping WWII drama with a strong cast that
pulls it through . Stars General Dennis (Clark Gable) of the US Force in England in World War II , upon realizing he must send his men on missions-of-no-return to destroy German jet production , as he becomes tactically at odds with his political superior by preventing the production of military jet planes that will turn the tide of battle to the Germans . As Clark Gable plays a commander in chief whose orders are questioned from superior command (Walter Pidgeon) who's not keen to have his precision bombing plans placed in an unflattering light . General Dennis must fight congressmen (Edward Arnold) , and his own chain of command to win the political battle before he can send his planes out , as his missions cost extremely high losses . His problem is complicated by a very narrow window of good weather necessary to allow his effort to be successful . M-G-M's Dramatic Hit! . Heroes , cowards , fighters , braggarts, liars...and what goes on in their hearts!
An engaging picture concerning a thorny conflict in which Clark Gable, commander of bomber unit is determined to rush through the destruction of German factories producing a new breed of jet fighter , and his superiors well aware that the inevitable heavy casualties will reflect badly on their plans for daylight precision bombing. This is a fine movie but it is not as good as ¨Twelve O'Clock High¨ shot the following year . Interesting film dealing with conflicts and discussions that arise in the upper command of the air force , regarding especially with the arguments emerging about the bombers against the installations that are in deep Germany . Thus , the raids of the B 17 are extremely dangerous and with a number of casualties , a question that deeply compromises the upper command . Adapted from a stage play by William Wister Haine , it attempts to look at the challenges of command in the political arena . Clark Gable gives a compelling acting as a general who finds that he must order his planes deeper and deeper into Germany and struggling with the decision to prioritize bombing the German factories producing new jet fighters . He's well accompanied by a splendid cast with a lot of Hollywood faces delivering outstanding performances , such as : Walter Pidgeon , Van Johnson , Brian Donlevy , Charles Bickford , John Hodiak , Edward Arnold , Marshall Thompson , Richard Quine , Wiliam Anderson , Don Haggerty , Ray Collins , Cameron Mitchell , among others.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Sam Wood . This Hollywood craftsman directed a number of films . It is a late war pic by Wood who earlier directed such diverse efforts as two Marx Brothers vehicles : A night at the opera (1935) and A day at the races (1937) , as well as The Devil and Miss Jones , and , Our Town . Most of his movies in the 1920s were standard fare and it was not until he directed some subsequent gems with that his career picked up again. Looking at the finished product it is difficult to reconcile this to Groucho Marx finding Wood "rigid and humourless". Regardless of his personality or his habitually having to shoot each scene twenty times over , Wood turned out some very powerful dramatic films during the last ten years of his life, beginning with Goodbye , Mr. Chips (1939) , this popular melodrama earned him his first Academy Award nomination and Stablemates with Wallace Beery . At RKO, he coaxed an Oscar-winning performance out of Ginger Rogers and was again nominated himself for Kitty Foyle (1940). Ronald Reagan gave , arguably , his best acting in Kings Row (1942) under Wood's direction , and subsequentlt he directed Casanova Brown (1944) with Gary Cooper , The Pride of the Yankees (1942) , Saratoga Trunk (1945) with Ingrid Bergman , Ivis (1947) with Joan Fontaine and The Stratton Story (1949) with James Stewart . His most expensive and longest , at 170 minutes , assignment took him back to Paramount , this was Ernest Hemingway's Spanish Civil War drama For whom the bell tolls (1943) , being his biggest hit . Rating : 6/10 , acceptable and passable , as Command Decision(1948) is a nice vintage war-is-hell-drama.
An engaging picture concerning a thorny conflict in which Clark Gable, commander of bomber unit is determined to rush through the destruction of German factories producing a new breed of jet fighter , and his superiors well aware that the inevitable heavy casualties will reflect badly on their plans for daylight precision bombing. This is a fine movie but it is not as good as ¨Twelve O'Clock High¨ shot the following year . Interesting film dealing with conflicts and discussions that arise in the upper command of the air force , regarding especially with the arguments emerging about the bombers against the installations that are in deep Germany . Thus , the raids of the B 17 are extremely dangerous and with a number of casualties , a question that deeply compromises the upper command . Adapted from a stage play by William Wister Haine , it attempts to look at the challenges of command in the political arena . Clark Gable gives a compelling acting as a general who finds that he must order his planes deeper and deeper into Germany and struggling with the decision to prioritize bombing the German factories producing new jet fighters . He's well accompanied by a splendid cast with a lot of Hollywood faces delivering outstanding performances , such as : Walter Pidgeon , Van Johnson , Brian Donlevy , Charles Bickford , John Hodiak , Edward Arnold , Marshall Thompson , Richard Quine , Wiliam Anderson , Don Haggerty , Ray Collins , Cameron Mitchell , among others.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Sam Wood . This Hollywood craftsman directed a number of films . It is a late war pic by Wood who earlier directed such diverse efforts as two Marx Brothers vehicles : A night at the opera (1935) and A day at the races (1937) , as well as The Devil and Miss Jones , and , Our Town . Most of his movies in the 1920s were standard fare and it was not until he directed some subsequent gems with that his career picked up again. Looking at the finished product it is difficult to reconcile this to Groucho Marx finding Wood "rigid and humourless". Regardless of his personality or his habitually having to shoot each scene twenty times over , Wood turned out some very powerful dramatic films during the last ten years of his life, beginning with Goodbye , Mr. Chips (1939) , this popular melodrama earned him his first Academy Award nomination and Stablemates with Wallace Beery . At RKO, he coaxed an Oscar-winning performance out of Ginger Rogers and was again nominated himself for Kitty Foyle (1940). Ronald Reagan gave , arguably , his best acting in Kings Row (1942) under Wood's direction , and subsequentlt he directed Casanova Brown (1944) with Gary Cooper , The Pride of the Yankees (1942) , Saratoga Trunk (1945) with Ingrid Bergman , Ivis (1947) with Joan Fontaine and The Stratton Story (1949) with James Stewart . His most expensive and longest , at 170 minutes , assignment took him back to Paramount , this was Ernest Hemingway's Spanish Civil War drama For whom the bell tolls (1943) , being his biggest hit . Rating : 6/10 , acceptable and passable , as Command Decision(1948) is a nice vintage war-is-hell-drama.