User Reviews

There must be at least one whole generation of viewers who don't even know this film exists! Yet it remains one of the very best WWII films ever made. I first saw as a child, when it was quite new, and have seen it several times since. It has never lost its hold and that, I suppose, principally because of Clark Gable's superb performance (although the other parts are all very strongly done). It really must be one of his finest screen roles and that alone, one might think, would ensure that it is never long absent from television screens. Sadly it has been shown in Britain but once that I know of, and is not available here on a PAL-system video, although "Twelve O'Clock High" is available and often screened. In many ways the two films complement each other, each not wholly to be appreciated without seeing the other. "Twelve O'Clock High" has an almost exclusively military focus while "Command Decision" brings in the effect of political factors on military decisions. The latter film, however, has an edge: Gable on top form and that was always something very special.

In a larger sense "Command Decision" is not really a war movie but a film about the responsibility of command and leadership. It is one of the few films that effectively explores these topics; and belongs right up there with the original "Flight of the Phoenix" and "The Red Tent". Not having the visual power of those two films (the limited combat/action scenes are almost entirely stock footage), it must focus more narrowly on the human complications arising from the responsibility of command. The contradiction being that while a leader must cease to be human, no one who can do this is fit to be a leader.

Adapted from a stage play, "Command Decision" suffers from a fair amount of "long-windedness". Fortunately the most long-winded character (Major General Kane-played by Walter Pigeon), is well written and has many substantial things to convey. Much like his character in "Forbidden Planet", Pigeon is tasked with inserting historical and philosophical details into the story, and his commanding screen presence makes him ideal for this purpose.

Brigadier General K.C. Dennis (Clark Gable) has the most screen time and most challenging role, as his character is the guy stuck between a rock and a hard place. He is accountable for making the hard decisions that send his men off to die, but has a fragile authority dependent on how much independence his superiors are allowing him at a particular point in time. Gable does fine in this part, probably his best totally "serious" performance. Although the film takes pains to use the German high command to illustrate examples of bad leadership, it is easy to infer that the same mindset applies to the Allies. With many military leaders distorting events to cover their own ass and willing to sacrifice men for their own career advancement and personal ideology.

The premise of the film is the Air Corps discovery that the Germans have developed the first jet combat plane. Based on the real life Messerschmitt Me-262 (shown as a model in the film and in some archival footage), it is called the "Lantze-Wolf" here and considered so effective as a fighter aircraft that full production would allow the Luftwaffe to regain air supremacy over Europe.

The planes are being assembled in three cities deep in Germany. The only hope to delay their full production is "Operation Stitch" (named for its goal of gaining a stitch in time), a plan to attack these sites through dangerous daylight bombing raids. Dangerous because they will be heavily defended and because the bombers will have to go the final hundred miles without fighter escort-since the America fighters do not have the range to reach and return from the target. This type of daylight bombing was called precision bombing because the bomb-site was more effective with better visibility and a lower altitude. The alternative was safer but less accurate saturation bombing at night (insert Dresden here).

General Dennis must decide whether to start the operation, and then when the bombers take substantial punishment he must decide whether to continue in the expectation of additional high losses.

The film takes certain historical liberties as only after a postwar evaluation of the actual ME-262 did anyone really understand its strategic potential (in the hands of well trained pilots) as a fighter aircraft. Until the end Hitler insisted that it be utilized almost exclusively as a bomber. Although able to carry out this alternative role, its bomb load capacity was too little for any significant impact. That the ME-262 is more a footnote to the war than a major element was due more to Hitler's decision than to any allied efforts to limit its production.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Sam Wood directed this WWII story that stars Clark Gable as Brigadier General Dennis, who is in charge of a bomber group in England that must undertake a risky but vital mission to destroy German factories that are producing new Jet fighters that could out-gun Allied bombers and turn the tide against them in the war. The bombers will have to fly low, in highly dangerous conditions with likely high casualties, which is a tough sell for the General to convince both civilian and military authorities of its vital importance. Co-starring Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, and Marshall Thompson(among others). Though talky, and based on a stage play, film is well-acted and still quite interesting.

"Command Decision" is a wonderful film filled with several great performances. It's Gable's movie, but he's very capably supported by Walter Pigeon, Brian Donlevy and John Hodiak, who nearly equals his "Lifeboat" performance.

Pigeon is especially good in the roll of a senior commander who is more concerned with the political considerations of the war effort than the tactical and strategic goals. (Not without reason - The film correctly details the perilous and tenuous position that the 8th Air Force found itself in during the worst combat period of 1943.)

One of the best scenes in the film is a very long speech given by Pigeon, wherein he explains his reasons for fighting the good fight to keep American air power strong. The scene is a good 6 or 7 minutes long, one camera shot, entirely done without cuts. It must have been rehearsed extensively as it requires about 10 actors to interact with Pigeon at several times, all the while he is moving about the room. Seamless, and very well done! This remarkable scene is followed up with one almost as long, given by Gable.

The drama is occasionally broken up with comic moments provided by Van Johnson, as a savvy sergeant, and Clinton Sunberg as a fastidious aide to Pigeon's General Kane.

If you like to watch actors banging away with words instead of guns, this is the war movie for you.

Clark Gable is stuck in the position of having to make a "Command Decision" in this 1948 film also starring Walter Pidgeon, John Hodiak, Charles Bickford, Van Johnson, and Edward Arnold. The film is based on a successful Broadway play starring Paul Kelly, James Whitmore, Paul Ford, and Arthur Franz.

Gable plays General Dennis, in charge of a World War II Air Force division that is running something called Operation Stitch (a stitch in time and all that). The Germans have developed the first jet combat plane, the Lantze-Wolf, an aircraft that would allow the Germans to rule the European skies. The plane is being assembled in three cities, and the goal is to wipe out the factories, which needs to be done in the daytime because of the need for precision and the necessity of bombing at a lower altitude. Also, our planes do not have fighter escorts for the final 100 miles because the American fighter planes don't have that kind of range. This is all based on fact, and the plane developed by the Germans was actually the Messerschmitt Me-262.

These are dangerous missions, and because of good weather, General Dennis has put Operation Stitch into operation. The loss of American soldiers is heavy, and he faces political opposition for his decisions from Walter Pidgeon as Kane, who is a man stuck in the middle between the decision-makers and the government that can give the Air Force more planes.

This is a good, if talky drama, with some long monologues, but monologues delivered by effective actors Pidgeon and Gable. Pidgeon's monologue was done without cuts, using one camera.

"Command Decision" is compared to "12 O'Clock High," which is, in my opinion, a superior film containing one of my favorite lines: "Just pretend you're already dead." The characters in the latter are more fleshed out, and the effects of battle and tension are evident. Here, they're more talked about.

This film flopped big time at the box office. Clark Gable did not have a successful postwar re-entry into Hollywood, unlike some of his fellow stars. He returned from the war still a grieving widower, and he was older than most of his colleagues. MGM saddled him with some fairly yawn-worthy projects, and it actually wasn't until they terminated his contract in 1953 that the quality of his films started to go up again (excluding, of course, Band of Angels). That's great for his legacy, but he probably didn't have a fun time living through it.

Seen today, "Command Decision" holds up well, though at the time, it was perhaps a little too cerebral for the post-war audience.

This is one of the best WW2 movies. The acting and writing are superb and rather subdued at that. With Clark Gable you expect BIG ACTING AND BIG ACTION but in this one he does a very credible job portraying a very troubled man who is put in charge of the bombing campaign against the Germans. So, this movie is a bit of a stretch for the usually glib Gable, as it focuses on the emotional toll of war.

The movie is VERY similar to the great 12 O'Clock High (starring Gregory Peck). 12 O'Clock is a slightly better movie (and it gives Peck more room to hash out his character as the man in charge of sending airmen to their deaths), though they are so good I recommend seeing both.

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.

(There May Be Spoilers) Launching "Operation Stich" a week ahead of time, due to the favorable weather conditions over Germany, Brig. Gen. K.C Dennis', Clark Gable, B-17 Bombers suffer the loss of 48 aircraft on the first day's mission.

Going some 600 miles into Germany, without fighter escort, in a triangular bombardment of the key German industrial cities of Posenleben Schweinhafen and Fendelhorst. Gen. Dennis is determined to take them out Before the weather worsens and doesn't care how many planes and crews it costs him to do it.

The next days bombing of Schweinhafen cost another 24 B-17's. Due to German ingenuity in camouflaging the factories there the USAAF bombed the wrong city making it necessary to go on a bomb run the next day on the real Schweinhafen. By now the USAAF crews are at the point of refusing to go on their missions over Germany feeling that Gen.Dennis is out of his mind by sending then to certain death.

Gen. Dennis' superior and friend Maj. Gen. Kane, Walter Pigeon, is very upset with his actions and is about to relive him of his duties as combat-wing commander. Since Gen. Dennis launched his assault on Germany he lost some 70 bombers in two days compared to the loss of under 20 bombers lost by the RAF during the same period.

In a private meeting with Gen. Kane and other USAAF top personnel Gen. Dennis makes his case for the actions that he's taken even if it coast him his command of the B-17 combat-wing. The Germans are developing this revolutionary jet-fighter, the Lantze-Wolf. The Nazi Super-Plane is so superior to anything that the allies have that if it's manufactured in mass and put in the air the German Luftwaffe would drive the USAAF and RAF from the skies of Europe. It would make it impossible for a cross channel invasion of Europe the next year, 1944, and cost the allies the war.

Unable to open a second front in Western Europe and with the Luftwaffe having total air supremacy will force the allies, the USA UK and USSR, to agree to an armistice and peace treaty with the Germans on Hitler's terms. The bombing of those cities deep in Germany by Gen. Dennis' bombers will destroy the Germans ability to mass-produce the Lantez-Wolf. Thus save in the future countless American and Allied soldiers lives at the cost of the heavy, but necessary, losses in B-17 and their crews now.

This causes Gen. Kane to look the other way, knowing how right Gen. Dennis is, by allowing him to send his bombers out the next day and finally knock out the German industrial city of Schweinhafen. The bombing raid cost the life of Gen. Dennis best friend Col. Martin,John Hodiak. It's also in Schweinhafen where the jet-fighter is being assembled and in the end because of the heavy losses in that bombing raid Gen. Kane is forced, reluctantly, to relive Gen. Dennis of his command. US politicians like Congressman Arthur Malcolm, Edward Arnold, afraid of how the people back home feel about the staggering losses in the skies over Germany and Gen. Dennis' actions being responsible for them it's only a matter of time for him to be dismissed as a USAAF combat-wing commander.

The general took his dismissal with the same courage as his men took the murderous anti-aircraft fire and attacks of German fighters on the missions that he sent them on. Being replaced by his friend and fellow classmate at West Point Let. Gen. Clifton Garnet,Brian Donlevy.

Gen. Garnet also goes against the top brass, the next day, in ordering the bombing of Fendelhorst in central Germany to take out the last place where the deadly Lantze-Wolf are being made. With that, facing the same fate that Gen. Dennis just went through, ended up winning the war for the allies at the possible cost of his military career.

The truth is that like in the movie "Command Dicision" the Germans did develop a jet-fighter late in the war that if it was mass-produced and sent up against the allied air forces a year earlier would have won the Second World War for Germany. The German Masserschmitt Me-262 jet fighter could reach speeds of 540 to 580 MPH that was some 100 to 150 MPH faster then the swiftest USAAF and RAF fighters. In combat it scored as much as 700 combat kills over allied planes during 1944-1945. In their last major air to air engagement over Berlin in March 1945 some dozen Me-262's downed 25 B-17 and 5 fighter escorts to the loss of only two of their own.

Under 300 of the Me-262 jets put into combat and with, for the most part, them being flown by unexperienced pilots and with a shortage of jet fuel to keep the planes airborne for any long period of time. It turned out that the decision of USAAF generals like K.C Dennis to bomb the factories where the Me-262 were being made, despite the heavy allied air losses, that in the end won the war for the Allies in Europe.

Command Decision was adapted from a Broadway play that ran for 409 performances the previous year. Tony Awards were won by Paul Kelly who played General K.C. Dennis and James Whitmore for Tech Sergeant Emanuel Evans. The play shows the process of making military decisions when you have to factor in the politicians who control the purse strings. It's a necessary evil in a society that values civilian control of the military.

Both during and after World War II there was a debate among the British and American air commanders over the value of daylight versus nighttime bombing attacks. The British did night raids over Germany, responding in kind to what the Luftwaffe had done to them. Fly over at high altitudes and just drop the bombs. It did make for fewer casualties among the RAF pilots of their Lancaster bombers.

The Americans opted for daylight raids at a lower altitude trying to hit certain strategic objectives. In Command Decision it involves three factories that intelligence has learned are manufacturing new jet aircraft. If the Nazis had ever developed the far advanced jets against the Allied propeller aircraft in any number, the course of the war over Europe might have changed. Just like the V-2 rockets were developed too late to help the Axis cause.

Command Decision has Clark Gable leading a distinguished cast as the general who has to make the decision about whether to bomb or not, to go into Germany's heartland without fighter escort. Unfortunately his purely military outlook is not shared by his immediate superior Walter Pidgeon who has to factor in the politicians in Congress who read the dispatches by correspondents like Charles Bickford here about the appalling losses in American life.

In many ways Pidgeon has the most difficult part in the film. He has to take in the voices of objection raised by the visiting Congressional delegation led by Edward Arnold. Pidgeon is a politician, but purely by necessity. We admire Gable's stand on principle, but the audience also respects Pidgeon and sympathizes with him.

On Broadway Command Decision takes place in the headquarters and to make it better for the screen, playwright William Wister Haines wrote an additional scene that Paul Kelly did not do on Broadway. Clark Gable on a radio microphone tries to talk down a bombardier who is piloting a plane where the pilot and co-pilot are wounded and killed. It's a harrowing scene and one of the best Clark Gable ever did. Gable must have drawn from his World War II experience, he was a tailgunner in our Army Air Corps and flew many a B-17 mission over Germany.

Rounding out a distinguished group of MGM contractees are Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Marshall Thompson, Cameron Mitchell, Warner Anderson, Ray Collins, John McIntire and John Hodiak. They all cast well as Army Air Force personnel. Johnson plays the part that James Whitmore originated on stage and provides what little humor there is in this film.

The main criticism of Command Decision has always been that it is too stagey. But I found it an absorbing account of the decision making process in a military command.

Even in the middle of war, politics can gum up the works. Military people are told to fight a war, and then are second-guessed by the very same people who told them to fight. That is not fair. This movies dramatizes how politics directly influences command decisions. The movie portrays the top brass as being sycophants who are terrified of disappointing those who fund their projects and career, and what happens if one of the generals refuse to kowtow. This has nothing to do with legitimate civilian oversight of military operations. Rather, it is about how the military is rendered subordinate to politicians who are more interested in making political points at the expense of the military than actually winning the war. Edward Arnold gives a command performance as a US senator who uses his position to try to bully the military to the point that it poses a direct threat to military operations already decided upon at the highest levels. Clark Gable gives one his stronger performances as the general who maintains his integrity and belief in the mission. To commission soldiers to fight a war and then rag them for doing exactly what they have been ordered to do is the height of hypocrisy. Yet, sadly, it is all too true.

The vast majority of war pictures suffer from a multitude of ills. In the decade or so following World War II, there were some notable exceptions. They arrived in fits and starts. They ranged from quiet dramas such as For Whom They Serve to the reflective and highly acclaimed Best Years of Our Lives. Other, noble exceptions include They Were Expendable, The Dam Busters, Reach For the Sky, Bridge Over the RIver Kwai, All Quiet on the Western Front, Lawrence of Arabia, Paths of Glory, and A Bridge Too far. More recently, Saving Private Ryan, and Clint Eastwood's work concerning Iwo Jima will ensure that the current generation of young viewers will not have to rely on jingoistic rubbish in order to become more intimate with the lives and times of the great calamities.

Good writing makes good movies. And the war movie is no exception to the rule. The Caine Mutiny was a preeminent predecessor of todays best-written war films Culled from an excellent novel, the screen play, direction and acting are first rate in a film that survives as a benchmark for the literate war movie. Command Decision has even less actual combat in it than The Caine Mutiny. And, as we have been informed above, some factual errors concerning command structure take it outside of strict authenticity. Still, it is an historical fact that vast resources and a great many lives were spent in the Allied effort to destroy the sites of production and deployment of the entire Nazi secret weapons program. And thus, whereas Caine is fixed in a drama bounded by the characters, Command Decision has a foot directly on the path of history and strategic warfare.

Many of the above-mentioned films above surpass Command Decision in one way or another. But the discerning viewer will be satisfied by its dramatic writing. The dialog moves along in a punchy, rhythmic sort of way. We come to learn about the agony of command that comes from using up the lives of air crew in the short run in the interest of saving countless others at a later time. And we see that leadership is having to juggle the strategic and tactical verities along with political constraints as well as the limits of endurance and morale among the troops. There may be a flat-footed line or two, but on the whole, the writing sustains itself through the length of the film. The film was lifted from a play script, and it is essentially a stage drama set on a larger set.

Director Sam Wood used some very nice footage that can only have been shot by cinematographers in B-17 aircraft operating from operational airfields of World War II. Various spoken and visual references concerning machines and wartime flight authenticity. The artistic, opening shots of Command Decision give us a visceral feeling of what high altitude formation flying must have been like as seen from a position facing the tail of a B- 17. The monochrome images of vapor trails left in the wake of a vast stream of bombers is a curious and impressive spectacle. We are spared bogus Foley art, the mock heroics, and (for the most part) the clumsy scale modeling that mars so many vintage films depicting air combat and flying. Mr Wood is content with introducing a description of flight. The combat is largely left for us to imagine. The topic does not demand graphic depiction of combat, and so we are spared chattering machine guns, flaming machines and those tiresome head-on displays of helmeted, goggled fliers spewing death at the wretched enemy. Near the beginning of the film a derelict, ravaged hulk of a B-17 is towed across the path of the Brigadier-General's car. The driver gives an account of those crew members who survived and those that didn't. Much later, we overhear monitored radio transmissions from the sky over Germany. They inform us of the appalling price being paid by the doomed crews.

Wood uses some skilfully lit sets. Some indoor shots vie for direct comparison with Kubrik's 'Big Board' in Dr. Strangelove. The vast, brilliantly illuminated map of operations illustrates the endurance required of the crews and their machines. Nevertheless, Wood is economical with his shots, but he is never seen to be skimping. At times, the film set has the foreshortened dimensions of the staged counter-part.

Command Decision is unlike most American war films of the period that portray their characters as belonging to a seamless, democratic republic. In Command Decision, there is a concerted attempt to show that social class strata exists in tandem with military rank. The carefully tailored and elegant uniforms of the staff officers contrast with the display of dungarees and flying kit of other ranks. Moreover, their names are mostly are triple-barreled, pompous and WASP. The general discourse informs us that we are privy to a patrician forum. In the end, there is no room to imagine any callous wastage of the plebeian contingent, but the privileged class character of the commanders is palpable. An interesting gloss on the film.

I give this picture is a 7 by virtue of competent direction, professional actors who can project their parts with authority, and the balance and judicious dialog in the screen play. From this film, the youthful viewer could be inspired to push on to some research into the Allied air bombardment campaign in Europe and Asia. These campaigns still cause heated controversy. They killed hundreds of thousands of civilians on the ground, and many, many tens of thousands of young men in the air. It had an incalculable effect on the lives of the survivors — both those who flew and those who endured the conflagrations below. L. S.

I found an old tape of Command Decision which I must have made 20 years ago. I concur with all those who have said that it is one of the best WW2 films ever made, but what struck me most forcefully was the fact that this highly intelligent, gripping and thoughtful film was made with a large crew of established filmstars by a completely commercial film studio. It brought home to me forcibly what was lost when the old studio system broke up and the sheer craftsmanship which it embodied was dispersed. The sheer childishness of most current films becomes even more evident.

Writing as one who lived through the bombing of Britain, the historical perspective on the Allied wartime bombing campaign was fascinating. One small complaint--all film coverage of the American campaign in WW2 seems to focus on the Flying Fortress. Actually, most of the bombs were dropped by the Consolidated Liberator squadrons--less photogenic but more effective!

Clark Gable leads this all star, all male cast which deals w/a coordinated yet dangerous bombing mission during WWII & the toll it takes on its leaders & its fighting men. Based on a play, sometimes this film veers into stage territory but for the most part the performances carry the day.

In London, World War II fighter Clark Gable (as K.C. "Casey" Dennis) has the unenviable job as the commander in charge of sending bombers on risky missions into Germany. A top secret "Operation Stitch" incurs a massive loss of American pilots, but Mr. Gable believes the mission is worth a high casualty rate. The targeted sites are factories where Nazis build superior aircraft; with these planes, they will be able to win the air war. The first of three strikes brings record losses of life. This raises concerns from superior officers, politicians and the press. Gable's mission to destroy German aircraft may be grounded...

From the successful novel and play by William Wister Haines, "Command Decision" sometimes feels a little confined on screen. This is especially evident when the cast is shot in close-up while they watch planes return from a dangerous mission. However, the scene is edited well. Otherwise, director Sam Wood performs exceptionally in moving the story and actors. Gable has one of his better roles; it is interesting to see him perform without action sequences and beautiful women. Others in the cast are uniformly outstanding, with Walter Pidgeon getting the next best part. He and Gable deliver long speeches convincingly.

******** Command Decision (12/23/48) Sam Wood ~ Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy

Command Decision (1948) : Brief Review -

Know the power of an officer's command? Yes, but not how powerful the officer has to be. Based on the best-selling novel of 1947, Sam Wood's Command Decision is not an easy watch, particularly when we discuss it soon after World War 2. Aerial supremacy was or is one of the major strengths for any country during the war. But did we ever try to feel the pressure and emotional embodiment of the officer who gave those orders? Did we know how many indoor battles the officer had to fight within his office before sending troops on a mission? How does it feel when the young boys you send to fly don't come back? How can one gather enough emotional strength to break the news to the relatives of martyrs? How difficult is it to convince your seniors to get the mission going? How does one even bear listening to the political agents who have never been on the field or fought any battle on the ground? So many questions, but only one answer-the commanding officer. Command Decision explores this very important topic in a dramatic manner, and it's very intriguing. Clarke Gable plays the main lead, the officer, who has to suffer the most just by sitting in the office. He could have preferred going onto the field, fighting the enemy, and even dying there rather than just giving orders. He didn't really enjoy it, but he never showed an ounce of regret on his face. Clark Gable, you beauty! Such a mature artist, and what a solid performer. I am his fan for many reasons. Those monologues look so real and raw coming from him. Not just him, but the whole cast is amazing. The writing, screenplay, dialogue, score, scale, visuals, and direction everything fit right here for good. Master Sam Wood knew his stuff and the times he was living in. Like I said, Command Decision is not an easy watch, but Sam Wood was a tough wood of its own. He could have commanded all of us to not miss this one, and it would have been a good and useful command for us.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Consider this movie one of the greats in the realm of WWII films.

Draws you right into some huge decisions that had to be made in the European theater in WWII and the difficulties encountered while forming our own air force.

Well acted too, especially for a 1948 movie. Not to slam acting in old movies, it was often more 'wooden'. Not in this movie though.

There's a discourse among the brass where Walter Pigeon had a large piece of dialog. His delivery was electrifying, had me on the edge of my seat. It's not often dialog can grip you like that.

Character development is also at play, where time is taken to identify many types of people and troops, from the heroic to the playboy to the conscientious to the cowardly.

The use of a "situation room" proved pivotal in keeping us focused on the war goals, helps the story along from a historical sense.

Not only were command decisions explored, but the personal decisions were touched on, where you get to glimpse the human behind the command bravado. Excellent.

The use of wartime footage was brief yet appropriate. This is a film about people and decisions, and any further focus on 'action' would detract in my opinion.

Wartime perils, where and how our brave men had to die, for the larger goal. This is a view into the commanders who have been through what they're now asking the troops to go through. They understand what they are asking of the crews, and the crews respect them because of it.

There's also a study on transfer of command, fascinating. These were reasonable men who knew what had to be done and had the will to give the orders, to make the command decisions that needed to be made. Excellent piece of WWII film making, highly recommended.

Before you run out and rent Command Decision thinking it'll be another Wake Island, you should know it's not a war movie. It's based off a play, and it's very wordy. There are no battle scenes, but instead it's full of inner conflict (talked out) by the men who make the big decisions. So if you don't think two hours of talking about war will be as fun as watching soldiers fight it out, skip this one.

If you do rent it, you'll see Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, and Brian Donlevy, all sharing pretty much equal screen time - but not equal billing. Brian Donlevy should never have received a lower billing than Van Johnson (who got second billing), playing Clark Gable's assistant. He has no real character, but instead gives sarcastic quips upon entrances and exits. John Hodiak, Charles Bickford, and Edward Arnold also join in on the fun. With six powerful screen presences (and Van Johnson popping in every so often to say hello), you should expect a never-ending competition for screen time and audience favoritism. It's all in good fun, I'm sure. Although they spend the entire movie arguing with each other, you can imagine them all going out for drinks at the end of a long day.

I watched "Command Decision" last night on TCM. It's the first time I've seen this film in over twenty years...perhaps longer. What struck me throughout this movie is the script. Some have complained that "Command Decision" was "too much like a stage play". Yes, it was adapted on Broadway from the stage play adaptation of a novel. The Broadway production ran for a year. Nonetheless, this film's attraction is both good work by the cast of A list Hollywood actors and, equally, a well written script which was intelligent and believable. In at least two instances, there are lengthy monologues -- one by Walter Pidgeon and one by Clark Gable -- which were book ended by rapid fire questions, responses, or comments. The script is outstanding.

"Command Decision" is based on a stage play, so scenes of aerial combat are not to be found in the movie. This is a major difference between it and "Twelve O'clock High," released a year later in 1949, and which presented a more engaging, gritty, realistic motion picture of aerial combat and the toll it takes on the airmen and their support teams and commanders on the ground.

"Command Decision" tells a story of WWII air warfare from the point of view generals, politicians and the press, and the process of making a military decision in light of political consequences and public opinion. Clark Gable gives a great performance as General Casey, the officer who acts out of military necessity in choosing his targets, and in doing so, knows he puts the lives of his men and his friends on the line. Walter Pidgeon is General Kane, Gable's superior, who has lost some of his ability to look at his duty in purely military terms. Instead he perceives his mission is to fight the politicos and the press and to get the best spin on the actions of his command and commanders. Brian Donleavy is General Garnet, a relative newcomer to all of this. He is eager for his first command, but once on the scene at a combat headquarters, he begins to have doubts of his own about the mission, the politics and his own ability to send young men to their deaths.

The command decision in this fine, taut film is not one climatic decision, but is the story of a number of command decisions made by the three general officers, and how each effects and feeds off of the other men's command decisions throughout the film.

Good performances by all, a little melodramatic at times, but overall, one of the best war movies (especially about air warfare) you'll come across.

Command Decision is my favourite film in the wasteland of mediocrity that is Clark Gable's post-war career; a period which only had a few highlights. The opening stock footage is the only action seen in the film as Command Decision is a movie consisting of wordy drama; quality actors delivering quality performances.

Gable himself was a bombardier during the war and spearheaded the production of Command Decision thus it must have been something he had a real passion for. The role of Brig. Gen. K.C. "Casey" Dennis is not cocky Gable as he often portrayed, nor does he have a leading lady to play off. Dennis is a man under strain which you can clearly see on his face; in order to fight Nazis he must first fight his superiors, politicians as well as dealing with the press and even attending to matters such as farmers complaining about early morning take-offs frightening their cows ("When did I ever get the impression this war was against the axis?"). Above all, he is a man with life and death on his hands and even the outcome of the war. He may not see the battlefield but he still has an unpleasant job to do.

Walter Pidgeon, however, gives my favourite performance in the film as Major General Kane with his monologue in which he speaks of how the US Air Force struggled for years in an effort to get it equipped and running is the highlight of the movie. It is four minutes long, there are no cuts with actors interacting with Pidgeon along the way while he moves around the room with the camera following him; hair-raising acting.

Van Johnson gives the film its comic relief to contrast the serious, downbeat nature of the film. As Sgt. Evans, he rarely takes himself totally seriously from his wisecracks to sitting at Dennis' desk when he's not around. Johnson was often cast in military roles and it's not hard to see why; he was a boy next door with the essence of an eager young patriot. However Evans' inability to take himself seriously could show a cynical side to his character as someone who doesn't have much faith in the war machine; in fact the one scene in which he does act in a more serious manner is the moment in which he praises Dennis and shakes his hand after Dennis lambasts Edward Arnold's congressman who criticises him for recklessly causing heavy loss of life.

Command Decision is a movie which covers a lot making it one worth viewing more than once in order to take it all in. Giving the film the benefit of the doubt in its accuracy, it's an educational experience. Compared to a film like The Dawn Patrol (original and its remake) there is a world of difference in flight commanding between the world wars; much more high tech, bureaucratic and on a larger, industrial-like scale.

Like the flight commander in The Dawn Patrol, Dennis gets hounded for the decisions he makes which leads to the message I ultimately take from Command Decision. Dennis' decisions are causing a heavy loss of life of US airmen but the success of these missions to destroy the Nazi's secret weapon in Schweinhaven (not a real place) could change the outcome of the war and save a greater number of lives in the long term. You can't afford to appear virtuous and care only for the immediate loss of life in order to get results. However, as Kane knows, without a good publicity and political support there not be much of an air force and how do you do that is your actions appear reckless to the laymen; a real catch-22.