100 BEST WAR MOVIES #90. 12 O’Clock High (1949)

 

                “Twelve O’Clock High” is a war movie dedicated to American bomber crews and command in England in 1942. It is based on the novel by Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay, Jr. It was made with the full cooperation of the Air Force which provided several B-17s and combat footage including from the Luftwaffe. The movie was a hit with the critics and won two Academy Awards (Jagger for Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Recording) and was nominated for two others (Best Picture and Peck for Actor). It takes its name from the slang for enemy fighters being spotted above and straight ahead.  

 
                   The film opens in 1949 with a Major Stovall (Dean Jagger) in London. He spies a Robin Hood mug in a store and immediately buys it. It inspires him to visit his old air base at Archbury. To the tune of “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” (the movie does a good job of including some vintage songs), he strolls the weed-covered runways and flashes back to 1942.  It is one of the greatest openings for any war movie.  Bombers are returning from a mission. One has to make a “wheels up” belly landing (done by acclaimed stunt pilot Paul Mantz for the unprecedented sum of $4,500). The pilot, Bishop, is later awarded the Medal of Honor for this act of heroism. The unit is the 918th Bomber Group and it has a reputation as a “hard luck” outfit having sustained substantial casualties in America’s new daylight bombing campaign. Its commander, Col. Davenport (Gary Merrill), feels the unit is being pushed too much. When he hears that they have to go on a fourth mission in as many days and at a dangerously low altitude, he goes to headquarters to visit his friend Col. Savage (Gregory Peck) to complain. Savage reports to Gen. Pritchard (Milliard Mitchell) that Davenport is “overidentifying” with his men and is about to crack.  Pritchard decides to replace Davenport with Savage.  Awkward.  Savage decides what the men need is more discipline.  (His character is similar to Patton.)  His approach is the opposite of Davenport’s so the movie will contrast the two leadership styles. Savage believes that what the men need is not a shoulder to cry on but pride and grit.  Savage will face a mutiny because of his approach.    

ACTING:                   A+

ACTION:                   N/A

ACCURACY:           N/A

PLOT:                        A

REALISM:                A

CINEMATOGRAPHY:  B 

SCORE:                     none

BEST SCENE:  the scene with the crash landing

BEST QUOTE:  Major Stovall:  That is not why I am drunk tonight. I got drunk because I am confused. I was thinking, which is a thing a man should not do, and all at once I couldn't remember what any of them looked like. I, I couldn't see their faces, Bishop, Cobb, Wilson, Zimmy, all of them. All of you. They all looked alike, just one face. And it was very young. It confused me. I think I shall stay drunk until I'm not confused anymore.

               “Twelve O’Clock High” is the best movie of its type ever made. Of course, there are not that many movies about leadership and stress in WWII bomber operations. But you can compare it to the inferior 1948 “Command Decision” starring Clark Gable to gauge its quality. You might also want to compare it to “Memphis Belle” to see how newer is not necessarily better. (“Belle” does make a good companion piece to “High” because it gives more of a crew perspective). TOH is so good at its subject that for years it was shown in American officers’ courses as a study in leadership. The military calls the ability of a leader to send young men to their deaths for the greater cause “moral courage”. Savage is meant to exemplify this command trait. The contrast between Davenport’s style and Savage’s is instructive and can lead to productive discussions on how to handle an underperforming unit in a stressful environment.

                  The movie gets the little details right. Eglin Air Force Base in Florida is a good stand-in for the fictional Archbury and the producers found a weedy old tarmac in Alabama for the take-offs and landings. The use of B-17s in the filming is a big plus and is obviously preferable to CGI. In a related note, Technicolor was available for the movie, but the makers wisely decided to go with a crisp black and white so they could blend in the combat footage.  The first combat scene comes in a mission to destroy a ball-bearing factory. The integration of archival footage is flawless. There is realistic radio chatter. There is no intrusive sound track and the actual sounds of air combat justify the Academy Award for Sound.

                   The acting is outstanding across the board, especially Peck and Jagger. The story of a hard-ass that drives himself to a breakdown seems plausible. The complete change of attitude of the transfer-requesting pilots is a bit pat, but typical of a movie plot. The cliché of the desk-bound officer (Stovall) stowing away on a mission is to be expected and is based on reality.

                   The movie is admirably nonpatriotic. This is probably a reflection of the timing of its production. The war had been over for four years and the soul-searching could begin. The mental toll of the war on the warriors could be examined. However, the movie was made too soon after the war to reflect the later questioning of the daylight bombing strategy. The movie basically accepts the Air Force line that the daylight, precision bombing of Germany was a war-winning proposition. Recent scholarship has called this into question. The Davenports have had the best of the recent arguments.

ACCURACY: The screenwriters, Bartlett and Beirne, were associated with the 8th Air Force during the period the movie is set in so they know of what they wrote. This gives the movie a special authenticity. Most of the main characters (with the notable exceptions of Stovall and Gately) are based on real people. Davenport was Col. Charles Overacher who was removed from command of an underachieving 306th Bomber Group. The writers treat Davenport better than his real-life counterpart deserves, ironically. It appears that Overacher was actually a poor leader and disciplinarian (the scene where Savage is not saluted or identified when he visits the base is based on an actual incident). His last straw was turning back from a mission for no good reason. He was shipped back to the states after criticizing Gen. Eaker (Pritchard in the film).

     Savage is close to Col. Frank Armstrong who did take on the task of straightening out the 306th. Like his character in the film, Armstrong had earlier led the first B-17 strike in Europe. A major departure from the truth is that the real Armstrong did not suffer a nervous breakdown. The incident was based on another respected commander. After his short ship-up task was accomplished, Armstrong returned to headquarters. By the way, in the book, after his breakdown Savage is promoted to command of 2nd Air Force. Bishop was based on John Morgan who won the Medal of Honor for a landing similar to that shown in the film. That’s the only similarity, however. For you history buffs, Cobb resembles Paul Tibbets of “Enola Gay” fame.

CONCLUSION: “Twelve O’Clock High” is the gold standard for movie about the stress of command. It is well-executed and based on actual events and people. This makes it not only authentic historically, but also true to human nature. It pulls no punches with several main characters perishing and the protagonist suffering a nervous breakdown. Although not overtly patriotic, it does give Americans a sense of pride in what our boys went through in the aerial war with Germany. If you ever wondered why air crews were allowed to go home after 25 missions whereas the infantry were in it for the duration, this movie clues you in to the role of stress on combat effectiveness. It also makes it clear that 25 was an unreachable goal for many.