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.

12 O’Clock High - Prisoner of War

 

“12 O’Clock High” ran on ABC from 1964 - 1967.  It was based on the 1949 movie and created by the same Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay, Jr.  The series ran for 78 episodes.  It carried over several characters from the movie, but not the same actors -  Brigadier General Savage (Robert Lansing), Maj. Stovall (Frank Overton), Maj. Cobb (Lew Gallo), Doc Kaiser (Barney Phillips), and Gen. Pritchard (Paul Newlan).  Gately of the movie’s “Leper Colony” became Col. Gallagher (Paul Burke).  The first two seasons were in black and white which helped with blending the actual footage of B-17s.  Some of the footage came from the documentary “Memphis Belle”.  The third season was in color which was problematical for footage.  The problem only existed for 17 episodes because low ratings caused cancellation because of low ratings.  The drop in ratings could be traced back to the ridiculous decision to drop Lansing in favor of Burke as commanding officer.  The reason given by the network was the push for a younger audience.  Ironically, Lansing was two years younger (although he did look older).  It was also assumed younger viewers would relate better to a colonel than to a general.  The decision was unpopular and the ratings nose-dived.  The show was nominated for a best drama series Emmy and for best cinematography in 1965.

 A while back I did a review of a two part “Combat!” episode, treating it like a movie.  I am doing that again for a two-parter of “12 O’Clock High”.  The episodes were the 30^th and 31^st of the first season.  They were called “Prisoner of War”.  Savage goes up with a trio of screw-ups who he had recently reamed for misbehaving off base.  They get shot down and within a minute they are in Stalag Luft 12. Did no one tell the screenwriters this is a two-parter?   Savage is the senior prisoner, and thus in charge.  The commandant Col. Richter (Alf Kjellin) is looking forward to the cat-and-mouse game with the famous Gen. Savage.  The prisoners are almost done with a tunnel.  Savage warns that Richter is too good, but he allows the escape attempt.  It fails so it’s Richter 1  Savage 0.  Savage and Richter go on field trips together.  Savage comes up with a plan to kidnap Richter and escape in his car.  Do I need to mention that this is not based on a true story?

It was natural that 12 O’Clock High would get around to doing a prison camp episode.  Kudos to the screenwriters for being original, in some of the plot developments.  However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some cliches.  Savage is the hard-ass new senior commander who has to earn the respect of the veteran inmates.  That was borrowed from Von Ryan’s Express.   One of the three troublemakers that are captured with him (we don’t know what happened to the other six crew members) is a Sefton from “Stalag 17”. He’s played by James Farentino. 

The central premise of Richter treating Savage well to develop resentment towards him and thus undermine camp morale is interesting, if unbelievable.  Kjellin does a good job as the commandant.  He is the good German you saw in the Cold War.  To balance him, there is an evil Nazi Captain (John Van Dreelin – baby boomers have seen him playing German officers in many movies and TV shows. Ironic because he was Dutch and escaped from a concentration camp disguised as a German officer).  Of course, they have to have a showdown.  And there’s also the obligatory showdown between Savage and Richter.  One theme of the episode is honor is dead in this war.  “Nobody ever wins a war.  Some of us just lose more than others”.  That’s pretty deep for a mediocre prison camp sojourn for a TV series.  This was not a story that warranted the only two-parter of the series.

GRADE  =  C

CONSENSUS #80. Twelve O’Clock High

SYNOPSIS: "Twelve O'Clock High" is an aerial combat film centering on the American daylight bombing campaign of WWII in Europe. The commander of a hard luck B-17 squadron is fired because he is too sympathetic about the nearly suicidal demands made on his air crews. His replacement  (Gregory Peck) believes tough discipline and success in bombing raids will build the morale of the unit. It's rough going as the airmen react with a virtual mutiny.

BACK-STORY: “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.

TRIVIA:  Classic Movie Hub, Guts and Glory, Wikipedia, imdb

1.  The term “twelve o’clock high” refers to the position of German fighters.  If you imagine the bomber as the center of a clock, twelve o’clock would be directly ahead and six o’clock is directly to the rear.  “High” refers to the position of the fighter relative to the bomber’s elevation.  So the title means the attacker is in front of and above the bomber.

2.  John Wayne turned down the role and many other leading men were considered until Gregory Peck landed it.  Peck was not originally interested because he felt it was too much like “Command Decision”.  He changed his mind when he decided he wanted to work with director Henry King.  They made five more movies after it.

3.  The Robin Hood mug prop became a prized possession of Frank Armstrong’s family.  It was stolen in a break-in and never recovered.

4.  The book had a romantic subplot that was removed to concentrate on the psychological impact of aerial bombing and the pressures of command.

5.  Maj. Joe Cobb was based on Paul Tibbetts, the pilot of the Enola Gay.

6.  The 918^th Bombing Group was based on the 306^th which was the first bombing group to bomb Germany (Wilhelmshaven).  Frank Armstrong (the Savage character) led the mission.

7.  The release was postponed several months because of the similarly themed “Command Decision”.

8.  Stunt pilot Paul Mantz was paid the astronomical sum of $4,500 for the belly-crash landing.  The footage was reused in “The War Lover” and “Midway”. Mantz was the premiere Hollywood stunt pilot and had performed more than 90 crashes.  For this one he rigged up the controls so he could fly the plane alone.

9.  The Air Force was very happy with the script and suggested only three significant revisions.  It did not want Savage’s breakdown to be irrational and hysterical, so the scene was changed to a more subtle slide into a comatose state.  It asked that the drinking be toned down and that the Chaplain observe a poker game instead of participating.

10.  The USAF provided twelve obsolete B-17s from its Air Service Rescue. 

11.  The movie was filmed in black and white to seamlessly incorporate aerial footage.

12.  The movie became required viewing at all the service academies and for leadership seminars.

13.  It won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Dean Jagger) and Sound Recording.  It was nominated for Best Actor (Peck) and Picture (losing to “All the King’s Men”).

14.  The movie has no score backing the scenes.

Belle and Blade  =  5.0 

Brassey’s              =  4.0

Video Hound       =  4.4

War Movies         =   5.0

Military History  =  #72

Channel 4             =  not on list

Film Site                =  yes

101 War Movies  =  no

OPINION:  “Twelve O’Clock High” is a classic war film.  It does not have much action, but it is very well written and acted.  The cast is great and Peck gives one of his best performances.  It has a depth to it that you rarely see in a black and white WWII movie.  It covers the stress of the air bombardment of Germany and even rolls into PTSD.  It is thought-provoking as it covers different styles of command.  It is not surprising that it was used for teaching leadership.  I feel it should be ranked much higher.