Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

best movie i've ever seen.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Loved that this film stayed mostly on the ground. Realistic settings and characters. Tackles qualities needed for leadership. Pity we don't get close in any personal sense to the men. Wished we had more background to the flyers and the non-officer crew. Their beautiful singing is heard in voice-over. I find Gregory Peck sometimes too stolid/placid in films but here it's an asset. An unusual war film that is saved from being forgettable by its last scenes.

TWELWE O'CLOCK HIGH is a very good war drama based on the novel and rather on personal experience. The story is focused on individuals. Every character in this film deserves space. How creates tremendous losses and the death of his comrades affects every individual. In such circumstances, a man just can not stay calm. I would like to praise realistic view. The story is in the same time alive, depressing, gloomy, aggressive, emotional and dramatic. Such moods express characters in the film. This is the best example of the atmosphere of the film. War destroys the human psyche in a myriad of ways. I always draw the line at war films with similar themes. What is the order and what the decision is. In war movies is too coincidence. The killings were not justified. Never. Therefore, in statements to the subjugation can never be purely tactical. In this case, the main character comes to emotional conflict with itself.I think that this is not a film about heroism. This is a deliberate provocation that will certainly everybody provoke an emotional response. The absurdity of war. The conditions of warfare. People's collapse. Win!? Well, I was with some segments can not agree. The term "maximum effort" is in my opinion unacceptable. In practice, of course steady. Put a character of cowards from the beginning of the film to the hero at the end of the film is inappropriate.Gregory Peck as Brigadier General Frank Savage deserves praise for good performance. He was able to present your character in totally two different states. It seems pretty impressive.Twelve O'Clock High is the authentic war drama, full of tension in the general human drama that is finally born heroes.

It's 1949 London. Stovall buys a gaudy cheap mug but he values it like fine china. He travels to Archbury which is the derelict home of the 918th Bomb Group during the War. The movie flashes back to the dark days when they had the reputation of a hard luck group due to daylight bombing. Their commander Davenport (Gary Merrill) confronts headquarters and his friend Brigadier General Frank Savage (Gregory Peck). Davenport is relieved of command and the group is given to Savage. Savage brings stiff discipline back to the group.The first hour and forty five minutes are rather bland. Gregory Peck keeps the movie going. It is considered one of the more accurate depiction of a bomber group from that era. It's also not necessarily that dramatic. The last section is their big mission and it is intercut with real footage of the air battle. Some of the footage is unreal and it's the more compelling because they are the real thing.

Intimate as well as spectacular WWI airplane movie with an enjoyable cast , aerial battles and thought-provoking themes , being one of the first Hollywood films to deal with the psychological effect of war on its soldiers . The film's dedication states: "This motion picture is dedicated to those Americans, both living and dead, whose gallant effort made possible daylight precision bombing. They were the only Americans fighting in Europe in the fall of 1942. They stood alone, against the enemy and against doubts from home and abroad. This is their story" . Gen. Frank Savage (Gregory Peck , though John Wayne turned down this leading role) is sent by Gen. Pritchard (Millard Mitchell) to the combat group after the Bomber Commander Col. Keith Davenport (Gary Merrill) is relieved of duty . As a hard-as-nails general takes over a bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape . However , the newcomer General also begins to feel the strain of the leadership . This is a story of valiant twelve men as their women never knew them . It is an example of a pilot's enemy position call . During World War II pilots would call-out the positions of enemy airplanes by referring to their bearings via the use of a pretend face of a clock . In this case, 12 O'Clock meant the enemy was directly ahead, whereas 6 O'Clock would mean directly behind. "High" or "Low" referred to whether the enemy was above or below the airplane respectively. "Even" meant that the enemy was level with the pilot's plane. This is a thrilling film dealing with patriotism and heroism , starred by a maverick General and his underlings carrying out risked feats on air and bombing German installations . However , the air battles were cut together from authentic World War II footage . In fact , the opening prologue states : "The air battle scenes in this Motion Picture were photographed in actual combat by members of the United States Air Force and the German Luftwaffe" . Much of the flick concerns the relentless fight of a brave General , masterfully played by Gregory Peck , to whip his outfit into a disciplined team in spite of heavy casualties . This film is frequently cited by surviving bomber crewmembers as the only accurate depiction from Hollywood of their life during the war . Based on a novel by Beirne Lay Jr. and Sy Bartlett ; being well adapted by these authors , they wanted the script to concentrate fully on the psychological effects of war and the theme of commanding . Many characters in this film were based on real-life people such as Gen. Savage inspired by Gen. Frank Armstrong and many others . Excellent Gregory Peck as the flight commander who takes over an England-based bomber squadron and it helped assure him a place in Hollywood immortality . Very good support cast such as Hugh Marlowe as Lt. Col. Ben Gately , Gary Merrill as Col. Keith Davenport , Millard Mitchell as Gen. Pritchard , Robert Arthur as Sgt. McIllhenny , Paul Stewart as Capt. 'Doc' Kaiser and Dean Jagger as Maj. Harvey Stovall , he won an Academy Award for secondary actor for his fine acting ; most of them inspired on real characters . Evocative as well as sensitive musical score by the classic Alfred Newman . Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Leon Shamroy , usual cameraman of super-productions . Henry King 's direction is well crafted , though William A. Wellman was attached to direct at one point . Here Henry King is more thought-provoking and inclined toward brooding issues and no much action , as a romantic subplot, which features in the book, was dropped at the studio's insistence . King is an expert on compelling Adventure/Western genre , as he directed classic Westerns as ¨ Jesse James¨ (1939) and ¨The gunfighter¨ (1950) with Peck again . Koster was specialist on Adventure genre as proved in ¨Untamed¨ , ¨Captain King¨ , ¨Captain of Castilla¨ , ¨Black Swan¨ , ¨Stanley and Livingstone ¨and many others . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching