Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
EAN: 0024543440550
Format: Black & White
Item Dimensions: Array
Label: 20th Century Fox
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
MPN: 2244055
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-06-05
Running Time: 132
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Theatrical Release Date: 1949

This gritty World War II action drama staring Gregory Peck, Oscar winner Dean Jagger, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill and Millard Mitchell is seen as one of the most realistic portrayals of the heroics and perils of war. Convinced an air force commander (Gary Merrill) is at the breaking point, Brigadier General Savage (Peck) takes over his struggling bomber group. Kind and understanding, he adopts a crushing discipline to revitalize the demoralized troop. At first resentful and rebellious, the flyers gradually change as Savage guides them to amazing feats. But the stress of command soon takes it's toll and the weary general reaches his own breaking point.
The wartime memories of surviving World War II bomber squadrons were still crystal clear when this acclaimed drama was released in 1949--one of the first postwar films out of Hollywood to treat the war on emotionally complex terms. Framed by a postwar prologue and epilogue and told as a flashback appreciation of wartime valor and teamwork, the film stars Gregory Peck in one of his finest performances as a callous general who assumes command of a bomber squadron based in England. At first, the new commander has little rapport with the 918th Bomber Group, whose loyalties still belong with their previous commander. As they continue to fly dangerous missions over Germany, however, the group and their new leader develop mutual respect and admiration, until the once-alienated commander feels that his men are part of a family--men whose bravery transcends the rigors of rigid discipline and by-the-book leadership. The film's now-classic climax, in which the general waits patiently for his squad to return to base--painfully aware that they may not return at all--is one of the most subtle yet emotionally intense scenes of any World War II drama. With Peck in the lead and Dean Jagger doing Oscar-winning work in a crucial supporting role, this was one of veteran director Henry King's proudest achievements, and it still packs a strong dramatic punch. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Rating:
Summary: Twelve O'Clock High
Comment: Twelve O'Clock High is one of my all time favorite movies. A great lesson on leadership styles. Many other everyday lessons in working with and for people. Great movie with tremendous acting.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Real Look at Commanding a B17 Group
Comment: The realism in this film is what makes it one of my all time favorites. The footage of real B17s in operation; the real war footage while on a mission, and the story itself are as good as it gets. The extra commentary on the second DVD is a wonderful addition of insights to making the film.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic Movie
Comment: This is one of "they can't make 'em like this anymore" movies. Brilliant acting and directing. It's based on the 8th Army Airforces early attempts at daylight bombing of Nazi Germany in WW2. It portrays the extreme danger young men had to face day by day in the course of flying these missions. Although it's not a documentary it's a film that reminds us of the sacrifices thousands had to make in order to preserve our values and freedoms. The companion disc about the making of the movie and the history of the events is as intriguing as the movie. It's a "must have" for any classical library.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A treat to a collector
Comment: Despite the "Region Warning", DVD players produced in Brasil as from 2006, will play anything official coming from any part of the world. Quality of the recording is a "10" plus, and the film grips you from end to start. For a WW-II collector like myself, this is a "collectors item" which you cant afford to go without.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A powerful film that stands up well nearly 60 years later.
Comment: This is a powerful movie that emphasizes the difficulties of military leadership and the pressures on airman who have comfortable beds and means in England and have to fly into death and terror days on end. While there are some powerful air battle scenes in the movie, most of it takes place in officer's quarters and on the airbase in England.

I think Gregory Peck gives one of his best performances as General Savage. He is an officer who cares for his men, but cannot show it. He pushes his mean to keep them safe and flies with them more than he should. Eventually, despite putting on the exterior of the fearless, motivated airman and the kind of tough leader he believes his men need, the emotions he has repressed manifest themselves in a rather shocking way.

The men under him have their own struggles with wanting to serve, but realizing all the friends they have lost in order to drop bombs on things that don't really do much to change the war. They want out of the air service, particularly out from under Savage; yet they fly.

Dean Jagger is spectacular as Major Stovall and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for this role in 1949. The rest of the cast is very good and the movie holds up well some sixty years on.

Very much worth seeing, but more of a thinking movie than an action film.

I have seen Savage's method of leadership examined in business school for its strengths and weaknesses. Quite an interesting exercise.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

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