Dashing Gregory Peck stars as General Frank Savage, commander of the 8th Air Force during World War II. Loosely based on the true story of Major General Frank A. Armstrong, TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH begins with Savage appearing to be a fearless fighter with almost no compassion for his men. Told in flashback from the perspective of .. Read more
| Starring | Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell |
|---|---|
| Director | Henry King |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Drama |
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Dashing Gregory Peck stars as General Frank Savage, commander of the 8th Air Force during World War II. Loosely based on the true story of Major General Frank A. Armstrong, TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH begins with Savage appearing to be a fearless fighter with almost no compassion for his men. Told in flashback from the perspective of Major Harvey Stovall (Dean Jagger), the story unfolds as Savage takes over Stovall's Bomb Group in 1942. The company has suffered numerous losses, morale is at an all-time low, and the tired pilots and their crews are immediately antagonised by Savage's obsession with discipline, leaving Savage and Stovall with the onerous task of rebuilding the pride of a fighting force that despises its leader. Jagger received an Oscar for his efforts, but the real star is Peck, exhibiting a vast repertoire to portray a complicated character. Using actual combat footage from both American and German cameras, director Henry King creates an environment in which bravery and heroism count but war itself is anything but romantic.
| Starring | Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell, Dean Jagger |
|---|---|
| Director | Henry King |
| Studio | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 6 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish |
| Released | DVD: 06 Mar 2004 Production year: 1949 |
| Format | DVD |
To watch Gregory Peck crack under the strain of high command — he's in charge of a pressure-cooked American bomber unit based in England during the Second World War — is as alarming as the collapse of the Statue of Liberty: he's such a monument to liberal integrity. However, although he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance here, it was Dean Jagger who won the award for best supporting actor. It's all a wonderful example of ensemble acting, so any trophies are a bit redundant, though no doubt they were gratefully received.
Absorbing character drama, justifiably a big box-office success of its day, later revived as a TV series. All production values are excellent.
I am no fan of the usual 'blood and guts' American war films, so this one was a refreshing view of people and their reactions to situations. Gregory Peck is a fine actor, and he does well in this one.
If you haven't seen this one yet, do so soon. If you saw it years ago it is well worth watching again.
Not a bad film for it's time, 55 years old and it's begging for a re-make.
This is a must for any war film fan.