Twelve O'Clock High is a watchable straight forwardly told World War II drama. Its scope is rather narrow, only telling the story of one man and his assignment and not delving into his life and thoughts outside of that assignment.We could of got to know each of the crew a bit or got to know Savage more or perhaps more detail in the actual dropping of the bombs. I respect the film and what it's about, it just didn't do enough for me. There was too much drama and not enough war and all of it surface level.

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.

Henry King's 1949 classic about faltering command during the early period of the 8th Army Air Force's missions against Germany from English bases during WWII.The film opens with a flashback sequence as the squadron adjutant Harvey Stoval - played by Dean Jagger who won an Oscar for best supporting actor - buys the squadron mascot in a junk shop in post war London and revisits the remains of the airfield and his memories.The film flashes back to a returning mission of B17's with damaged and shot up aircraft. In one of the most spectacular real effects filmed, stuntman Paul Mantz belly landed a real B17, wheels up on a field - plowing it through a tent and debris. The stunt was carefully prepared - the plane coming in with almost no fuel aboard to cause a post crash fire. The B17's were many and surplus in 1949. Can't imagine that being repeated in this day and age! The film moves to examine the command structure and the "bad luck" the bomb group is suffering. Gregory Peck - as Colonel Savage - is sent in to sort things out - replacing a popular - but ineffectual commander. Savage's brand of tough, no nonsense, no compromise, no favorites, command proves immensely unpopular with the crews whose morale is low and only gets lower.Slowly Savage's demands produce unit cohesion and lower casualties and crews see there is a chance they might come home if they do it Savage's way. The first mission into Germany produces hidden unit indiscipline as everyone who can - stows away on B17's for the "Big One". This mission is actually portrayed using real WWII combat footage and no punches are pulled as B17's spiral in and fighters swarm all over the formations. The credits are at pains to point out - this real footage was shot by both sides in the conflict. The gritty black and white - emphasizing the mud and the cold and the generally poor conditions at the airfields in the UK this also allows the incorporation of this real wartime combat footage.Ultimately - as the unit begins to produce results the strain begins to tell on Savage who suffers a complete collapse at the start of a mission. Such has been his ability to built a team that the mission proceeds without him and produces outstanding results.2015 - The film is still used at the US Coastguard Academy as a study in command styles.

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