A Gathering of Eagles
Encyclopedia
A Gathering of Eagles is a 1963 film about the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War
and the pressures of command. The plot is patterned after the World War II
film Twelve O'Clock High
, which producer-screenwriter Sy Bartlett
also wrote, with elements also mirroring Above and Beyond
and Toward the Unknown
, films written by his collaborator, Beirne Lay, Jr.
.
Rock Hudson
plays a United States Air Force
officer, Colonel
, Jim Caldwell, a Strategic Air Command
(SAC) B-52
wing
commander. He must shape up his wing and men to pass a grueling operational readiness inspection (ORI) that the previous commander had failed and for which he had been relieved of his command. Caldwell is also recently married to an English wife, and as a tough commanding officer doing whatever he has to do to shape up his command, his wife sees a side to him that she hadn't seen before.
The film also stars Rod Taylor, Mary Peach
, Barry Sullivan
, Kevin McCarthy
, Henry Silva, Robert Lansing
, Leif Erickson
, and Richard Anderson
.
(SAC), Major General
"Happy Jack" Kirby (played by Kevin McCarthy
), lands unannounced in a KC-135 at the fictional Carmody Air Force Base near San Francisco, California
(a role actually filled by the real life Beale AFB), home of the 904th Strategic Aerospace Wing. Accompanied by a thirty-man inspection team, he demands that the Air Police take him directly to the wing's command post and once there announces a no-notice Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI). As the inspection continues, General Kirby receives a score report from a member of his team. With this in hand, he calls General Hewitt, the commanding general of SAC at his Omaha headquarters and soberly informs him, "It doesn't look too good so far, sir."
The general agrees and, without further ado, summons to his office his new aide, Colonel
Jim Caldwell (Rock Hudson
) USAF, who at the time is conducting a tour of visiting dignitaries through the central alert room of SAC Headquarters at Offutt AFB. Colonel Caldwell reports to his boss's office, and General Hewitt (Leif Erickson
) coolly informs him that the wing commander at Carmody "didn't have what it takes" and must be replaced. Hewitt offers the job to Caldwell, who enthusiastically accepts. To Caldwell, this is a highly enviable career move, one made more auspicious when he discovers that his good friend and Korean War buddy, Colonel Hollis Farr (Rod Taylor), is the vice wing commander. Barely able to conceal his excitement, he telephones his English wife Victoria (Mary Peach
) to tell her the news.
Soon after he arrives, noting a number of problems in the wing that indicate a low state of training, he institutes measures that Colonel Farr immediately questions—restoring a seven-day alert cycle that isolates flight crews from their families, freezing all promotion recommendations, and making it clear that no member of the 904th may consider his job secure. This includes the Base Commander, Colonel Bill Fowler (Barry Sullivan
), who, as Caldwell soon learns, drinks heavily. Eventually, Caldwell forces Fowler to retire early, and tells him straight-out that his drinking is the cause. He also alienates a maintenance officer by telling him that he must learn to delegate authority and when that officer applies for a transfer, Caldwell refuses to act on it. Farr protests that Caldwell is "going out on a limb," to which Caldwell replies with a biting rhetorical question, "What's wrong with that?"
Caldwell's harsh policies soon alienate even Victoria, who has befriended Fowler's wife. Eventually, morale at the upper echelons goes from bad to worse. First, Bill Fowler shoots himself, under circumstances that could be accidental but probably are not. Then, after Farr gives leave to a squadron commander whose unit is not in good shape, Caldwell asks the brigadier general
commanding the 904th's parent air division to replace Farr as vice wing commander. He says, "I inherited the most popular wing vice commander in SAC but one who will not assume responsibility!" He then sharply contradicts Farr's rosy approval of the wing's performance during a post-mission critique of B-52G and KC-135A aircraft commanders and their crews as a prelude to informing Farr that he is fired. This almost causes the final breach between Caldwell and his wife, especially since gossip has had Farr and Victoria drifting into an affair a rumor to which Caldwell lends no credence, but one that Victoria has heard, leading her to think that she is in some way responsible for Farr's impending dismissal.
Soon after, while Caldwell visits Fowler in a San Francisco hospital to snap him out of his depression
, he receives a call from the operations chief saying that "an unidentified KC-135" is "on final approach, no emergency declared." Suspecting another ORI, Caldwell orders the officer to notify the battle staff at once. Caldwell cannot return to base fast enough, however, and Farr must assume command in his absence. In this capacity, Farr makes a key decision: to launch a B-52 which cannot produce full power on one of its engines, a violation of peacetime flight safety regulations, because "We're simulating wartime conditions."
After another B-52 must abort its mission, General Kirby's "score" of that mission will make the difference between passing and failing. Kirby confronts Farr about the decision, and Caldwell immediately defends it, stating he would have made the same call. But Kirby, a former wing commander himself, surprises both by saying that he, too, would have done the same, and that he will not score the mission as an abort. Tellingly, he actually smiles at Caldwell as he says this. Caldwell congratulates Farr in a manner strongly suggesting he will retain Farr as his vice commander, saying that Farr has finally learned "how...it feels out on that limb" and "might actually get to like it out there". Victoria, for her part, realizes the value of Caldwell's policies especially when General Kirby wants to see her about the base's Family Support Program.
Curtis LeMay
, USAF (former head of the Strategic Air Command
and serving at the time as Chief of Staff of the Air Force), used his considerable influence to allow Producer Sy Bartlett
and Director Delbert Mann
unprecedented access to various SAC facilities, in the belief that this film would play a vital role in reminding Americans that the Air Force did indeed have its weapons of mass destruction under tight control in sharp contrast to the impressions that the movies Dr. Strangelove and Fail-Safe
(both based on novels written prior to 1963 whose premise was that accidental nuclear war caused by SAC was not only possible but likely) would give. Mann, who had won an Academy Award for his first film (Marty
), was eager to demonstrate that he could direct serious material, and not merely light-hearted comedies which had not been as nearly well-received. The film was made at Beale Air Force Base
, California
, using the facilities, aircraft, Titan I missile sites, and personnel of the 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing. The military housing used in several scenes are still used as base housing for senior commanders of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing.
Tom Lehrer
wrote one original song for this film, called "The SAC Song." Rod Taylor
, as Hollis Farr, performs this song at a party for officers and their wives. Most of Lehrer's work is satirical, and the lyrics and music for this song are quite typical of Lehrer.
As Sy Bartlett and Delbert Mann were filming at SAC Headquarters at Offutt AFB in Omaha
, they noticed that SAC personnel were unusually tense. They would later learn, when President John F. Kennedy
would make this fact public, that SAC had recently learned of Nikita Khrushchev
's plan to introduce nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles into Cuba
.
A subplot in the film where Rod Taylor's character has an affair with Mary Peach
, the wife of Rock Hudson
, was removed during post production.
Four commentators have left entries at the Turner Classic Movies
database entry. Each one claims to have been in SAC during the period of history depicted in this film—and one man states that he was not only stationed at Beale AFB (see below), but also flew the T-33
"chase plane" and worked with Rod Taylor (who, as Col Farr, is depicted as flying the plane when Col Caldwell has to break off air refueling because of a broken fuel line in the cockpitof his B-52G). These men criticize the film for the following errors:
A portrait of President John F. Kennedy
hangs in Colonel Caldwell's office as part of a photographic depiction of the chain of command
, providing an obvious time frame reference.
The number of the 904th, and the name of its base, are both fictitious. The actual base used in filming, Beale AFB, is located north of Sacramento, a significant distance from San Francisco.
The term "Operational Readiness Inspection" was actual terminology in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s applied to exercises evaluating the combat readiness of SAC
, TAC
, USAFE and PACAF units to carry out their nuclear mission. One of the TCM Database commentators vouches specifically for the ORI as depicted, and also for the Minimal Interval Take-Off (MITO) sequence (in which Colonels Caldwell and Farr witness B-52Gs taking off fifteen seconds apart on average).
, etc.). These films appeared to much greater critical acclaim and box-office reception.
This film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Effects in 1963
.
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and the pressures of command. The plot is patterned after the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
film Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force who flew daylight bombing missions against Nazi Germany and occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II. The film was adapted by Sy Bartlett, Henry King ...
, which producer-screenwriter Sy Bartlett
Sy Bartlett
Sy Bartlett was an American author and screenwriter/producer of Hollywood films. Born Sacha Baraniev in Ukraine, he immigrated to the United States at the age of four and adopted the name Sidney Bartlett....
also wrote, with elements also mirroring Above and Beyond
Above and Beyond (film)
Above and Beyond is a 1952 film about Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb. It starred Robert Taylor as Tibbets and Eleanor Parker as his wife. James Whitmore played security officer Major Bill Uanna.-Cast:...
and Toward the Unknown
Toward the Unknown
Toward the Unknown is a 1956 movie about the dawn of supersonic flight filmed on location at Edwards Air Force Base. Starring William Holden, Lloyd Nolan and Virginia Leith, the film features the screen debut of James Garner. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and written by Beirne Lay, Jr...
, films written by his collaborator, Beirne Lay, Jr.
Beirne Lay, Jr.
Beirne Lay, Jr., was an author, aviation writer, Hollywood screenwriter, and combat veteran of World War II with the U.S. Army Air Forces...
.
Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
plays a United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
officer, Colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
, Jim Caldwell, a Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
(SAC) B-52
B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...
wing
Wing (air force unit)
Wing is a term used by different military aviation forces for a unit of command. The terms wing, group or Staffel are used for different-sized units from one country or service to another....
commander. He must shape up his wing and men to pass a grueling operational readiness inspection (ORI) that the previous commander had failed and for which he had been relieved of his command. Caldwell is also recently married to an English wife, and as a tough commanding officer doing whatever he has to do to shape up his command, his wife sees a side to him that she hadn't seen before.
The film also stars Rod Taylor, Mary Peach
Mary Peach
Mary Peach is a British film and television actress, who was married to the screenwriter and director Jimmy Sangster until his death in 2011....
, Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
, Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy (actor)
Kevin McCarthy was an American stage, film, and television actor, who appeared in over two hundred television and film roles. For his role in the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of...
, Henry Silva, Robert Lansing
Robert Lansing (actor)
Robert Lansing was an American stage, film and television actor.Born in San Diego, California as Robert Howell Brown, he reportedly took his acting surname from the state capital of Michigan. As a young actor in New York City, he was hired to join a stock company in Michigan, but was told he would...
, Leif Erickson
Leif Erickson
Leif Erickson was an American film and television actor.-Background:Leif Erickson was born William Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California. His father was commander of a fleet of ships and his mother was a noted newspaperwoman and writer...
, and Richard Anderson
Richard Anderson
Richard Norman Anderson is an American actor in film and television, known to TV audiences as Steve Austin's and Jaime Sommers' boss, Oscar Goldman, in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series and their three subsequent TV movies: The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man...
.
Plot
The Inspector General of the Strategic Air CommandStrategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
(SAC), Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
"Happy Jack" Kirby (played by Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy (actor)
Kevin McCarthy was an American stage, film, and television actor, who appeared in over two hundred television and film roles. For his role in the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of...
), lands unannounced in a KC-135 at the fictional Carmody Air Force Base near San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(a role actually filled by the real life Beale AFB), home of the 904th Strategic Aerospace Wing. Accompanied by a thirty-man inspection team, he demands that the Air Police take him directly to the wing's command post and once there announces a no-notice Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI). As the inspection continues, General Kirby receives a score report from a member of his team. With this in hand, he calls General Hewitt, the commanding general of SAC at his Omaha headquarters and soberly informs him, "It doesn't look too good so far, sir."
The general agrees and, without further ado, summons to his office his new aide, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Jim Caldwell (Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
) USAF, who at the time is conducting a tour of visiting dignitaries through the central alert room of SAC Headquarters at Offutt AFB. Colonel Caldwell reports to his boss's office, and General Hewitt (Leif Erickson
Leif Erickson
Leif Erickson was an American film and television actor.-Background:Leif Erickson was born William Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California. His father was commander of a fleet of ships and his mother was a noted newspaperwoman and writer...
) coolly informs him that the wing commander at Carmody "didn't have what it takes" and must be replaced. Hewitt offers the job to Caldwell, who enthusiastically accepts. To Caldwell, this is a highly enviable career move, one made more auspicious when he discovers that his good friend and Korean War buddy, Colonel Hollis Farr (Rod Taylor), is the vice wing commander. Barely able to conceal his excitement, he telephones his English wife Victoria (Mary Peach
Mary Peach
Mary Peach is a British film and television actress, who was married to the screenwriter and director Jimmy Sangster until his death in 2011....
) to tell her the news.
Soon after he arrives, noting a number of problems in the wing that indicate a low state of training, he institutes measures that Colonel Farr immediately questions—restoring a seven-day alert cycle that isolates flight crews from their families, freezing all promotion recommendations, and making it clear that no member of the 904th may consider his job secure. This includes the Base Commander, Colonel Bill Fowler (Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
), who, as Caldwell soon learns, drinks heavily. Eventually, Caldwell forces Fowler to retire early, and tells him straight-out that his drinking is the cause. He also alienates a maintenance officer by telling him that he must learn to delegate authority and when that officer applies for a transfer, Caldwell refuses to act on it. Farr protests that Caldwell is "going out on a limb," to which Caldwell replies with a biting rhetorical question, "What's wrong with that?"
Caldwell's harsh policies soon alienate even Victoria, who has befriended Fowler's wife. Eventually, morale at the upper echelons goes from bad to worse. First, Bill Fowler shoots himself, under circumstances that could be accidental but probably are not. Then, after Farr gives leave to a squadron commander whose unit is not in good shape, Caldwell asks the brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
commanding the 904th's parent air division to replace Farr as vice wing commander. He says, "I inherited the most popular wing vice commander in SAC but one who will not assume responsibility!" He then sharply contradicts Farr's rosy approval of the wing's performance during a post-mission critique of B-52G and KC-135A aircraft commanders and their crews as a prelude to informing Farr that he is fired. This almost causes the final breach between Caldwell and his wife, especially since gossip has had Farr and Victoria drifting into an affair a rumor to which Caldwell lends no credence, but one that Victoria has heard, leading her to think that she is in some way responsible for Farr's impending dismissal.
Soon after, while Caldwell visits Fowler in a San Francisco hospital to snap him out of his depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
, he receives a call from the operations chief saying that "an unidentified KC-135" is "on final approach, no emergency declared." Suspecting another ORI, Caldwell orders the officer to notify the battle staff at once. Caldwell cannot return to base fast enough, however, and Farr must assume command in his absence. In this capacity, Farr makes a key decision: to launch a B-52 which cannot produce full power on one of its engines, a violation of peacetime flight safety regulations, because "We're simulating wartime conditions."
After another B-52 must abort its mission, General Kirby's "score" of that mission will make the difference between passing and failing. Kirby confronts Farr about the decision, and Caldwell immediately defends it, stating he would have made the same call. But Kirby, a former wing commander himself, surprises both by saying that he, too, would have done the same, and that he will not score the mission as an abort. Tellingly, he actually smiles at Caldwell as he says this. Caldwell congratulates Farr in a manner strongly suggesting he will retain Farr as his vice commander, saying that Farr has finally learned "how...it feels out on that limb" and "might actually get to like it out there". Victoria, for her part, realizes the value of Caldwell's policies especially when General Kirby wants to see her about the base's Family Support Program.
Background/Production
GeneralGeneral (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
Curtis LeMay
Curtis LeMay
Curtis Emerson LeMay was a general in the United States Air Force and the vice presidential running mate of American Independent Party candidate George Wallace in 1968....
, USAF (former head of the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
and serving at the time as Chief of Staff of the Air Force), used his considerable influence to allow Producer Sy Bartlett
Sy Bartlett
Sy Bartlett was an American author and screenwriter/producer of Hollywood films. Born Sacha Baraniev in Ukraine, he immigrated to the United States at the age of four and adopted the name Sidney Bartlett....
and Director Delbert Mann
Delbert Mann
Delbert Martin Mann, Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty...
unprecedented access to various SAC facilities, in the belief that this film would play a vital role in reminding Americans that the Air Force did indeed have its weapons of mass destruction under tight control in sharp contrast to the impressions that the movies Dr. Strangelove and Fail-Safe
Fail-Safe (1964 film)
Fail-Safe is a 1964 film directed by Sidney Lumet, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. It tells the story of a fictional Cold War nuclear crisis...
(both based on novels written prior to 1963 whose premise was that accidental nuclear war caused by SAC was not only possible but likely) would give. Mann, who had won an Academy Award for his first film (Marty
Marty (film)
Marty is a 1955 American film directed by Delbert Mann. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. The film enjoyed international success, winning the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and...
), was eager to demonstrate that he could direct serious material, and not merely light-hearted comedies which had not been as nearly well-received. The film was made at Beale Air Force Base
Beale Air Force Base
Beale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately east of Marysville, California. Originally known as Camp Beale....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, using the facilities, aircraft, Titan I missile sites, and personnel of the 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing. The military housing used in several scenes are still used as base housing for senior commanders of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing.
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
wrote one original song for this film, called "The SAC Song." Rod Taylor
Rod Taylor (actor)
Rodney Sturt "Rod" Taylor is an Australian-American actor of film and television.-Early life:Born on 11 January 1930 in Lidcombe, a suburb of Sydney, Taylor was the only child of William Sturt Taylor, a steel construction contractor and commercial artist, and the former Mona Thompson, a writer of...
, as Hollis Farr, performs this song at a party for officers and their wives. Most of Lehrer's work is satirical, and the lyrics and music for this song are quite typical of Lehrer.
As Sy Bartlett and Delbert Mann were filming at SAC Headquarters at Offutt AFB in Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, they noticed that SAC personnel were unusually tense. They would later learn, when President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
would make this fact public, that SAC had recently learned of Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's plan to introduce nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles into Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
A subplot in the film where Rod Taylor's character has an affair with Mary Peach
Mary Peach
Mary Peach is a British film and television actress, who was married to the screenwriter and director Jimmy Sangster until his death in 2011....
, the wife of Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
, was removed during post production.
Cast
- Rock HudsonRock HudsonRoy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
as ColonelColonel (United States)In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
James Caldwell, Commander, 904th Strategic Aerospace Wing (904th SAW) - Rod Taylor as ColonelColonel (United States)In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
Hollis Farr, Vice Commander, 904th SAW - Mary PeachMary PeachMary Peach is a British film and television actress, who was married to the screenwriter and director Jimmy Sangster until his death in 2011....
as Victoria Caldwell, Caldwell's wife - Barry SullivanBarry Sullivan (actor)Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
as ColonelColonel (United States)In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
William Fowler, Base Commander of Carmody Air Force Base - Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthy (actor)Kevin McCarthy was an American stage, film, and television actor, who appeared in over two hundred television and film roles. For his role in the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of...
as Major GeneralMajor general (United States)In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
J. T. "Happy Jack" Kirby, SACStrategic Air CommandThe Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
Inspector General - Nelson LeighNelson LeighNelson Leigh was a prolific motion picture actor of the 1940s and 1950s.-Career:...
as Major GeneralMajor general (United States)In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
John Aymes, commander of the 904th SAW's parent Air Division - Henry Silva as ColonelColonel (United States)In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
Joe "Smokin' Joe" Garcia, Director of Maintenance, 904th SAW - Leora DanaLeora DanaLeora Dana was an American film, stage and television actress....
as Evelyn Fowler, Col Fowler's wife - Robert LansingRobert Lansing (actor)Robert Lansing was an American stage, film and television actor.Born in San Diego, California as Robert Howell Brown, he reportedly took his acting surname from the state capital of Michigan. As a young actor in New York City, he was hired to join a stock company in Michigan, but was told he would...
as Senior Master SergeantSenior Master SergeantSenior Master Sergeant is the eighth enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force, just above Master Sergeant and below Chief Master Sergeant and is a senior non-commissioned officer ....
Banning, B-52 line chief - Richard Le Pore as Staff SergeantStaff SergeantStaff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
Kemler, boom operator on KC-135 tanker crew "Ramrod 67" - Ray Montgomery as Captain Linke, aircraft commander of B-52G bomber crew "Ranger 21"
- Richard AndersonRichard AndersonRichard Norman Anderson is an American actor in film and television, known to TV audiences as Steve Austin's and Jaime Sommers' boss, Oscar Goldman, in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series and their three subsequent TV movies: The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man...
as ColonelColonel (United States)In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
Ralph Josten, Director of Operations, 904th SAW - Leif EricksonLeif EricksonLeif Erickson was an American film and television actor.-Background:Leif Erickson was born William Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California. His father was commander of a fleet of ships and his mother was a noted newspaperwoman and writer...
as GeneralGeneral (United States)In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
Hewitt, Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Air Command (CINCSAC) - Louise FletcherLouise FletcherLouise Fletcher is an American actress best known for her role as Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and as Kai Winn Adami in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She also guest starred on the science fiction television series Heroes...
as Mrs. Kemler, SergeantSergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Kemler's wife
Allusions to actual history
This film depicts the operations of a typical Strategic Aerospace Wing (nuclear bombers and ICBMs) of the Strategic Air Command during the early 1960s. One anonymous commentator at IMDb stated that he was a member of the wing where filming took place (see above), and vouched for the authenticity of Air Force procedures depicted in this film.Four commentators have left entries at the Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
database entry. Each one claims to have been in SAC during the period of history depicted in this film—and one man states that he was not only stationed at Beale AFB (see below), but also flew the T-33
T-33 Shooting Star
The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is an American-built jet trainer aircraft. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948, piloted by Tony LeVier. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then designated T-33A. It was used by the...
"chase plane" and worked with Rod Taylor (who, as Col Farr, is depicted as flying the plane when Col Caldwell has to break off air refueling because of a broken fuel line in the cockpitof his B-52G). These men criticize the film for the following errors:
- Air Force senior NCOsNon-commissioned officerA non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
(holding the rank of Master SergeantMaster SergeantA master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in some armed forces.-Israel Defense Forces:Rav samal rishoninsignia IDF...
or higher rank) would not actually hold tools since they act as supervisors or administrators. More junior NCOs and enlisted personnel, such as Technical SergeantTechnical SergeantTechnical Sergeant is the name of one current and two former enlisted ranks in the United States military.-United States Air Force:Technical Sergeant, or Tech Sergeant, is the sixth enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force, just above Staff Sergeant and below Master Sergeant. A technical sergeant is...
s, Staff SergeantStaff SergeantStaff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
s and airmenAirmanAn airman is a member of the air component of a nation's armed service. In the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force , it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank...
would do the hands-on work. - The Titan ITitan IThe Martin Marietta SM-68A/HGM-25A Titan I was the United States' first multistage ICBM . Incorporating the latest design technology when designed and manufactured, the Titan I provided an additional nuclear deterrent to complement the U.S. Air Force's SM-65 Atlas missile...
missile silos would not be within plain sight of the end of the runway, as shown in the film, but would probably be 20 to 45 miles distant. Those shown appear to have been at the Chico, CA site, which was near Beale and located on a small hill, allowing the B-52s to be higher above the terrain than they appear in the title shot. - Firefighters would not spray carbon dioxideCarbon dioxideCarbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
or any other cold aerosol on the overheated brakes of a B-52 that had to land without flaps. Doing so would cause the disk brakes to explode.
A portrait of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
hangs in Colonel Caldwell's office as part of a photographic depiction of the chain of command
Chain of Command
Chain of Command may refer to:* Chain of command, in a military context, the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed* "Chain of Command" , the fifth episode of the first season of Beast Wars...
, providing an obvious time frame reference.
The number of the 904th, and the name of its base, are both fictitious. The actual base used in filming, Beale AFB, is located north of Sacramento, a significant distance from San Francisco.
The term "Operational Readiness Inspection" was actual terminology in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s applied to exercises evaluating the combat readiness of SAC
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
, TAC
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
, USAFE and PACAF units to carry out their nuclear mission. One of the TCM Database commentators vouches specifically for the ORI as depicted, and also for the Minimal Interval Take-Off (MITO) sequence (in which Colonels Caldwell and Farr witness B-52Gs taking off fifteen seconds apart on average).
Reception
This film received relatively weak critical reviews and did poorly at the box office. After more than forty years, opinions vary widely as to the causes of the poor reception. The period in which this film was released is notable for the release, one or two years later, of a number of films that were decidedly unsympathetic to the US military (Dr. Strangelove, Fail-SafeFail-Safe (1964 film)
Fail-Safe is a 1964 film directed by Sidney Lumet, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. It tells the story of a fictional Cold War nuclear crisis...
, etc.). These films appeared to much greater critical acclaim and box-office reception.
This film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Effects in 1963
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
.