Gregory Peck is the Ultimate Air Force General here. This film, based upon the actual combat in the air by the US Air Force 8th Daylight Bomber group. General Savage character is totally absorbed and realistically played and indeed made real by Peck.The story starts with a 1949 view of an overgrown and abandoned air field in Britain after the war. Savages assistant is visiting it and then he flashes back to what happened there in the war.Based upon the novel, MGM pulled out all the best production stuff they could including real combat footage to make this film feel real. In the process they tell a very strong and emotional story about the real events the book and film are based upon. Great performances by a great cast. I had only seen the ABC TV series before this. Strongly salute the film makers and suggest watching this film before looking at that TV series. This is excellent.

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

Dean Jagger won an Academy Award for best supporting actor in this intelligent and realistic account of a "hard luck" bomber unit in England suffering from low morale, where General Frank Savage(played by Gregory Peck) has assumed command from Col. Davenport(played by Gary Merrill) Frank believes that Davenport has become too close to his men, blinding him to the harsh missions they must undertake, making them soft and overcautious. Savage decides to not let that happen to him, and institutes harsh disciplinary measures on the men, which they hate, especially a Lt. Col.(played by Hugh Marlowe) who bitterly resents the dressing down he receives. A curious thing happens though: the plan works, as the men regain their confidence and launch a series of successful bombing campaigns against Germany. Ironically though, General Savage suffers the same fate as his predecessor; over identification with the men...First-rate WWII drama(based on fact) has excellent direction by Henry King, performances by all, and an intelligent script that accurately portrays the time and place it is set. The framing device with Jagger in the modern day remembering his times with the unit is most effective.