** Some spoilers**
This is a great movie if you like watching Gregory Peck being a jerk for two hours.
It's a classic war movie situation - the martinet Brigadier General is brought in to turn around a battle-fatigued unit and in the process restore their confidence in themselves. But I found Peck's depiction of Brig. Gen. Frank Savage too harsh and unforgiving to be believable. Example: after a particularly successful bombing raid, a fellow officer suggests to Savage that giving a weekend pass to London would be nice gesture. "What? and buy their loyalty?" is his response. He ignores similar entreaties from Major "Doc" Kaiser (Paul Stewart) and the unit's former commanding officer Col. Keith Davenport (Gary Merrill).
Early on, after Savage shows what kind of officer he's going to be--busts a sentry for waving his car through, busts a sergeant for not wearing his uniform, closes down the officer's club, etc., every airmen vote with his feet and puts in for a transfer. Savage conspires with his ground officer Maj. Harry Stovall (Dean Jagger) to delay their transfers to buy him time to win them over before the mass exodus from the unit comes to the attention of the Inspector General, which would make him lose his command. The big day comes, and Peck is packing up his desk, assuming that he will be sent back to Washington, but instead, every man withdraws his transfer and Savage stays. Somehow I find it most unconvincing that these men would be loyal to a commanding officer who had earlier told them that they were already dead! By the time Savage has a mental breakdown as he's about to go out on a bombing mission, we're supposed to be sympathetic, but all I could think of was "well, it's about time you got yours".
I think the movie would have been more convincing if there was some effort to make Savage more of a sympathetic character, a love interest perhaps--there are no women in this film except as nurses and canteen workers. Or if more screen time had been devoted to the airmen as they slowly, grudgingly came to accept Savage. But no, instead we get two hours of Gregory Peck being a jerk.
This is a great movie if you like watching Gregory Peck being a jerk for two hours.
It's a classic war movie situation - the martinet Brigadier General is brought in to turn around a battle-fatigued unit and in the process restore their confidence in themselves. But I found Peck's depiction of Brig. Gen. Frank Savage too harsh and unforgiving to be believable. Example: after a particularly successful bombing raid, a fellow officer suggests to Savage that giving a weekend pass to London would be nice gesture. "What? and buy their loyalty?" is his response. He ignores similar entreaties from Major "Doc" Kaiser (Paul Stewart) and the unit's former commanding officer Col. Keith Davenport (Gary Merrill).
Early on, after Savage shows what kind of officer he's going to be--busts a sentry for waving his car through, busts a sergeant for not wearing his uniform, closes down the officer's club, etc., every airmen vote with his feet and puts in for a transfer. Savage conspires with his ground officer Maj. Harry Stovall (Dean Jagger) to delay their transfers to buy him time to win them over before the mass exodus from the unit comes to the attention of the Inspector General, which would make him lose his command. The big day comes, and Peck is packing up his desk, assuming that he will be sent back to Washington, but instead, every man withdraws his transfer and Savage stays. Somehow I find it most unconvincing that these men would be loyal to a commanding officer who had earlier told them that they were already dead! By the time Savage has a mental breakdown as he's about to go out on a bombing mission, we're supposed to be sympathetic, but all I could think of was "well, it's about time you got yours".
I think the movie would have been more convincing if there was some effort to make Savage more of a sympathetic character, a love interest perhaps--there are no women in this film except as nurses and canteen workers. Or if more screen time had been devoted to the airmen as they slowly, grudgingly came to accept Savage. But no, instead we get two hours of Gregory Peck being a jerk.