Gregory Peck plays a general assigned to toughen up an American aircraft bomber group in England during World War II.
During World War II, Hollywood made a lot of war films. There were some good ones, and some not so good, but they were all presented in the spirit of patriotism that was a requirement during the fighting, and so almost every one of them could be called a “flag waver.” Nothing wrong with that, except that the reality of war was softened for homefront audiences. On the other hand, in the years right after the war, from the late 1940s to the mid-‘50s especially, some great films were made that were more realistic. One of these, from Twentieth Century Fox in 1949, directed by Henry King and based on a best-selling book, was Twelve O’Clock High.
In the early days of the European campaign, an American bomber group in England begins to lose its morale after a series of bad breaks resulting in heavy casualties. Frank Savage, an HQ general played by Gregory Peck, believes that the squad’s commanding officer (Gary Merrill) has become too attached to his men, and when he expresses this view to his superior (Millard Mitchell), he ends up being ordered to take over the unit. Savage assumes the role of strict disciplinarian, deliberately making everyone hate his guts in order to toughen the group and make them excel at what they do.
Contrary to what you might expect, this is not a combat movie. There’s only one extended bombing sequence, toward the end, which skillfully uses actual footage shot by American and German pilots during the war. The rest of the film is all about the relationships of the men and officers on the air base, and how issues of cowardice, discipline, and determination are worked out in the midst of adjusting to the general’s new regime. The script (by Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay, Jr.) is unusually frank about what it takes to fight a war.
The truth is that the bombing campaign is extremely risky, with planes flying very low, vulnerable to antiaircraft guns; and young men are dying all the time. The picture doesn’t use heroics to conceal the agony of this fact. The story grapples directly with it, by having Peck’s strict general attempt to renounce the emotional concern that a commander would have for his men’s lives, thereby toughening them up and presumably improving their chances of survival. The strategy is a success, but the emotional disconnection, as it turns out, is not really possible, not forever, at least. And there’s something very wise and humane about the way the film gets to that point.
Dean Jagger plays the general’s bookish executive officer, and the film opens with him revisiting the air base after the war, now an empty lot in the English countryside. This patient sequence, from which we eventually shift to the flashback which constitutes the body of the film, is very affecting. Jagger won an Oscar, and Hugh Marlowe is good as an officer who is punished and disgraced by Savage.
The title refers to a term used by the Air Force to call out positions of enemy aircraft. Twelve O’Clock High is a modestly budgeted film that succeeds in portraying the feelings between men serving together in a war. Tensions and emotions are communicated through silences and the fleeting expressions on a face. Peck is superb here—very expressive, one of his best performances. The long-time film veteran Henry King and his cinematographer (Leon Shamroy) perform wonders with deep-focus and wide-angle shots. Twelve O’Clock High is one of Hollywood’s best World War II films, a very fine effort all around.
