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Sadly Over-hyped

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Best movie ever!

Absolutely the worst movie.

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.

An introduction reveals action sequences herein are actual wartime footage. In 1949 London, American lawyer Dean Jagger (as Harvey Stovall) buys a familiar jug from an oddly disinterested antique shop clerk. Further reminded of his World War II service, Mr. Jagger visits the gloomy airfield where he served with the US Air Force in 1942. As he pointedly cleans his glasses, we flashback...When bomb raid commander Gary Merrill (as Keith Davenport) begins to have disciplinary problems among his crew, casualties rise and many pilots start "calling in sick." To stop the bleeding, Mr. Merrill is replaced by tough task-master Gregory Peck (as Frank Savage). General Peck recognizes Merrill's problem as "over-identification with his men" and becomes a strict, impersonal commander. At first, the approach doesn't work and the every pilot asks for a transfer. A World War I veteran keeping paperwork in order, Jagger agrees to delay the transfer requests while Peck attempts to whip the airmen into shape...The flight commander cracking under pressure was a tale often told, with the World War I equivalent seen most notably in the 1930s "Dawn Patrol" films. Jagger's supporting role was noted as one of the year's best. Hugh Marlowe (as Ben Gately) and others likewise excel. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck and director Henry King score high-flying points this time, with an excellent cast and crew.******* Twelve O'Clock High (12/21/49) Henry King ~ Gregory Peck, Dean Jagger, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill

Excuse me, but how did Dean Jagger ever win the best supporting actor Oscar for this 1949 film? He was far too old for the part even though the latter did call for an older man. Fellow nominee John Ireland was far better in "All the King's Men." The film examines men in air combat and shows how strategic day-light bombing was the way to go in the war against Germany.We briefly hear British traitor Lord Haw-Haw in one of his speeches urging the allies to surrender.The movie proves that all men are basically vulnerable and have a breaking point. As Frank Savage, Peck lives up to his name in the film by being tough towards the men he leads in battle by air during World War 11. He has taken over the spot from Gary Merrill who has shown that he can't obey an order regarding a flyer.We know it's hard sending men into battle and we know that the latter may only stand so much.Peck is very good in the film as a commander who eventually suffers shock as a result of what he has to do.

I saw this movie on Thanksgiving night after watching CATCHING FIRE at a holiday matinée. And it's really sad how far down movies have gone in the last sixty years. Watch TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH and compare it to modern movies like the HUNGER GAMES franchise. It's shot in black and white, with minimal special effects. (Indeed the combat footage is actual combat footage.) No poisonous fog or CGI baboons all hopped up on goofballs.This movie starts as a bomber group comes back from a run. They show no blood and guts, but the talk will literally make you sick to your stomach. It's that real, that wrenching. Instead of pretty "tributes" having their faces in the sky they talk about arms and legs being blown off in combat. And your imagination does the rest, if you're old enough to actually form mental pictures based on the tough, honest dialog.So then, the leader of the group begins to crack up. And it's not funny, it's not some weepy teen tantrum either. It's a grown man admitting that he can't cut it anymore. And then Gregory Peck comes in, determined to get the job done no matter what the cost in human lives. Imagine, a fully grown adult male in a leadership position! This movie is about war, and moral choices. But it's also about the nature of fatherhood. Gregory Peck seems to have specialized in exploring this theme, in films as strikingly different as TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH, and even THE OMEN. In all three films he is the father who has to make the tough choices, torn between protecting his children and forcing them to take on adult responsibilities. 12 O'CLOCK HIGH demonstrates the meaning of "tough love" long before the phrase became cheapened by popular media. Yet 12 O'CLOCK HIGH shows the price of tough love, just as THE OMEN shows what happens when tough love becomes too tough and becomes crazed brutality. (In a sense Damien was a deadbeat just like the boys in the Leper Colony in this film. Sometimes the bad seed cannot be redeemed.)This movie doesn't glorify war, but it does suggest that without role models, such as father figures who demand respect and insist on discipline, children are likely to remain children forever. It's no accident that in a movie like THE HUNGER GAMES or CATCHING FIRE, the adult authority figures are either villains or clowns. Whether it's the drunken Haymitch or the sinister President Snow or the campy Effie Trinket, only caricatures of adults are permitted in modern films. TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH is the kind of movie they just don't make anymore. Because everyone knows that only teenagers are cool and it's only cool to be an adult if you're trying to stay a teenager forever.