terrible... so disappointed.

A-maz-ing

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Sam Wood directed this WWII story that stars Clark Gable as Brigadier General Dennis, who is in charge of a bomber group in England that must undertake a risky but vital mission to destroy German factories that are producing new Jet fighters that could out-gun Allied bombers and turn the tide against them in the war. The bombers will have to fly low, in highly dangerous conditions with likely high casualties, which is a tough sell for the General to convince both civilian and military authorities of its vital importance. Co-starring Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, and Marshall Thompson(among others). Though talky, and based on a stage play, film is well-acted and still quite interesting.

The vast majority of war pictures suffer from a multitude of ills. In the decade or so following World War II, there were some notable exceptions. They arrived in fits and starts. They ranged from quiet dramas such as For Whom They Serve to the reflective and highly acclaimed Best Years of Our Lives. Other, noble exceptions include They Were Expendable, The Dam Busters, Reach For the Sky, Bridge Over the RIver Kwai, All Quiet on the Western Front, Lawrence of Arabia, Paths of Glory, and A Bridge Too far. More recently, Saving Private Ryan, and Clint Eastwood's work concerning Iwo Jima will ensure that the current generation of young viewers will not have to rely on jingoistic rubbish in order to become more intimate with the lives and times of the great calamities. Good writing makes good movies. And the war movie is no exception to the rule. The Caine Mutiny was a preeminent predecessor of todays best-written war films Culled from an excellent novel, the screen play, direction and acting are first rate in a film that survives as a benchmark for the literate war movie. Command Decision has even less actual combat in it than The Caine Mutiny. And, as we have been informed above, some factual errors concerning command structure take it outside of strict authenticity. Still, it is an historical fact that vast resources and a great many lives were spent in the Allied effort to destroy the sites of production and deployment of the entire Nazi secret weapons program. And thus, whereas Caine is fixed in a drama bounded by the characters, Command Decision has a foot directly on the path of history and strategic warfare. Many of the above-mentioned films above surpass Command Decision in one way or another. But the discerning viewer will be satisfied by its dramatic writing. The dialog moves along in a punchy, rhythmic sort of way. We come to learn about the agony of command that comes from using up the lives of air crew in the short run in the interest of saving countless others at a later time. And we see that leadership is having to juggle the strategic and tactical verities along with political constraints as well as the limits of endurance and morale among the troops. There may be a flat-footed line or two, but on the whole, the writing sustains itself through the length of the film. The film was lifted from a play script, and it is essentially a stage drama set on a larger set. Director Sam Wood used some very nice footage that can only have been shot by cinematographers in B-17 aircraft operating from operational airfields of World War II. Various spoken and visual references concerning machines and wartime flight authenticity. The artistic, opening shots of Command Decision give us a visceral feeling of what high altitude formation flying must have been like as seen from a position facing the tail of a B- 17. The monochrome images of vapor trails left in the wake of a vast stream of bombers is a curious and impressive spectacle. We are spared bogus Foley art, the mock heroics, and (for the most part) the clumsy scale modeling that mars so many vintage films depicting air combat and flying. Mr Wood is content with introducing a description of flight. The combat is largely left for us to imagine. The topic does not demand graphic depiction of combat, and so we are spared chattering machine guns, flaming machines and those tiresome head-on displays of helmeted, goggled fliers spewing death at the wretched enemy. Near the beginning of the film a derelict, ravaged hulk of a B-17 is towed across the path of the Brigadier-General's car. The driver gives an account of those crew members who survived and those that didn't. Much later, we overhear monitored radio transmissions from the sky over Germany. They inform us of the appalling price being paid by the doomed crews. Wood uses some skilfully lit sets. Some indoor shots vie for direct comparison with Kubrik's 'Big Board' in Dr. Strangelove. The vast, brilliantly illuminated map of operations illustrates the endurance required of the crews and their machines. Nevertheless, Wood is economical with his shots, but he is never seen to be skimping. At times, the film set has the foreshortened dimensions of the staged counter-part.Command Decision is unlike most American war films of the period that portray their characters as belonging to a seamless, democratic republic. In Command Decision, there is a concerted attempt to show that social class strata exists in tandem with military rank. The carefully tailored and elegant uniforms of the staff officers contrast with the display of dungarees and flying kit of other ranks. Moreover, their names are mostly are triple-barreled, pompous and WASP. The general discourse informs us that we are privy to a patrician forum. In the end, there is no room to imagine any callous wastage of the plebeian contingent, but the privileged class character of the commanders is palpable. An interesting gloss on the film. I give this picture is a 7 by virtue of competent direction, professional actors who can project their parts with authority, and the balance and judicious dialog in the screen play. From this film, the youthful viewer could be inspired to push on to some research into the Allied air bombardment campaign in Europe and Asia. These campaigns still cause heated controversy. They killed hundreds of thousands of civilians on the ground, and many, many tens of thousands of young men in the air. It had an incalculable effect on the lives of the survivors — both those who flew and those who endured the conflagrations below. L. S.

If anyone has any doubts about why Clark Gable was the alpha dog among Hollywood's leading men from the mid-Thirties through the Forties, Command Decision is the film to see. This all-male movie tells the story of Brigadier General Casey Dennis (Gable), who in 1943 unleashes Operation Stitch on three German cities where German jet fighters are being developed. These fighters, if produced in any quantity, will be able to sweep Allied fighters from the skies and give the Germans air superiority again. But Operation Stitch means that the massed U. S. bombers flying in daylight must go far beyond Allied fighter protection. The first day of Operation Stitch eliminated one of the three target areas, but at horrendous cost...48 bombers were lost and more than 500 men. Dennis has the reputation among many of being a hard case. "Dennis is one of those boys whose brain is fascinated by guts," says one. "He loves this lousy war." Now General Dennis has ordered the second day's maximum effort, only to be faced with arrival at his headquarters of Major General Roland Kane (Walter Pidgeon), his superior who is fighting in Washington for more strategic bombing resources and who knows the kind of losses Operation Stitch is causing may make him lose that battle. On top of this, a Congressional committee has arrived, and among this group is Arthur Malcolm (Edward Arnold), a blow-hard Congressman who is not about to take any blame for combat losses. Looming over Dennis' shoulder is an old friend, Brigadier General Clifton Garnet (Brian Donlevy), who has arrived with Kane. The possibility that he may replace Dennis is apparent. Among all these players, including the large number of skilled secondary actors such as Charles Bickford as a reporter, John Hodiak as a group bomber pilot and close friend of both Dennis and Garnet, and the actors who play key members of Dennis' staff, Gable effortlessly dominates the movie...and he does so while being part of an ensemble before ensemble acting was talked about. Gable is crisp and efficient, as well as able believably to establish the cost these losses are having on him. He gives a first-rate performance. One of the reasons this movie works so well is that it hardly is a war story. Command Decision gives us a battle that takes place amidst the high political stakes of senior leadership. On the one hand, there is the argument for the allocation of resources for decisive action now that can probably lead to major benefits later. On the other hand, there is the argument that failing to bring along public opinion now can lead to grave losses and poor decisions later. So do we accept the horrendous loses in bombers and crews to wipe out right now the potential threat of German jet fighters, or do we take it slower with easier targets that can build public confidence in strategic daylight bombing? Since this movie was based on a successful stage play, there are great stretches of competing dialogue. That this doesn't become a dull set of debating points is because the dialogue is for the most part sharp and focused, delivered with skill and conviction, and with little actorly bravado. Gable, Pidgeon and Donlevy do very well. The movie has its share of clichés -- the ever-resourceful, wise-cracking sergeant (Van Johnson); the humorous tear-jerker speech of a husband-to-be with a silly name, Captain George Washington Bellpepper Lee; the obsequious public relations underling; the birth of a baby which usually means the tear-filled death of the new father; the cynical, burned-out pilot who gets a dramatic change of heart -- but on balance they don't seem too bothersome when placed against the clash of strategies and ideas we're witnessing. Command Decision is a well-crafted movie. Now, if only strategic bombing had ever accomplished even half of what all the air generals have always promised it would. It's worth noting that Paul Kelly, a fine character actor, starred as General Casey Dennis when Command Decision opened on Broadway. The 1948 Tony award for best actor was split three ways that year. Tonys went to Henry Fonda for Mr. Roberts, to Basil Rathbone for The Heiress...and to Paul Kelly for Command Decision. Kelly was a distinctive actor who made a ton of B-movie programmers. I'm glad he finally had a chance to show what he could do and be recognized for it.

I found an old tape of Command Decision which I must have made 20 years ago. I concur with all those who have said that it is one of the best WW2 films ever made, but what struck me most forcefully was the fact that this highly intelligent, gripping and thoughtful film was made with a large crew of established filmstars by a completely commercial film studio. It brought home to me forcibly what was lost when the old studio system broke up and the sheer craftsmanship which it embodied was dispersed. The sheer childishness of most current films becomes even more evident.Writing as one who lived through the bombing of Britain, the historical perspective on the Allied wartime bombing campaign was fascinating. One small complaint--all film coverage of the American campaign in WW2 seems to focus on the Flying Fortress. Actually, most of the bombs were dropped by the Consolidated Liberator squadrons--less photogenic but more effective!