Bombers B-52

Last updated
Bombers B-52
Bombersb5220012540.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Written by Irving Wallace
Story by Sam Rolfe
Produced by Richard Whorf
Starring Natalie Wood
Karl Malden
Marsha Hunt
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Cinematography William H. Clothier
Edited byThomas Reilly
Music by Leonard Rosenman
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • November 22, 1957 (1957-11-22)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.8 million

Bombers B-52 (released in the UK as No Sleep till Dawn) [1] is a 1957 American drama film produced by Richard Whorf and directed by Gordon Douglas. The film stars Natalie Wood and Karl Malden, and co-stars Marsha Hunt and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. [2] It was adapted from a Sam Rolfe story by screenwriter Irving Wallace. Leonard Rosenman composed the score.

Contents

The film's storyline is focused on the introduction of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber by the U.S. Strategic Air Command (SAC) in the 1950s. A respected and highly experienced master sergeant must choose between continuing his career in the Air Force and accepting a job in the private sector that would pay him three times his military salary.

Plot

The Strategic Air Command is about to introduce the B-52 Stratofortress bomber as its primary manned strategic weapon. Stationed at Castle Air Force Base, California, with the 329th Bomb Squadron, 20-year United States Air Force (USAF) veteran MSgt. Chuck Brennan dislikes his commanding officer, the "hotshot" Lt. Col. Jim Herlihy. Brennan has not trusted Herlihy since an incident in the Korean War. This career-long problem interferes with flight operations and aircraft support. When Herlihy starts dating Brennan's daughter Lois, tensions grow. Brennan demands his daughter break off the relationship.

Brennan, Herlihy, and others try to solve all the technical problems that plague the introduction of the B-52. On one top-secret test flight to Africa, after being refueled in mid-air, a control panel short-circuits, causing a fire. Herlihy orders everyone to bail out and ejects Brennan when he refuses to leave the bomber. After safely landing the burning aircraft at Castle AFB, Herlihy sends out search parties, who manage to recover all of the crew except for Brennan. Following a hunch, Herlihy eventually finds his chief aircraft mechanic, who is severely injured, and airlifts him by helicopter from remote back country to the base hospital.

While recovering, Brennan realizes that he was wrong about Herlihy, who risked his life to bring him home. He accepts that his daughter and his commanding officer should now reunite. Eventually, Brennan also has to choose between a high-paying civilian job and his US Air Force career. When told that his discharge papers are ready to sign, he decides to continue the career he loves in the USAF.

Cast

Production

An early-series B-52B bomber B-52BStratofortressAtWingsMuseum.jpg
An early-series B-52B bomber

Bombers B-52 was filmed with the full cooperation of the United States Air Force at Castle and March Air Force Bases in California, where examples of Boeing B-47 Stratojet bombers, North American F-86 Sabre fighters, and B-52s were based. During production, Natalie Wood was named "Sweetheart of Castle Air Force Base". [3]

The first choice for the starring role was Tab Hunter, who subsequently turned it down because he was tired of playing military roles. [4] Writer Irving Wallace wrote a "racy" screenplay; one of the working titles was No Sleep till Dawn (which was used as the title for the film's UK release). [1] The screenplay was later the subject of a 1980s exposé of sexual innuendo by film historian Hal Erickson. [3]

Reception

Reviews of Bombers B-52 mainly focused on the aerial scenes, which during the Cold War era projected a near-propaganda effort, using many period aircraft to depict the era faithfully. [5] The review in The New York Times was mildly laudatory, describing it as a "frank tribute to Air Force nuclear power, laced together with a familiar service feud ... Irving Wallace's dialogue is excellent. Furthermore, his unpretentious scenario is credible and persuasive in training sequences and especially in the hearth scenes". [6] The performances of the leads was also considered "natural". Overall, The New York Times critic thought "'Bombers B-52' is not [terrific], but it could have been much, much worse". [6] Variety gushed that it was "magnificently mounted, with breathtaking scenes of the new B-52s", while Time magazine more aptly characterized Bombers B-52 as a "$1,400,000 want ad for Air Force technicians". [3] In other reviews, the dichotomy of 19-year-old Natalie Wood being courted by 40-year-old Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was noted, as well as the attempt to portray a contemporary, if tepid, love story. [3]

Comic book adaptation

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strategic bomber</span> Type of military aircraft

A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, penetrators, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft, which are used in air interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment, strategic bombers are designed to fly into enemy territory to destroy strategic targets. In addition to strategic bombing, strategic bombers can be used for tactical missions. There are currently only three countries that operate strategic bombers: the United States, Russia and China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Efrem Zimbalist Jr.</span> American actor (1918–2014)

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was an American actor best known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice of Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Animated Universe.

<i>Dark Blue World</i> 2001 film by Jan Svěrák

Dark Blue World is a 2001 film by Czech director Jan Svěrák, the Academy Award-winning director of Kolya, about Czech pilots who fought for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. The screenplay was written by Zdeněk Svěrák, the director's father. The film stars Czech actors Ondřej Vetchý, Kryštof Hádek and Oldřich Kaiser. British actors include Tara Fitzgerald, Charles Dance and Anna Massey.

<i>Hell Divers</i> 1932 film

Hell Divers is a 1932 American pre-Code black-and-white film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable as a pair of competing chief petty officers in early naval aviation. The film, made with the cooperation of the United States Navy, features considerable footage of flight operations aboard the Navy's second aircraft carrier, the USS Saratoga, including dramatic shots of takeoffs and landings filmed from the Curtiss F8C-4 Helldiver dive bombers after which the movie was named.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Air Force Base</span> Former US Air Force base in California, US

Castle Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base in California, northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced, and about 115 miles (185 km) south of Sacramento.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Bomb Wing</span> US Air Force unit

The 2nd Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command and the Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The wing is also the host unit at Barksdale. The wing was assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command in February 2010 as part of the reassignment of Eighth Air Force.

<i>Above and Beyond</i> (1952 film) 1952 film by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama

Above and Beyond is a 1952 American World War II film about Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945.

<i>The Chapman Report</i> 1962 film

The Chapman Report is a 1962 American Technicolor drama film starring Shelley Winters, Jane Fonda, Claire Bloom and Glynis Johns. It was made by DFZ Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and Richard D. Zanuck, from a screenplay by Wyatt Cooper and Don Mankiewicz, adapted by Gene Allen and Grant Stuart from Irving Wallace's 1960 novel The Chapman Report. The original music was by Leonard Rosenman, Frank Perkins and Max Steiner, the cinematography by Harold Lipstein, the color coordination images and main title design by George Hoyningen-Huene, and the costume design by Orry-Kelly.

<i>High Flight</i> (film) 1957 British film by John Gilling

High Flight is a 1957 CinemaScope British Cold War film, directed by John Gilling and starring Ray Milland, Bernard Lee and Leslie Phillips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">822d Air Division</span> Military unit

The 822d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, where it was inactivated on 2 September 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">823d Air Division</span> Military unit

The 823d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command (SAC)'s Second Air Force at McCoy Air Force Base, Florida, where it was inactivated on 30 June 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">69th Bomb Squadron</span> US Air Force unit

The 69th Bomb Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. After being inactivated on 31 December 1993, it was reactivated on 3 September 2009 at Minot Air Force Base, and assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing. The squadron operates Boeing B-52H Stratofortress aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy M. Townsend</span> United States Air Force general

Guy Mannering Townsend III was a United States Air Force brigadier general, test pilot, and combat veteran. As an Air Force officer, he served as chief of bomber test at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, flew as co-pilot on the first flight of the B-52 Stratofortress, was test force director for the XB-70 Valkyrie, and served as program director for the C-5 Galaxy and B-1 Lancer. He was the first military pilot to fly the B-47 Stratojet, B-50 Superfortress, B-52 Stratofortress, and the prototype of the KC-135 Stratotanker. During his years at Boeing, he was the head of the Supersonic Transport operations organization.

<i>Hells Horizon</i> 1955 American war film directed by Tom Gries

Hell's Horizon is a 1955 American war film directed by Tom Gries. The film stars John Ireland and Marla English. Hell's Horizon recounts the story of a bomber crew in the Korean War.

<i>The Holy Terror</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by James Tinling

The Holy Terror is a 1937 American comedy drama film directed by James Tinling as a vehicle for child star Jane Withers. The film follows the comic adventures of 11-year-old Withers as she causes mild havoc and catches spies on her father's naval base.

<i>Crack-Up</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Malcolm St. Clair

Crack-Up is a 1936 American film directed by Malcolm St. Clair. Peter Lorre plays a harmless, half-addled aircraft enthusiast who is actually a ruthless spy desperate to get his hands on the blueprints for an experimental aircraft for a trans-Atlantic flight. He faces off against Ace Martin, played by Brian Donlevy, the pilot of the aircraft, whose motives are spurred by feeling cheated by his own company. The supporting cast includes Helen Wood, Ralph Morgan and Thomas Beck.

<i>Ladies Courageous</i> 1944 film by John Rawlins

Ladies Courageous is a 1944 war film based on the novel Looking For Trouble (1941) by Virginia Spencer Cowles. Directed by John Rawlins, the film stars Loretta Young and Geraldine Fitzgerald. It tells the story of the paramilitary Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron formed in the United States during World War II. Film historians and scholars consider Ladies Courageous an à-clef story of famed aviator Jacqueline Cochran and test pilot Nancy Harkness Love's work to mobilize women pilots to contribute to the war effort.

<i>The Crowded Sky</i> 1960 film

The Crowded Sky is a 1960 Technicolor drama film distributed by Warner Bros., produced by Michael Garrison, directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. The film is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Hank Searls.

<i>Bailout at 43,000</i> 1957 film

Bailout at 43,000 is a 1957 American drama film directed by Francis D. Lyon and written by Paul Monash. The film stars John Payne, Karen Steele, Paul Kelly, Richard Eyer, Constance Ford and Eddie Firestone. The film was released on May 1, 1957, by United Artists.

<i>Wild in the Sky</i> 1972 film

Wild in the Sky is a 1972 American action comedy film directed by William T. Naud and starring Georg Stanford Brown, Brandon deWilde, Keenan Wynn, Tim O'Connor, and Dick Gautier. The film was released as Black Jack in New York in December 1973. The film was released by American International Pictures in March 1972.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Leverence 1974, pp. 233–234.
  2. ↑ "Bombers B-52". Turner Classic Movies . Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Fristoe, Roger. "Article: Bombers B-52." Turner Classic Movies.
  4. ↑ Hunter and Muller 2005, p. 147.
  5. ↑ Maltin 2009, p. 158.
  6. 1 2 "'Bombers B-52'; Film at Paramount Stars Karl Malden." The New York Times, November 23, 1957.
  7. ↑ "Dell Four Color #831". Grand Comics Database.
  8. ↑ Dell Four Color #831 at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original )

Bibliography

  • Hunter, Tab and Eddie Muller. Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star. New York: Algonquin Books, 2005. ISBN   978-1565124660.
  • Leverence, John. Irving Wallace: A Writer's Profile. Bowling Green, Ohio: Popular Press 1, 1974. ISBN   978-0879720636.
  • Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2009. New York: New American Library, 2009 (originally published as TV Movies, then Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. ISBN   978-0-451-22468-2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.