12 O'Clock High (also known as Twelve O'Clock High) is an American drama series set in World War II. This TV series was originally broadcast on ABC-TV for two-and-one-half TV seasons from September 18, 1964, through January 13, 1967; it was based on the motion pictureTwelve O'Clock High (1949). The series was a co-production of 20th Century Fox Television (Fox had also produced the movie) and QM Productions (one of their few non-law enforcement series). This show is one of the two QM shows not to display a copyright notice at the beginning, but rather at the end (the other was A Man Called Sloane) and the only one not to display the standard "A QM Production" closing card on the closing credits.
The series follows the missions of the fictitious 918th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), equipped with B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers, stationed at Archbury Field, England (a fictitious air base). For the first season, many of the characters from the book and 1949 movie were retained, including Brigadier General Frank Savage, Major Harvey Stovall, Major Cobb, Doc Kaiser, and General Pritchard, albeit played by different actors from in the motion picture. In addition to these characters, several other infrequently reappearing characters were introduced, including Captain (later Major) Joseph "Joe" Gallagher, who appeared in two episodes (episodes 1 and 24).
At the end of the first season, the studio executives decided a younger-looking lead actor was needed.[1] In the first episode of the second season, General Savage, played by Robert Lansing, was killed in action and replaced by Colonel Joe Gallagher, played by Paul Burke. (Burke, though considered more youthful-looking than Lansing, was actually two years older, a fact that TV critics were quick to point out.) The decision to replace Lansing with Burke proved unpopular and the ratings began to drop quickly.
The character Joe Gallagher's father was Lt. General Maxwell Gallagher, played by Barry Sullivan. Burke and Sullivan had previously worked together in the TV series Harbormaster. In an interview given by Lansing on The Mike Douglas Show in 1965,[2] Lansing mentioned that had he known what a boost to his career 12 O'Clock High was, he never would have fired himself. Savage was killed off in a way so as not to require Lansing's participation. According to TV Guide, ABC moved the show from a 10:00 pm Friday time slot to a 7:30 pm Monday time slot for the second season to capture a younger audience.[3] It was hoped that TV viewers would identify more with a colonel rather than an Army Air Corps general.[3] Lansing, had he remained, would have received limited air time with Burke's addition.[3]
For the second season, most of the supporting cast from the first season was replaced, with the exception of Major Stovall, Doc Kaiser, and an occasional appearance by General Pritchard. Other actors who did reappear after the first season played other characters. Edward Mulhare appeared twice – as different Luftwaffe officers. Bruce Dern appeared four times as three different characters. Tom Skerritt appeared five times, each time in a different role.
Lansing (top) in 1965Lansing in 1965
The first two seasons were filmed in black-and-white, as ABC did not mandate prime time shows to be in color until the 1966-1967 season, but it also allowed the inclusion of actual World War II combat footage supplied by the U.S. Air Force and the library of 20th Century Fox movies.[4] The inclusion of combat footage was often obvious, as it was often quite degraded. Limited usable combat footage often resulted in the same shot being reused in multiple episodes. For the third season, the TV series was filmed in color, but this season only ran for 17 episodes, with the series being canceled in midseason. Some of the combat footage used for the third season seemed to be in black-and-white footage tinted blue. Film footage from the 1940s was also used for take-offs and landings since the one B-17 to which the show had access could only taxi. To simulate different aircraft, it was frequently repainted.[1]
In later episodes, Gallagher flew as "mission control" in a North American P-51 Mustang. This plot scheme was added to cut production costs. The single-engine Mustang costs less to fly than the four-engined B-17, and requires only a single pilot rather than two pilots and several crewmen.[contradictory] A wartime precedent for this existed, however: Maj.-Gen. Earle E. Partridge, the G-3 (operations) commander of the 8th Air Force, used a P-51 modified for photo-reconnaissance work to take photographs of his bomber group formations for training and critiquing purposes.[5]
12 O'Clock High was created in an episodic format, with no particular order for the episodes. A trio of episodes produced about a shuttle air raid to North Africa was in fact never aired in story order (episode 44 "We're Not Coming Back", episode 37 "Big Brother", and episode 38 "The Hotshot"). The stories were often based more on character drama than action, usually involving individuals who felt the need to redeem themselves in the eyes of others. Other story lines focused on actual war events, such as the development of bombing through cloud cover using radar, and the complexities of operating a large fleet of (often malfunctioning) B-17s.
The B-17 belonged to Ed Maloney's Air Museum, B-17E, F, and G models of the Flying Fortress (the latter with the chin turret) were used interchangeably. The inclusion of actual combat and crash footage often resulted in the tail designations of the bombers changing between film shots.
The segments in 1966 had the former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot Lynn Garrison coordinating the aerial footage. Garrison had been drawn to the project by his friend, Robert Lansing. Garrison owned the P-51 used in the series.
As of February 2020, the Heroes & Icons channel broadcasts the series as part of its Saturday night lineup.
Cast
Stars
Robert Lansing as Brigadier General Frank Savage (season 1)
Twelve O'Clock High is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force, who flew daylight bombing missions against Nazi Germany and occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II, including a thinly disguised version of the notorious Black Thursday strike against Schweinfurt. The film was adapted by Sy Bartlett, Henry King (uncredited) and Beirne Lay Jr. from the 1948 novel 12 O'Clock High, also by Bartlett and Lay. It was directed by King and stars Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell and Dean Jagger.
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Dean Jeffries Jagger was an American film, stage and television actor who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Henry King's Twelve O'Clock High (1949).
Stovall may refer to:
Robert Lansing was an American stage, film, and television actor. Lansing's motion picture roles included A Gathering of Eagles with Rock Hudson and Under the Yum Yum Tree opposite Jack Lemmon. On television, he appeared in episodes of such hits as Star Trek, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and Murder, She Wrote. Lansing is probably best remembered as the authoritarian Brig. Gen. Frank Savage in 12 O'Clock High (1964), the television drama series about World War II bomber pilots.
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Beirne Lay Jr., was an American author, aviation writer, Hollywood screenwriter, and combat veteran of World War II with the U.S. Army Air Forces. He is best known for his collaboration with Sy Bartlett in authoring the novel Twelve O'Clock High and adapting it into a major film.
Paul Raymond Burke was an American actor best known for his lead roles in two 1960s ABC television series, Naked City and Twelve O'Clock High. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of New York Police Department detective Adam Flint in Naked City.
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↑ Etter, Jonathan; Grauman, Walter (2003). Quinn Martin, Producer: A Behind-the-scenes History of QM Productions and Its Founder. McFarland. p.48. ISBN0-7864-1501-0.
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