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Equipping Christians to think, speak, and act

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Twelve O’Clock High

Drama / War
1949 / 132 minutes
RATING: 8/10

When the Americans first entered WWII they did so with a small air force – it would take them time to really amp up the production of fighters and bombers – but no shortage of vital missions that required doing. That meant they needed a “maximal effort” from the men they did have to cover the gap until more men and more materials could be had. But what exactly is a “maximal effort”? How far and how hard can a man be pushed before he crumbles under the strain?

When the commander of the 918 Bomber Squadron is pushed past the breaking point, General Frank Savage takes over. His job is to transform the struggling squadron back into an effective fighting force. But how long can he endure the strain of command himself, losing men almost every mission, before he too crumbles under the strain?

Cautions

None to note. This is a war film, but most of the action is off screen, and talked about rather than shown.

Conclusion

The film’ title is a reference to how the German fighter pilots would often attack the bombers head-on, coming then, from “twelve o’clock high.”

The film has all sorts of kudos – it has been called “probably the best picture  about the pressures which war imposes on those at the top.” It was nominated for 4 Oscars (including Best Picture) and won two, including a nod for Best Supporting Actor. And it remained popular enough to spawn a highly rated 3-season 1960s TV version called 12 O’Clock High.

This is one of my own favorite World War II era films, completed just 5 years after war’s end. There is an authenticity here that just can’t be found in modern-day renditions – actors today didn’t experience what everyone, soldiers and their loved ones, lived through at the time. So, two thumbs way up!

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Drama, Movie Reviews

Flying Tigers

Drama / War / Black and White 104 minutes / 1942 RATING: 7/10 On January 3, 1942, just one month after Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a group of three American fliers staged a daring attack on a Japanese base in Thailand. The three were not members of the US military, but were, instead, part of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) – they were civilians hired by the US government. The AVG was going to be an unofficial group that could help the Chinese fight the Japanese, even as the US remained officially neutral. But delays in the group's initial organization meant they only saw action after war had been declared. Flying Tigers is about the 1st AVG, the group that led America's first daring response to the Japanese attack. But as movies do, there are some liberties taken with the facts. In the film version Capt. Jim Gordon (John Wayne) and the 1st AVG have been conducting attacks on the Japanese long before his country's official entry into the war. What isn't a liberty is how successful the Flying Tigers are shown to be. On film and in real life the 1st AVG was constantly and often massively outnumbered, and yet never lost an air battle (they are credited with at least 296 kills, while only 14 of their own pilots were killed). Still, as the fighting continues, the casualties do come, and Capt. Gordon has to take whatever pilots he can find, even if some of them are troublemakers. And the biggest troublemaker of them all is Capt. Gordon's independent and down-right self-absorbed buddy Woody Jason. This film has a message and it's the same one that Woody Jason has to learn: to win this war that independent streak that's so much a part of the American make-up will need to be restrained. Yes, individual ambition helped make America prosperous, but ambition unrestrained is simply selfishness. What Woody learns can be summed up in biblical terms: we need to govern our ambition with the Second Greatest Commandment. Selfish ambition makes Woody despised; ambition and a love for his neighbor makes him remarkable. Cautions There is very little blood shown – a Japanese pilot will get hit, throw his hands up to his face, and then, for a moment, we will see blood seeping between his fingers before the scene cuts away. That happens a half dozen or so times. The only other warning would concern the portrayal of the Chinese and Japanese.  They only make brief appearances, but when they do they come off as a little bit silly or simple. That can be credited in part to the language barrier - anyone speaking a language they only partially know is going to sound a little simple. But there's also likely an element of racism here, which parents might want to point out to their kids. Conclusion A modern audience might find the pacing in the first 30 minutes slow, up until Woody Jason shows up. So some patience is required, but this is a fascinating look at the earliest of America's action against Japan. It would be a good one for John Wayne fans, and for a family with kids who are 10 and up who have an interest in World War II...and who haven't had their attention span ruined by constant video and TV watching. ...