97th Bombardment Group, 12 O'Clock High, etc

[John Beaman]

Well, still one of the greatest “war flicks” of all time. Many people here may not realize what a sea change this film was. For the first time, in American filmography, US service men were shown as less than heroes, mortal, afraid and making mistakes. Prior to this, all WWII films showed most characters as stalwart, and unflinching.

The opening scene where the B-17 belly lands was by Paul Mantz, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, aerial stunt pilot in Hollywood history. They used real B-17s which would make all of us cringe, today, but, it was 1949 and there were still lots of B-17s around. Mantz was killed when trying to fly that contraption in the original “Flight of the Phoenix”.

Almost all of the base scene filming was done in Alabama, hence the persimmon and scrub oak trees not usually found in England!

But, that first scene with Dean Jager standing on the landing stand, the engine sounds, and the prop wind blowing the grass…hard to beat!

Lastly, I believe that Gary Merrill, the deposed BG Commander, was briefly on the 1950s Hollywood “blacklist”. He was married to Betty Davis one of filmdom’s greatest actresses.