IMDb RATING
6.3/10
4.1K
YOUR RATING
An ex-pilot and current baseballer is recalled into the U.S. Air Force and assumes an increasingly important role in Cold War deterrence.An ex-pilot and current baseballer is recalled into the U.S. Air Force and assumes an increasingly important role in Cold War deterrence.An ex-pilot and current baseballer is recalled into the U.S. Air Force and assumes an increasingly important role in Cold War deterrence.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Rosemary DeCamp
- Mrs. Thorne
- (as Rosemary De Camp)
John McKee
- Capt. Symington
- (as John R. McKee)
Harry Morgan
- Sgt. Bible - Flight Engineer
- (as Henry Morgan)
Mary Ellen Batten
- Woman in Cafe
- (uncredited)
Helen Brown
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
Glen Denning
- Sgt. Jones - Radio Operator
- (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Don Haggerty
- Major - Patrol Commander
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJames Stewart joined the Army Air Corps during World War II, and flew combat missions in Europe. At war's end, he transferred to the Reserve as a colonel. He remained an active pilot in the Air Force Reserve, and was trained on the B-36 and B-47 bombers which he flew in this film. He flew one combat mission over Vietnam in a B-52. He retired as Brigadier General James Maitland Stewart, USAFR in 1968. In 1985 he was promoted on the retired list to Major General (by his friend, President Ronald Reagan), making him the highest ranking member of the military of anyone ever in the acting profession.
- GoofsAt one point, Dutch refers to his old aircraft as a B-24, not a B-29 as mentioned earlier in the film (an understandable mistake, since Jimmy Stewart commanded a B-24 Liberator during WWII, flying 29 combat missions).
- Quotes
Sergeant: [Seeing General Hawkes speaking to the men on the flight line while smoking a cigar, whispering to Holland] Sir, that cigar. Doesn't the general know that the aircraft might explode?
Lt. Col. Robert 'Dutch' Holland: It wouldn't dare.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Entertainment This Week Salutes Paramount's 75th Anniversary (1987)
- SoundtracksThe Air Force Takes Command
Music by Victor Young
Lyrics by Ned Washington and Major Tommy Thomson Jr.
Featured review
Highly Detailed Slice of Military Life in the Cold War
This is not to echo the previous review but to emphasize that the best way to see this film is to use your fast forward and run past all the whiny scenes with June Allyson. Though I probably had a crush on her at the time, her performance now grates on me. The main reason to watch this is for the details of the B-36s, the B-47s, and the on location scenes of long ago air bases, including the one in Morocco which has long been abandoned. These "real time" films are what we historians of military life and culture now study for details that cannot be found in any other source. Even the crudest comedies such as when Abbott and Costello get drafted and the army antics of Martin and Lewis are useful in this regard if in no other. So rent it or buy it and enjoy the great flying scenes. And in this film especially enjoy Frank Lovejoy's scenery chewing and cigar chewing. From the rear he even looks like Curtis LeMay.
helpful•142
- elcutach
- Nov 6, 2000
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,500,000
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Sound mix
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content