Diagonaldi Very well executed

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

eflapinskas-475-718265 I know many reviewers here delve into the aspect of SAC life and the B- 36. My overall take on this film is about sacrifice to keep America safe and individual patriotism. Short and to the point."Jimmy" Stewart was well chosen for the role as he was a high ranking AF officer himself. This is not to mention that he actually flew bombing missions in WWII.

JohnHowardReid With a rentals gross of $6 million, the film ranks in 11th position as one of the most popular movies in the domestic market for 1955. Thanks to Stewart's popularity, the movie also did well at the British box-office , but in Australia it proved a dud. Booked as the Christmas attraction at Sydney's most prestigious Prince Edward, it was yanked after only three weeks of what was anticipated to be an eight or ten-week season. It was replaced by a stop-gap "Lucy Gallant" for three weeks before "To Catch a Thief" started its mightily successful run in early February.Stewart has a tailored part. He was himself a pilot during WW2 and his public also identified him with baseball, thanks to "The Stratton Story". Alas, despite flattering photography, the ageing star is obviously too old for the role. He doesn't engage our sympathy because no Air Force in its right senses would call on such an old crock to man its new super-planes. Stewart's magic just doesn't work here. He seems so out of place, we don't even expect him to break out into a Glenn Miller number. He looks plain miscast. When he's called upon to do more than just recite his lines, he mugs atrociously. Nearing the end of his long partnership with Anthony Mann, it seems that Stewart had simply tired of taking direction.The writing is superficial and dull. On the ground especially, the movie's a super dud, as boring in 2017 as it was when first released. Miss Allyson clogs up the works, Lovejoy fulminates about the patriotic necessity of SAC, Bennett is wasted in a tiny role. A couple of brief action sequences and some spectacular aerial shots of the planes in flight, are all that save a very dismal movie experience.

jhkp This is actually one of the few good films made in the 1950s about the cold war. It's not full of unpalatable, heavy-handed anti-Communist propaganda. Instead, it's a believable human story of a man and his wife struggling to understand why it's necessary for him to give up his current way of life (as a major-league baseball player with a new home) to help defend his country in peacetime. James Stewart and June Allyson again prove to be a great screen couple in an involving, well-acted, ultimately moving story that was a huge hit in its day.Sally Holland (Allyson) questions why her husband, Dutch (Stewart), agrees to return to active service when there's no war. Dutch tries to make her understand that "it is a kind of war." This argument occurs to illustrate the need for active vigilance vs. passive indifference in the ongoing Cold War. The whole film seems to exist to illustrate the rightness of Stewart's side of the argument, and to show those in the audience thinking more like Allyson that to refuse to defend against the threat of nuclear war with the Soviets is irresponsible.Yet there's a sort of subversive undercurrent in the film that suggests Allyson has a point. And I think this is why the film remains one of the more subtle Cold War propaganda films. The writing and direction (Anthony Mann) manage to respect the characters rather than the ideology.Meanwhile we have an entertaining story in stunning VistaVision and Technicolor, really superb cinematography (both on the ground and in the skies), and a great score by Victor Young which has several beautiful themes.The supporting cast contains several actors who were stars in their own right: Barry Sullivan, Alex Nicol, Bruce Bennett, Frank Lovejoy (as General Hawks, a Curtis LeMay type), as well as James Millican, Jay C. Flippen, James Bell, Harry Morgan, and Rosemary DeCamp. The fact that many of these very important actors would take what were almost bit parts, in some cases, speaks to the importance of this project. The poignant ending is also extraordinary and unexpected. Dutch Holland, having given up an amazing career that would be the envy of most men in order to serve his country as a pilot, sustains an injury that leaves him unable to fly, as well as unable to return to a career in sports. It's a great irony. Stewart hasn't literally given his life for his country, but he's given up a great deal. It's an example of the unspoken heroism of so many who served. The final scene says it all, as we see the mixture of emotions on Stewart's face as he stands with Allyson watching the planes flying. And then the camera cuts away and the film is over. A very moving moment beautifully acted by the stars. By the way, it's not June Allyson's fault that in this film she had to play a kind of devil's advocate role that forced her to question a lot of her husband's and the Air Force's prerogatives, for the sake of exposition. She does a good job, even though some of what she's asked to do would probably be more easy to accept coming from a younger, more emotionally immature bride. Nonetheless, If you enjoy the chemistry she and Stewart have on the screen, as I do, you'll appreciate their artistry and subtlety in their scenes together. They give an emotional slant to an essentially technical, military story. At the time, both stars were at the top of their careers, being the most popular stars at the box office in 1955. In 2016, Olive Films released a beautiful print on DVD and Blu-ray, in wide screen.

mban64 OK, so it's not perfect... So, you could guess the "trite" plot, etc...Is that wrong? It seems so many times, "fans" tend to rip apart films, especially "old" films. I find that most members of the younger generations--and some other "experts" (I was born in 64) tend to "rag" on films like this. They tend to compare them to the more "realistic" things that Hollywood is cranking out now. To truly appreciate a film like this, or "Twelve O Clock High", or "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", you must put yourself in the "frame of mind" of those who made the film and those who watched the film AT THAT TIME, and, too, the EVENTS THAT WERE GOING ON. (Too bad most young people spend their time playing video games or watching something as trivial as today's NFL.) Only THEN can you TRULY appreciate what the makers were trying to say. This seems to be a problem with Hollywood now, as they are continuing to remake older films (The Day the Earth Stood Still) because, I guess, the original version is too "trite" and "predictable".WHAT !!!!!!!!!!!!Sorry, got carried away. Yes, this movie has FANTASTIC footage of the B-36 and the B-47, but, it is a fine movie in it's own right. Yes, it IS a bit of a flag-waver, but what else would you expect from the fine people who made this and were in the film. And, you don't need to be a "flag-waver" to enjoy it! I'm not!