Watching 'Twelve O'Clock High'

Aug. 28, 1988

Last January I was saddened and amazed to see CBS stoop to broadcasting one of the most baldfaced examples of plot and dialogue plagiarism I've seen on network television.  "Alone in the Neon Jungle" was a flimsy made-for-TV movie that was so cheaply put together that apparently the producers decided to save money by stealing huge chunks of dialogue and plot, without even changing their sequence from the rousing 1949 film, "Twelve O'Clock High."

I pointed out in a letter to CBS that although the movies have different settings, one a wartime air base and the other a police station, "Twelve O'Clock High" is no more about a bombing wing than is "Alone in the Neon Jungle" about a cop house.  Both movies are about the problem of leadership, and in every instance of plot concerning the key theme of leadership, the movies are the same.

CBS never replied.

So why am I bringing up seven-month-old history?  Because the original "Twelve O'Clock High" is on Cinemax this month and it should appeal to every thinking adult whose taste extends beyond beefcake, cheesecake and car chases.

From the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography to the lovely Alfred Newman music, this one is a treat for the eyes and ears.  The movie opens with Major Stovall (Dean Jagger in a much deserved Academy Award winning performance) returning to his old bomber base in England.  As he stands looking at the abandoned buildings and the overgrown runways, the camera moves toward his face and , in one of the most moving transitions in all films, pans slowly to the grass and , as we hear motors cough into life, the grass ripples with the wash of powerful propellers and we are in the past.

Stovall relives, in the extended flashback, the early history of the 918th Bomber Group, it's hard luck reputation, it's change of command, with Gregory Peck's General Savage whipping the 918th into shape, the loss of hundreds of men and the problems of leadership Savage has to solve.

This is not your typical flag-waver like John Wayne and Randolph Scott used to make during the that war, or John Wayne and Clint Eastwood made more recently.  Rather it is more in the tradition of "The Bridges at Toko Ri" or "Full Metal Jacket," a thinking person's action film.  As involving as are the airplanes, the spectacular crash-landing at the start of the film, and the more spectacular combat footage towards the end, the important stuff happens inside people's heads, and it is this that the movie succeeds so well in portraying.

The movie does have it's detractions.  By 1949 it was well realized that daylight precision bombing with no fighter escort was simply not as effective as its proponents hoped it would be.  The losses of machines and crews would get worse until the Mustang fighter with it's long-range drop-tank could escort the bombers to their targets in 1944.  But from the perspective of 1942-43 which this movie takes, one can hardly fault the commanders for their hopes that Germany could be beaten into submission without the dreadful losses a landing on Europe would entail.

Enormously popular when released the movie was remade in 1962 as "A Gathering of Eagles" starring Rock Hudson with the Cold War as a backdrop, and was made into a TV series from 1964 until 1967.

"Twelve O'Clock High" plays on Cinemax on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
                                   *****

                               Convention Comment

During the Republican Convention I switched back and forth between C-Span (gavel-to-gavel) and the three networks (we'll show what we like if it doesn't cut into our profits).  At one point during Jack Kemp's speech, CBS was focused on Kemp, NBC was interviewing Barry Goldwater and ABC was showing a commercial, and throughout the convention all networks failed to show us, which is what TV is about, what was going on.

All the big events, Reagan's speech, Bush's acceptance, were covered by all, but it is often the lesser lights of a party who show where it is going and I think that those of us not lucky enough to have cable or a satellite dish should be able to hear what these people are saying to the convention.

Surely public affairs shouldn't be treated the same as a lighter fare, and certainly reporters who try to make news where there is none do not serve the public.

Mac Rush works in the Banner composing room