grantss Excellent portrayal of the US heavy bomber offensive in Europe in WW2. Gregory Peck is superb as the hard-nosed group commander (but, then, that is a given I guess - I can't think of a less-than-great performance by him).

sol- Placed in charge of bomber unit, a hard-nosed general gradually softens as he realises the devastating mental impact on the soldiers under his command in this World War II drama. Gregory Peck gives a commanding performance as the general in question whose initial stance that "there isn't time" to "ease up" eventually vanishes as he learns more and more about the crippling effects of the near fatal missions on his troops. This is also one of the earliest movies to look at the psychological effects of war on individuals with a bitter irony in how the soldiers who survive their missions are only rewarded with more and more dangerous missions. For a film that wants us to sympathise with lowest ranking soldiers though, we get to know relatively few of them in any depth. Indeed, much of the film is spent on Peck and his subordinate officers debating how to treat their troops. This is not really a big detractor since Dean Jagger, Hugh Marlowe and others provide solid performances in such roles, but it does feel a little odd that we only get to see one bombing run in detail - and this insight comes relatively late into the film too. If one perceives the film as a character study of Peck's general first and foremost though, it is hard to disagree with the film's approach. Certainly, his character trajectory is easy to predict, but Peck is convincing every step of the way on the road to an eventual near complete change of heart. The film features some excellent audio and visual effects too even if the reliance on stock footage grows a tad irksome.

gavin6942 A hard-as-nails general takes over a bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.What do you know about Paul Tibbets? If that name means anything at all to you, it is probably that he dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan. But he also flew air missions over Europe in 1942. This guy was everywhere."Twelve O'Clock High" is considered culturally important, and I would have to agree. If nothing else, it does have the Americans over Europe, which frankly is something few people know about. The story is normally that following Pearl Harbor (December 1941), America declared war on Japan. There was no invasion of Europe until June 1944. But that is not strictly speaking accurate.

capt_cleere This movie is just plain out incredible. One of my favorite movies ever is Patton, and after watching 12 o'clock high, I can see how Patton got it's template. I'm sure many other movies copied the magic of 12 O'clock High. So many movies loose their focus by thinking they need a love interest planted into it. This movie didn't lower the bar and force that in. I spent 16 years of my life in three different services and all being aviation. For 6 years I was part of an aircrew, this movie kept it real all the way, I wish anything that modern movies would keep things as real as this movie did, a movie that was filmed over 50 years ago. Dean Jagger's character "Maj. Harvey Stovall" was just as important as Gregory Peck's "Gen. Frank Savage" part. Jagger was absolutely awesome as the action starved paper pusher that picks up exactly what Gen. Savage is putting down, helping him stall the pilot's transfers. After every movie I watch, I always think to myself, "If I was the Director, what would I of done different?" This is one of those very few movies that just came out perfect. It has the perfect actors, perfect storyline, perfect editing, and perfect ending, what else can I say,,,, this is just a perfect movie.