A Gathering of Eagles (1963)

Truly Dreadful Film

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I've been waiting since the late 1980s to finally get to see this movie all the way through. Seriously! So, I finally broke down and bought a DVD of it on Amazon.This review MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS so beware!Overall, an OK flick. Pretty good B-52 and KC-135 shots. And, from what I've ever been told, the non-flying scenes were pretty representative of the "walking on eggshells" all the time environment of SAC during the LeMay days (early 1960s Cold War days).It certainly wasn't hard to despise the harda** Caldwell was rapidly becoming turning the Wing around. It wasn't hard to sympathize with the underlings who were pouring themselves into their jobs only to get chastized by Caldwell for doing it.I thought it was hilarious that the guy with 6 stripes in the command post was supposedly going thru his first ORI. From what I'm given to understand ORIs were a part of life at every level in SAC, so there's no way an Operations Master Sergeant would've never gone thru one before that level of rank. But, that's Hollywood for ya.

Well-directed and well-played movie about a tough commander becomes too involved with the pilots in his command . Enjoyable as well as tedious film at times , though . Being designed to showcase the US Air Force's brand-new B-52 Stratofortress bomber, including actual footage of jet plane and as such the studio received complete cooperation from the Air Force . Set during the Cold War and with novelty of peacetime takes place this interesting melodrama . Concerning USA Colonel of a Strategic Aerospace Wing (Rock Hudson) has to shape up his underlings (Robert Lansing , Richard Anderson , Barry Sullivan , Henry Silva , among others) to pass a grueling inspection that the former General had failed, and had been fired for . He is also recently married to beautiful Victoria Caldwell (Mary Peach) , she struggles to adjust to being a good military wife , but Victoria then sees a side to him that she hadn't seen . Meanwhile , there occurs a confrontation between less than likable Col. Jim Caldwell and his friend Col. Hollis Farr (Rod Taylor) . As there crop out gossips surrounding his relationship to Victory Caldwell and things go wrong . As the picture contains a silly and boring family drama with a triangular love story . At the end , it takes place a hard inspection carried out by Gen. 'Happy Jack' Kirby (Kevin McCarthy) . Intimate as well as spectacular WWI airplane movie with an agreeable cast , impressive aerial scenes and thought-provoking themes , being one of the first Hollywood films to deal with the B-52 . This is a family as well as crisp drama about relationship between husband and wife along with the hard-working carried out by Rock Hudson as a tough commanding officer determined to improve efficiency , interwoven with nice aerial footage of B-52 maneuvers . The aviation footage gives the picture a sense of life , as writer Sy Barlett and filmmaker were both previous fliers themselves . This film is an Universal Pictures official studio tribute to the B-52 Stratofortress bomber air craft and the United States Air Force . Interesting script by Robert Pirosh based on a story by Sy Barlett who also wrote in similar style ¨Twelve O'Clock High¨ that was adapted to cinema in a much superior movie by Henry King with Gregory Peck . This was apparently one of the first films in which the US Air Force's new B-52 Stratofortress bomber was featured . It appeared in a number of films afterward, notably Bombers B-52 (1957) , Dr. Strangelove: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), and By Dawn's Early Light (1990). This movie's dedication shown at the start of the film states : The film is dedicated to personnel and pilots of Strategic Aerospace Wing . Rock Hudson plays decently an Air Force Colonel who has just been re-assigned as a cold war B-52 commander determined to improve the alertness and doing whatever he has to do to shape his men up . Fine plethora of secondaries , many of them uncredited , such as Barry Sullivan , Kevin McCarthy , Henry Silva , Nelson Leigh , Robert Lansing ,Richard Anderson , Brandon De Wilde and brief appearance of an unknown Louise Fletcher as patient's spouse . Brilliant cinematography in Cinemascope and Technicolor by Russell Harlan . Thrilling as well as rousing musical score by Jerry Goldsmith . Jerry Goldsmith's opening fanfare was licensed by Cinema International Corporation (CIC) for its vanity plate fanfare ; CIC was an international film distribution company, part owned by Universal . The motion picture was well directed by Delbert Mann who was one of the best-known graduates of "The Golden Age of Television," when live original drama was a staple of network TV , but he also directed classic movies such as ¨Separate tables¨, ¨Desire under the Elms¨ and ¨Marty¨ . And directed Rock Hudson in three successive films as ¨That Touch of Mink¨ , ¨Lover Come Back¨ and ¨A Gathering of Eagles¨ .

"Rock Hudson" is almost synonymous with either lighthearted battle-of-the-sexes romantic comedy (many with Doris Day) or director Douglas Sirk's 'soap' melodrama (two with Jane Wyman), but a serious role in a story about military life (Air Force SAC squadron) is truly a departure.I was fortunate to catch the film "A Gathering of Eagles" 1963 by director Delbert Mann on TCM cable in August when they showed several Rock Hudson movies the same day. This is a rare instance with Rock Hudson in an earnest role and he delivered a mighty convincing Col. Jim Caldwell in the Air Force to shape up the SAC (Strategic Air Command) squadron."A Gathering of Eagles" 1963, is known to be accurate in depicting the lives of SAC men. Director Delbert Mann himself is not unfamiliar with Air Force life, having been a bomber pilot and flew combat missions in the war years. Script by Robert Pirosh gave us a dramatic story covering military duty life in the Air Corps: family and wives, camaraderie spirits, demanding duties/schedules, firm disciplines and technical aspects included. Hudson was solid in his performance as a tough tireless Colonel assigned to lead the SAC members to ensure they're tightly trained with repeated alert exercises, that the fighter bombers be in absolute tip-top conditions for any unannounced "ORI" (operational readiness inspection).Cinematography by Russell Harlan with editing by Russell Schoengarth 'showcased' scenes of "MITO" (Minimum Interval Take Off) of B-52's and aircraft aerials quite impressively. Good supporting cast includes Rod Taylor as Col. Hollis Farr, Barry Sullivan as Col. Bill Fowler, Henry Silva as Col. Joe Garcia, Leora Dana as Mrs. Fowler, and Mary Peach as Victoria Caldwell, the British wife to Hudson's colonel. Besides the involving 'storyline' of the day to day challenges of Col. Caldwell's military responsibilities, the family aspect of balancing the role of a loving husband to Victoria is well portrayed. The script poignantly afforded uncertainty situations in the mix for Peach, as 'military' wives may have to go through - adapting herself and trying to understand and to cope with her husband's dedication to the Air Force in his chosen career.Music score is by the prolific Jerry Goldsmith. "A Gathering of Eagles" is not yet on DVD. Hope to catch it again on cable/TV, or VHS rental.Other serious roles by Rock Hudson: "Seconds" 1966, the intriguing thriller/science-fiction directed by John Frankenheimer, enhanced by remarkable b/w cinematography by James Wong Howe. "Hornets' Nest" 1970, a wartime WWII story set in Italy with an 'army' of young boys helping Hudson's Captain Turner to complete his mission (I stumbled onto this movie one late TCM cable night). He's also in Douglas Sirk's "The Tarnish Angels" 1958, appearing once again with Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone (they were in Sirk's melodrama "Written on the Wind" 1956).

A fair amount of military detail went into this examination of the Strategic Air Corps and its internal machinations along with the effect of Air Force life on a marriage. Hudson plays an Air Force Colonel placed in charge of base at which there is fear that the men may not pass the next surprise test in which McCarthy shows up and expects near perfection in the expulsion of B-52 bombers into the air. Taylor, as Hudson's second-in-command, was present when McCarthy failed to pass a previous commander and that man was discharged. Taking no chances, Hudson runs roughshod over practically everyone. He even cans a fellow colonel (Sullivan) when he suspects that his drinking may limit the base's chances for success. This particular move threatens Hudson's marriage as his new wife Peach has grown close to Sullivan's wife Dana and Peach can't understand the stoic, cheerless, never-ending demands of running an Air Force base. She tends to identify more with the laid-back Taylor, but unfortunately, this creates rumors on the base, and even more tension when Hudson begins to doubt Taylor's strength as an officer. Hudson, typically a very likable persona on screen, enjoys himself in this authoritative role and does a decent job. His marriage to Peach seems rather unbelievable, mostly because they just don't seem compatible even from the beginning, but they do manage to muster up a certain amount of chemistry. Taylor, an even more amiable performer than Hudson, does well here and is able to offer more dimension in his portrayal than Hudson is allowed to. Peach has an attractive figure, but just seems out of place in the film, perhaps because of her English accent and manner. The love story might have carried more weight if the couple had just been regular Americans facing a marital crisis. Her British formality puts her on the outside practically from the beginning. Sullivan handles his role nicely as does Dana as his concerned wife. McCarthy, though his role is brief, looks about as good as he ever did in films. A number of other familiar actors pop up in the cast including Silva, Lansing and Anderson as officers serving under Hudson. Lansing, in particular, has a nice, understated scene with Hudson in a steam room. Future Oscar-winner Fletcher appears briefly as the wife of an appendicitis patient. While not a stellar military film (perhaps due to its peace time setting), this does provide insight into some of the inner working of the Air Force and offers some degree of tension as in the scene in which the inside of a plane is doused in gasoline. It's also admirable in its attempts to show the marital strain that can occur within the armed services, though those scenes tend to lean towards the unrealistic. A bombastic Goldsmith score doesn't always work. Some of the set-ups and techniques foreshadow what would later be seen in "Airport" and "Airport 1975", albeit using domestic planes instead of military ones.