Above and Beyond (1952)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Melvin Frank
Norman Panama

Writers:

Beirne Lay Jr. (story)
Melvin Frank (writer) ...

Release Date:

2 January 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Biography | Drama

Tagline:

"You're not the man I married. Not any more. You're ambitious...cold...and heartless!"

Plot:

Story of Col. Paul Tibbetts, the man who piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in World War 2.

Plot Keywords:

WWII | Nuclear Weapons | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets 509th Composite Group CO (pilot of Enola Gay)
Eleanor Parker	...	Lucey Tibbets
James Whitmore	...	Maj. William 'Bill' Uanna - Security Officer, Operation Silverplate
Larry Keating	...	Maj. Gen. Vernon C. Brent
Larry Gates	...	Capt. William 'Deak' Parsons, USN
Marilyn Erskine	...	Marge Bratton
Stephen Dunne	...	Maj. Harry Bratton, Co-pilot B-29 tests
Robert Burton	...	Gen. Samuel E. Roberts (Tibbets' CO in Africa)
Hayden Rorke	...	Dr. Ramsey
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Dr. Van Dyke (as Larry Dobkin)
Jack Raine	...	Dr. Fiske
Jonathan Cott	...	Capt. Dutch van Kirk (navigator, Enola Gay)
Jeff Richards	...	Maj. Thomas Ferebee (Enola Gay bombardier)
Dick Simmons	...	Capt. Robert A. Lewis (co-pilot, Enola Gay)
John McKee	...	Staff Sergeant Wyatt E. Duzenbury, Enola Gay Flight Engineer

Also Known As:

Eagle on His Cap (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The sequences showing the bombing of Hiroshima were lifted from another MGM film, The Beginning or the End (1947), which was about the development and use of the first atomic bombs.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the B-29 is on final approach for the crash landing the wheels are up but when it crashes the left wheel is down. It's also a B-17 crashing, not the B-29.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980) (TV)

Good Work

Real good work. Its straight ahead, no frills film-making had me in its grip every step of the way. Just a good old-fashioned major studio A picture; it's like tooling around in a luxury car. And I don't care what anybody says - Robert Taylor was a fine actor. I've seen a number of his films now and he hasn't given a bad performance yet. It is a tad disconcerting to have Mr. McGoo playing General Curtis LeMay, but it's a small part and I let it slide.