Above and Beyond (1952)

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

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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:

Factual errors: Last scene of film depicts a DC 6 aircraft. The DC 6 began operation in 1946 one year after the WWII ended.

Movie Connections:

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

Sticks to the Personal

The actual development of the atomic bomb was documented in films like The Beginning or the End and in Fat Man and Little Boy. Above and Beyond concentrates on the pilot of the B-29 that actually did the deed.

Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker play Colonel and Mrs. Paul Tibbetts who's marriage was put under an incredible strain due to the security surrounding his assignment. Taylor was between his marriages to Barbara Stanwyck and Ursula Thiess and was involved with Parker at the time Above and Beyond was being filmed. Probably that helped a lot during the romantic interludes in the film.

Because this film sticks to the personal story of the Tibbetts marriage and avoids all the debate about the use of the atomic bomb, it still holds up well for today's audience.

In the supporting cast I would have to single out James Whitmore who plays the security head at Wendover field where Tibbetts is training the potential crew for the mission as the most outstanding. He's virtually the only one Taylor can bare his stoic soul to with the assignment he has.

Even with the debate over Hiroshima still raging I would still recommend viewing this film.