Above and Beyond (1952)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Melvin Frank
Norman Panama

Writers:

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

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
Pat Conway	...	Pfc. Richard H. Nelson, Enola Gay Radio Operator (as Patrick Conway)
Christopher Olsen	...	Little Paul (as Christie Olsen)
William F. Leicester	...	Jim - Sfc. Driver (as William Lester)
Barbara Ruick	...	Mary Malone
Jim Backus	...	Gen. Curtis E. LeMay
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Pickard	...	Miller
Harlan Warde	...	Chaplain Downey
John Baer	...	Captain (uncredited)
Tom Bernard	...	Private (uncredited)
Robert Board	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
John Close	...	Co-pilot (uncredited)
Fred Coby	...	Guard (uncredited)
Dick Cogan	...	Photographer (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins	...	Maj. Gen. Creston (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Wife at Washington D.C. Airport (uncredited)
Robert Fuller	...	(uncredited)
Frank Gerstle	...	SSgt. Wilson (uncredited)
Don Gibson	...	Dexter (uncredited)
Tom Gibson	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Richard Grayson	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
Dabbs Greer	...	Steve Haddock - the Operations Officer (uncredited)
Sam Hayes	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)
John Hedloe	...	Lt. Malone (uncredited)
Don Hicks	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
Joseph Keane	...	Public Relations Officer (uncredited)
Dorothy Kennedy	...	Nurse (uncredited)
John Milton Kennedy	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Don Kohler	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Jack Lomas	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Herbert Lytton	...	Captain Parsons' Doctor (uncredited)
Lee MacGregor	...	Gen. Roberts' Aide (uncredited)
Kurt Martell	...	Major (uncredited)
Roger McGee	...	Johnson (uncredited)
Sammy McKim	...	Captain (uncredited)
Walter Merrill	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Husband at Washington D.C. Airport (uncredited)
Ewing Mitchell	...	Gen. Kenneth Bonner Wolfe (uncredited)
Steve Mitchell	...	Guard (uncredited)
Roger Moore	...	Civilian (uncredited)
Thomas Murray	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Allen O'Locklin	...	Photographer (uncredited)
George Pembroke	...	Civilian (uncredited)
Barry Rado	...	Paul Jr. - Age 2 (uncredited)
Norman Rado	...	Paul Jr. - Age 2 (uncredited)
William Ruhl	...	Civilian (uncredited)
Dick Ryan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Paul F. Smith	...	Sergeant Sign Painter (uncredited)
Robert Stevenson	...	Military Police Officer (uncredited)
Edward Tierney	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey	...	Los Alamos Scientist (uncredited)
Gregory Walcott	...	Burns (uncredited)
Guy Way	...	Soldier at Washington D.C. Airport (uncredited)
Crane Whitley	...	Gen. Corlane (uncredited)
Mack Williams	...	Col. Bill Irvine (uncredited)
Ward Wood	...	Talkative Sergeant (uncredited)

Directed by
Melvin Frank
Norman Panama

Writing credits
Beirne Lay Jr.		(story)
Melvin Frank		(writer) and
Norman Panama		(writer) and
Beirne Lay Jr.		(writer)

Produced by
Melvin Frank	....	producer
Norman Panama	....	producer

Original Music by
Hugo Friedhofer

Cinematography by
Ray June

Film Editing by
Cotton Warburton

Art Direction by
Malcolm Brown
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Ralph S. Hurst		(as Ralph Hurst)
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joel Freeman	....	assistant director
Marvin Stuart	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Editorial Department
Peter Ballbusch	....	montage

Music Department
André Previn	....	conductor

Other crew
Major James B. Bean	....	technical advisor: USAF
Lieutenant Colonel Charles E.H. Begg	....	technical advisor: USAF
Major Norman W. Ray	....	technical advisor: USAF

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1979) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)

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)

An extraordinary film, for a variety of reasons.

Considering that "Above and Beyond" was made during the height of the hysteria now known as McCarthyism, one would have expected a jingoistic flag-waver out of Hollywood. Instead, surprisingly, the screenplay as written allows the Paul Tibbets character (Robert Taylor) the opportunity to register a variety of emotions, in a most realistic and compelling performance.

This is ironic, seeing as the real Tibbets, decades after the event (the bombing of Hiroshima), is to this day unrepentant. Not to criticize his position in any way, because that was a different time and place, and it's Tibbets' view that he had a job to do, and the morality of it all, he has stated, is best debated by others.

But the film is all the more compelling because of the ambivalence written into the Tibbets character, and Taylor's especially fine work. There are uniformly strong performances throughout the cast, notably those of Eleanor Parker (Lucy Tibbets), James Whitmore (the security officer) and Larry Keating (General Brent).

Another surprise: the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama (screenplay, direction) had been best known for their Bob Hope comedies, when under contract at Paramount. Their first dramatic effort was "Above and Beyond," and they acquitted themselves admirably.

Final note: the musical score by Hugo Friedhofer is immensely satisfying: stirring in an emotional sense, with just a touch of, but not too much of, militaristic flavor.

Dore Schary, a Democrat, had succeeded fervent Republican Louis B. Mayer at MGM in 1951, and had encouraged the production of "Above and Beyond." One wonders if (a) the film would have been made at all on Mayer's watch, and (b) if it had, would it have been more of a cornball, John Wayne-type flag-waver. Thankfully, those questions are moot. "Above and Beyond" is a stirring, finely-crafted film. I would stress again the unusual nature of the protaganist's ambivalence as portrayed in a film made during a very sensitive time in America's history.