Friday, October 23, 2015

Day 23: Strategic Air Command

Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson did three movies together and they are all wonderful in their own way; this is my favorite.  Strategic Air Command (1955 ) tells the story of Dutch Holland a St Louis ballplayer who had stayed in the reserves after the end of WWII and is called back to serve in the nearly formed Air Force.  This movie is a fascinating look at the beginning of the Cold War when our commanders were discerning what a 'not at war but high alert' status would look like; as well as the move from big bombers to smaller jets.  This movie also looks at the strain and uncertainty this high alert mentality asks of family members.

Fun bit of trivia about the film at one point, Dutch refers to his old aircraft as a B-24, not B-29, as mentioned earlier in the film. A perfectly understandable mistake, since Jimmy Steward commanded a B-24 Liberator during WW II, flying 29 combat missions.






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