Dad's Movies: "Twelve O'Clock High"

 This is a pretty obvious one, 1949's Twelve O'Clock High.

This movie sits at an interesting crossroads in movie history. The film gets into serious detail about a bomber squadron doing daytime raids against Germany, which was a new thing for the Allies at the time. It was also very dangerous with high casualty rates. Gregory Peck's character comes in to relieve the squadron leader who is having difficulty maintaining the bombing campaigns while his men suffer losses and high levels of stress. 

There is a level of realism and honesty about war that was almost unheard of for WW2 movies at that time. On the other hand, the dialogue and some stylistic touches are more similar to movies made during the war. Overall, the show really strives for a realistic and sympathetic approach and was rated very highly by WW2 vets as one of the only movies that came close to depicting what is was like for these flight crews. 

The movie is very talky with many scenes taking place in offices and personal quarters, which makes things seem slow. If I had a criticism, it would be that there were a few too many early in the film speeches and exchanges, especially given how well done and tense the one late-film air battle is. Also great is the realistic look of the sets and exteriors; those are real B-17s being used in the takeoff and landing sequences. The stock combat footage is well integrated into the movie.

The cast is overall very good. I don't always love Peck's acting style, but he's great here, though he seems a little young to be a general. Nitpicks.

I'm sure Dad found this movie to be hard hitting, given his time building combat aircraft during the war.

Dad's Movies: "Dead Reckoning"

 No, not the Mission: Impossible sequel, but Dead Reckoning (1947), the Bogart film. This movie slots in during the peak time of Film Noir, but doesn't quite fit the Noir mold. This one feels like a mashup of a number of other Bogart detective movies, but adds the angle of a guy returning from WW2; makes sense. 

The story has some silly dialogue (well-delivered by Bogart) and too much flashback/VoiceOver narration for my taste, but gets the job done with a number of plot twists that aren't super obvious. 

Bogart is great, as usual, even when delivering his little monologue about how women should act (yikes). Lisabeth Scott does well, though she doesn't always convince as a conniving femme fatale.

Dad was a big Bogart fan, so I suspect he grabbed this one, while agreeing that this is no Maltese Falcon.

Dad's Movies: "The Moon is Down"

The Moon is Down (1943) is remembered, if at all, for the fact that it's based on a Steinbeck novel and maybe for it having Henry Travers (Clarence in, It's a Wonderful Life) in it. Like a lot of others made that year, this is most certainly a product of its time, but it rises above other similar propaganda movies made during the war in how it humanizes individuals, even some of the Nazis. 

The cast does reasonably well, even if they tend to underplay some of the scenes, with Travers and Peter van Eyck, making the strongest impressions. Oh, and Natalie Wood appears in her first movie as a child. 

The movie spends a little too much time having the characters stand around monologuing, but makes its point. This is another movie that I'm pretty sure Dad saw during the war, perhaps between shifts at the P-51 factory. Another point he probably found amusing was the way that the Germans brought a brass band with them to the occupied village.