Main Cast: Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, James Whitmore, Larry Keating, Larry Gates
Release Year: 1952
Country: US
Run Time: 122 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Above and Beyond is the story of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as told from the perspective of the man who flew the mission. Robert Taylor stars as Col. Paul Tibbetts, commander of the Enola Gay. Once selected for this extremely dangerous mission, Tibbetts must hand-pick a crew worthy of the task. He is also forced to keep his mission a closely guarded secret, even unto withholding all information from his loving and patient wife Lucey (Eleanor Parker). The film concentrates on the strain placed upon Tibbetts, his crew and their families in the crucial days before the "big drop". The bombing itself is handled with taste and decorum, though the horror and mixed emotions of the moment are brilliantly conveyed on the faces of Tibbetts and his men. Above and Beyond represents a rare noncomedy endeavor from the writer-director team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Malcolm Brown - Art Director, Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Helen Rose - Costume Designer, Marvin Stuart - First Assistant Director, Melvin Frank - Director, Norman Panama - Director, Cotton Warburton - Editor, Hugo W. Friedhofer - Composer (Music Score), William J. Tuttle - Makeup, Ray June - Cinematographer, Melvin Frank - Producer, Norman Panama - Producer, Ralph S. Hurst - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Arnold A. Gillespie - Special Effects, Warren Newcombe - Special Effects, Lt. Beirne Lay, Jr. - Screen Story, Melvin Frank - Screenwriter, Lt. Beirne Lay, Jr. - Screenwriter, Frank Panama - Screenwriter, Norman Panama - Screenwriter
The film was suggested by screenwriter Beirne Lay, Jr., a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve, to GeneralCurtis LeMay, then commander of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), who had discussed with Lay the problem of the high rate of divorce among flight crews. A film depicting the problems might help raise morale.
Lay suggested a film based on the experiences of Colonel Paul Tibbets, commander of the 509th Composite Group during World War II. LeMay approved, and after writing an outline, Lay handed over scriptwriting duties to Melvin Frank and Norman Panama. Though Tibbets gave his full approval and support to the film, he felt he was too closely involved to be objective, and suggested Charley Begg, commander of the nuclear ordnance squadron, and Charles Sweeney, pilot of on the followup Nagasaki mission, as technical advisers.
For dramatic effect, some incidents were somewhat exaggerated, such as the scene in which the Hiroshima bomb is armed in mid-flight. The filmmakers added some turbulence to increase tension, though in fact the flight was perfectly smooth throughout. However the scene in which Tibbet's wife calls over one of the men in white coats that she was told by her husband were "sanitary engineers", but were in fact nuclear scientists from Los Alamos, to help her unblock a drain was true.
Promotion
Robert Taylor and Paul Tibbets appeared together on Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town" show in order to promote the film, an unusual step at a time when the major Hollywood studios disapproved of its stars appearing on television, which they saw as a threat.
