Themes: Kids in Trouble, Fathers and Daughters, Military Life
Main Cast: Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Marsha Hunt, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Don Kelly
Release Year: 1957
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
Plot
Karl Malden plays an air force sergeant who is tempted by a better-paying civilian job. Malden's daughter Natalie Wood is in love with a young colonel (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) whom her father regards as an insolent hothead. The younger man proves his worth during jet maneuvers, while Malden decides that he's of more value in the service than as a working stiff. Bombers B-52 has some excellent moments, including a well-staged variation of the obligatory "breaking the news to the pilot's widow" scene. The film earned latter-day notoriety in the 1980s when a prominent movie historian analyzed the script (by Irving Wallace) and found an overabundance of sexual innuendo--including such in-flight dialogue as "She's unable to receive fuel" and "Request jet penetration!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Not quite as effective as it was when originally released in 1957, Bombers B-52 is still an exciting aviation love story. Its main failing is that Bombers doesn't really know what kind of story it wants to be: A thrilling air adventure? A romantic love story? A drama about a father learning to let go of his daughter? As a result, there's a lack of focus and because director Gordon M. Douglas seems more comfortable with the aircraft sequences, the love story and relationship between father and daughter come off as less involving. Bombers also suffers from its mixture of comedy and drama, which director Douglas fails to handle as deftly as he might, as well as from the "coming together" of Karl Malden and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. that is too baldly manipulative to convince modern audiences. But when Bombers is in its element, offering stunning aerial visuals (especially when capturing the glory of the Egyptian pyramids) or exploring the minutiae that are involved in air force life, it is a vivid and absorbing picture. Zimbalist is merely okay in a role that needs more, but Malden does quite well, despite a tendency to overdo in some of his dramatic scenes. Best performance comes from Natalie Wood, who makes the material seem much more dramatic than it actually is. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Karl Malden plays an [US] air force sergeant who is tempted by a better-paying civilian job. Malden's daughter, Natalie Wood, is in love with a young colonel (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) whom her father regards as an insolent hothead. The younger man proves his worth during jet maneuvers, while Malden decides that he's of more value in the service than as a working stiff. The film earned latter-day notoriety in the 1980s when a prominent movie historian analyzed the script (by Irving Wallace) and found an overabundance of sexual innuendo--including such in-flight dialogue as "She's unable to receive fuel" and "Request jet penetration!"
NOTE: A Jet Penetration is a way of descending rapidly to land. JETS of the early period of flight were quite critical on fuel, and the Jet penetration was a method of staying HIGH (where fuel consumption was low) and then landing, so as to save fuel.
Though the movie does seem to have a bit of innuendo, the phrase is a real one.
