A not very exciting sounding concept - the story of the captain of Enola Gay - results in a surprisingly engrossing film. I've never been a big Robert Taylor fan but in the right role I find him effective, and he gives one of his best performances here in the lead. It helps I think knowing that Taylor in real life was a pilot in the war - he looks like a pilot here.
It's always a pleasure, too, to watch the beautiful Eleanor Parker in something. She makes the best of what is a fairly thankless task - the long suffering wife who is always having to say goodbye to Taylor. For a while the filmmakers manage to keep their interactions entertaining - it was written and directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, who specialised in comedy... they treat the material here straight, but do add humour and warmth to the domestic scenes.
However the shape of it is too repetitive - "you're never home", "you're never home" - and by the end of the movie you're hoping for a divorce (which the real couple did in real life, after this movie came out). Towards the end it's especially hard going with the head of security (James Whitmore,very effective) telling Taylor that everyone can bring their wives on base except Taylor, and then pretty much telling Taylor he should act as if his marriage is over... what a sadistic prick. And Taylor goes along with it! It's the Taylor-Parker scenes in the second half where I really felt the film's two hour plus running time.
More consistently effective is the semi documentary side of things - Taylor being recruited for his mission, training people, testing the new plane, dealing with security risks, and flying the final mission. It's clear he's on a grim task - when recruited the officer points out he'll kill thousands of people but it might shorten the war. The moment where they drop the bomb is extremely chilling, and it has a downbeat-ish ending with a journalist pestering Taylor how he felt. "How would you feel?" he replies.
The original story was by Bernie Lay, a filmmaker and pilot who specialised in tales of driven men of command. But unlike the later Gathering of Eagles, which focused on peace time Strategic Air Command, you understand why Taylor is driven - there is a real "hot" war on, lives are at stake.
There's a number of memorable scenes: Taylor telling Parker that scientists are maintenance men, Parker inviting one over to fix her sink, Jim Backus playing Curtis Le May in a scene, the dropping of the bomb.
You think the movie would be better known, especially as it was a hit on release. But then again - maybe people were uncomfortable with such a sympathetic depiction of the captain of the Enola Gay. And also there are some uncomfortable parallels to McCarthyism, with its paranoia about security and determined to kill a lot to save even more. Still, an effective and gripping movie.
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