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Command Decision Overview:

Command Decision (1948) was a War - Drama Film directed by Sam Wood and produced by Sidney Franklin and Gottfried Reinhardt.

SYNOPSIS

The agonizing decision: whether to send men on WWII missions from which they won't return. Fascinating study of Gable's struggle between doing what is right and what looks good to the public.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion)

Command Decision BlogHub Articles:

Command Decision (1948)

By Beatrice on Apr 13, 2015 From Flickers in Time

Command Decision Directed by Sam Wood Written by William R. Laidlaw and George Froeschel from a play by William Wister Haines 1948/USA Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer First viewing/Netflix rental Elmer Brockhurst: Worth it to whom? This is a surprisingly modern look at what happens when military strategy a... Read full article

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Quotes from Command Decision:

Maj. Gen. Roland Goodlaw Kane: Casey, this may pull down the work of twenty years. All right, let's have it.
Brig. Gen. K.C. 'Casey' Dennis: The day after you left, sir, weather conference gave us a clear break over Central and Northeast Germany 44 days running. There was a chance to do the job, possibly the last one, so I laid on 'Stitch.'
Maj. Gen. Roland Goodlaw Kane: Regardless of the fact that you might be upsetting the larger picture
Brig. Gen. K.C. 'Casey' Dennis: Larger than what, sir? The outcome of the war?
[Standing next to a B-17 starting up]
Col. Edward Rayton Martin: Well... see you later.
[Col. Martin runs to get aboard the bomber]
Col. Edward Rayton Martin: Keep your temper with the big wheels!
Brig. Gen. K.C. 'Casey' Dennis: What?
Col. Edward Rayton Martin: I said; keep your temper with the big wheels! I don't want to get back and find you with a Legion of Merit and a ticket home!
Brig. Gen. K.C. 'Casey' Dennis: There's no room in this job for a personal slant, Cliff.
Brig. Gen. Clifton I. Garnet: He told me he was going to be married.
Brig. Gen. K.C. 'Casey' Dennis: Yes, I know. You can only hope you don't have to kill him before he does. It's your baby, Cliff. I found out long ago to let the chaplain handle those. He's our laison with the headquarters that decides that.
Elmer Brockhurst: [after leaving a briefing] 'Key industrial objectives!' Henh! A fine comfort for a lot of new widows back home!
James Carwood: What do you suppose is there, Brockie? Is there any one target in Germany worth 48 bombers?
Elmer Brockhurst: Worth it to whom?
James Carwood: What's the answer, Brockie, all guts and no brain?
Elmer Brockhurst: No. That's putting it too simply. Dennis is one of those boys whose brain is fascinated by guts. He loves this lousy war.
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Facts from Command Decision
In August 1949 "The Los Angeles Times" reported that a Reynolds News Service British film critic had written that this film was an "insult to British audiences", maintaining that it gave the impression that the US won the Second World War by its precision bombing operations.
The movie received terrible reviews and flopped at the box office. This was largely blamed on it being too talky and seeming more like a filmed play.
The play of the novel by William Wister Haines that this film was based on opened at the Fulton Theatre on Broadway on 1 October 1947 and played until 18 September 1948, amassing a total of 409 performances.
The "Lantze-Wolf 1" referred to in the movie is actually a Messerschmitt ME-262 "Schwalbe" turbojet fighter, introduced in combat in 1944.
This film utilized original black-and-white archive footage from World War II. However, no actual combat footage is seen except for the opening sequence set around the opening credits. Predominantly, the archival footage used was of air base mission planning and aerial landings and take-offs.
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