Leadership In The Film '12 O' Clock High

Introduction Made with real World War II footage, the 1949 film 12 O’clock High is one of the only movies to, according to the actual pilots who flew in World War II, accurately portray the conditions that they were flying and bombing under, and more importantly, accurately portray the leadership strategies employed to keep them flying. General Frank Savage, Lieutenant Colonel Ben Gately, and Colonel Keith Davenport exhibit wonderful examples of the different types of leadership used, and their effects on others. While the 918th bomber group destroys the German war machine, they also undergo intense psychological stress. However, the main conflict of the film becomes Savage trying to control and give hope to the men under his command.

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Savage. They believe Savage to be too harsh. He singles out Lt. Col. Ben Gately, giving him the worst officers and renaming Lt. Col. Gately’s plane ‘The Leper Colony’ as punishment for not doing enough to help Col. Davenport. Gen. Savage then runs practice missions until their first mission into enemy territory. The missions go on, and the men gradually accept Gen. Savage as their leader. The 918th even hits Germany. Before the last mission, Gen. Savage goes through a breakdown, and Lt. Col. Ben Gately must take charge. The mission succeeds, and the movie

12 O’clock High’s screenplay was also written by Beirne Lay Jr and Sy Bartlett, although they chose to remove certain aspects of the book in order to more fully focus on the psychological trauma of the pilots and crew. Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by Henry King, 12 O’clock High became 20th Century fox’s third highest grossing movie of 1949. The main actors were Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merill, Millard Mitchell, Dean Jagger, Robert Arthur, Paul Steward, John Kellogg, and Robert Patten. This movie used real combat footage, shot by both the American and the German forces fighting in World War II in order to make the film more authentic. In the 1950 Academy Awards, 12 O’clock High won Best Actor in a Supporting Role with Dean Jagger, and Best Sound Recording. 12 O’clock High was nominated for Best Picture, and Best Actor in a Leading Role with Gregory Peck. In the 1950 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 12 O’clock High did win Best Actor-International with Gregory Peck, a prize that Peck won again in the 1952 Bambi Awards. The USA National Board of Review placed 12 O’clock High in the top 10 films in 1950, giving it the NBR award, and in 1998, The National Film Registry added 12 O’clock High to their list.