Le grand secret

The actual development of the atomic bomb was documented in films like The Beginning or the End and in Fat Man and Little Boy. Above and Beyond concentrates on the pilot of the B-29 that actually did the deed.

Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker play Colonel and Mrs. Paul Tibbetts who's marriage was put under an incredible strain due to the security surrounding his assignment. Taylor was between his marriages to Barbara Stanwyck and Ursula Thiess and was involved with Parker at the time Above and Beyond was being filmed. Probably that helped a lot during the romantic interludes in the film.

Because this film sticks to the personal story of the Tibbetts marriage and avoids all the debate about the use of the atomic bomb, it still holds up well for today's audience.

In the supporting cast I would have to single out James Whitmore who plays the security head at Wendover field where Tibbetts is training the potential crew for the mission as the most outstanding. He's virtually the only one Taylor can bare his stoic soul to with the assignment he has.

Even with the debate over Hiroshima still raging I would still recommend viewing this film.

Considering that "Above and Beyond" was made during the height of the hysteria now known as McCarthyism, one would have expected a jingoistic flag-waver out of Hollywood. Instead, surprisingly, the screenplay as written allows the Paul Tibbets character (Robert Taylor) the opportunity to register a variety of emotions, in a most realistic and compelling performance.

This is ironic, seeing as the real Tibbets, decades after the event (the bombing of Hiroshima), is to this day unrepentant. Not to criticize his position in any way, because that was a different time and place, and it's Tibbets' view that he had a job to do, and the morality of it all, he has stated, is best debated by others.

But the film is all the more compelling because of the ambivalence written into the Tibbets character, and Taylor's especially fine work. There are uniformly strong performances throughout the cast, notably those of Eleanor Parker (Lucy Tibbets), James Whitmore (the security officer) and Larry Keating (General Brent).

Another surprise: the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama (screenplay, direction) had been best known for their Bob Hope comedies, when under contract at Paramount. Their first dramatic effort was "Above and Beyond," and they acquitted themselves admirably.

Final note: the musical score by Hugo Friedhofer is immensely satisfying: stirring in an emotional sense, with just a touch of, but not too much of, militaristic flavor.

Dore Schary, a Democrat, had succeeded fervent Republican Louis B. Mayer at MGM in 1951, and had encouraged the production of "Above and Beyond." One wonders if (a) the film would have been made at all on Mayer's watch, and (b) if it had, would it have been more of a cornball, John Wayne-type flag-waver. Thankfully, those questions are moot. "Above and Beyond" is a stirring, finely-crafted film. I would stress again the unusual nature of the protaganist's ambivalence as portrayed in a film made during a very sensitive time in America's history.

Despite my love for aviation films, I somehow never got around to seeing "Above and Beyond" until now. Much of this is because although I like airplane films, I incorrectly assumed that this movie would basically be a by the numbers and very dull documentary about the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Seeing them recreate this somewhat mundane process depressed me and I only got around to seeing it finally because the film starred Robert Taylor--an exceptional actor. Fortunately, my assumptions about the film were mostly wrong--and it was a very good retelling of this true story.

I think the biggest reason I liked "Above and Beyond" is because it does NOT show as much of the technical aspects as I thought it would. Instead, it focused a lot of the film on the personal toll the project took on its commander, Col. Tibbets. Now this is NOT the toll on him after the dropping of the first A-bomb (he actually seemed to have no problems with this from everything I've read--saying that it DID help end the war)--but how the secrecy demands of the project took a major toll on the Colonel's marriage. I had just assumed, incorrectly, that Tibbets was some guy chosen at the last minute to command this mission and that he was already serving in the Pacific. Instead, he was picked long before and headed an unit in Utah that spent many, many months working out the specifics of the bombing. The security for all this surprised me--as I'd just assumed this was only for the Manhattan Project itself.

Interesting, well-written and acted, this is a nice historical piece that is both fascinating and entertaining. I was particularly impressed by the recreation of the atomic bomb drop from the point of view of the crew as it happened--it was well done and believable. The only negative, if there is one, is that the film really doesn't even mention the second bomb dropped a few days later--a bit on an odd omission. I guess being second doesn't hold a lot of interest to most folks.

Highest rating with Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker giving phenomenal performances, perhaps the best ever in both of their careers.

After he has been chosen to test pilot the B-29 bomber, Taylor is so affected by his work in the preparation of dropping the atomic bomb on Japan, that he becomes intolerable to live with and is extremely harsh with all those under his command. He had no choice as the objective of his work obviously had to remain top secret.

This is definitely a superior story of the human spirit in triumph.

Taylor is aided by an excellent supporting cast headed by Larry Gates, Larry Keating and the recently departed James Whitmore.

The emotional pain of Taylor is sincerely etched in his face in an unforgettable performance.

This film tells the story of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Pilot Tibbets is played by Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker portrays his wife. The rest of the cast includes a bunch familiar faces, but the performances are standard. Taylor does a particularly good job as the officer tormented by the morality of his task and the disintegration of his marriage.

This film has some good moments. One of them is uncharacteristically humorous. The colonel comes home one afternoon to hear sounds from the kitchen. His wife tells him that she has found someone to fix the plumbing. "Who?", enquires Taylor. "One of the sanitary engineers", she says, referring to the men in white coats she pointed out to her husband upon their arrival. The plumber turns out to be one of the scientists with the Manhattan Project. "He is very nice," she says, "but he's very smart."

Another powerful moment is when the "Enola Gay" drops the bomb on Hiroshima. There is one word of dialogue in this scene. Taylor looks at the mushroom cloud and says "God." The enormity of this moment does not need words, and the film delivers.

The film makes a sincere effort to deal with the morality of the bomb. In one scene the general questions Tibbets' feelings about his mission. If I wasn't concerned about what I'm about to do he says I wouldn't be much of a man. After dropping the bomb, he angrily responds to a reporter's question about how he feels about killing 80,000 people by saying "How do your reader's feel?" When his wife hears what he has done she retreats to her room in silence, ignoring the eager reporters.

I found the scene in which Tibbets is selected for his mission to be problematic. It is hard to buy in to the premise that an officer would be rewarded for insubordination by a top-secret assignment.

This film was a bit too long, but it is well worth watching. It may not be fun to watch the story of the atom bomb, but it is a story that deserved to be told. The movie does a credible job with it and should be recognized for that.