Strategic Air Command (1955) at Reel Classics: a review

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Movie Review:

- Not much of interest here.

dir. Anthony Mann at Paramount
with Jimmy Stewart (as Lt. Col. "Dutch" Holland) and June Allyson (as Sally Holland)

This is the third movie Stewart and Allyson made playing a husband and wife pair, and as far as plot goes, it’s doesn’t have much to offer. Stewart is a professional baseball player who gets called back into the Air Force to fly for the Strategic Air Command, and Allyson is his new bride who doesn’t take well to military life. They’re both too old to be playing newly weds and as a result, the marital problems resulting from the strains of life on the base seem to be something these two veteran players should be able to deal with better than they do.

What makes the film interesting at times is the beautiful aerial photography of real B36s and B47s filmed in wide screen Vistavision and accompanied with music by Victor Young. It’s also interesting as a Cold War propaganda film: Stewart is happy playing baseball and doesn’t want to rejoin the service, but is eventually won over by the importance of helping his country be combat-ready at all times. If you like Stewart and Allyson as a team (THE GLENN MILLER STORY (1954), THE STRATTON STORY (1949)), then here’s another for you, and if you’re a plane aficionado this movie is worth it just to see the spectacular aerial sequences. Otherwise, it’s not much of a film.

Reviewed: December 24, 1999

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