Bombers B 52

Plot

The Strategic Air Command is about to introduce the B-52 Stratofortress bomber as its primary manned strategic weapon. Stationed at Castle Air Force Base, California, with the 329th Bomb Squadron, 20-year United States Air Force (USAF) veteran MSgt. Chuck Brennan (Karl Malden) dislikes his commanding officer, the "hotshot" Lt. Col. Jim Herlihy (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.). Brennan has not trusted Herlihy since an incident in the Korean War. This career-long problem interferes with flight operations and aircraft support. When Herlihy starts dating Brennan's daughter Lois (Natalie Wood), tensions grow. Brennan demands his daughter break off the relationship.

Brennan, Herlihy and others try to solve all the technical problems that plague the introduction of the B-52. On one top-secret test flight to Africa, after being refueled in mid-air, a control panel short-circuits, causing a fire. Herlihy orders everyone to bail out and ejects Brennan when he refuses. After safely landing the burning bomber at Castle AFB, Herlihy sends out search parties who recover all of the crew successfully except for Brennan. Following a hunch, Herlihy eventually finds the mechanic, who is severely injured, and airlifts him from remote back country by helicopter to the base hospital.

While recovering, Brennan realizes that he was wrong about Herlihy, who risked his life to bring him home. He accepts that his daughter and his commanding officer should now reunite. Eventually Brennan also has to choose between a high-paying civilian job and his US Air Force career. When told that his discharge papers are ready to sign, he decides to continue the career he loves in the USAF.

Production

Bombers B-52 was filmed with the full cooperation of the USAF at Castle and March Air Force Bases in California, where examples of Boeing B-47 Stratojet bombers, North American F-86 Sabre fighters and B-52s were based. During production Natalie Wood was named "Sweetheart of Castle Air Force Base".

The first choice for the lead role was Tab Hunter, who subsequently turned it down because he was tired of military roles. Writer Irving Wallace wrote a "racy" screenplay; one of the working titles was No Sleep till Dawn (which was used for the UK release). The screenplay was later the subject of a 1980s exposé of sexual innuendo by a film historian.

Reception

Reviews of Bombers B-52 mainly focused on the aerial scenes, which during the Cold War era did project a near-propaganda effort, using many period aircraft to depict the era faithfully. The review in The New York Times was mildly laudatory, describing it as a "frank tribute to Air Force nuclear power, laced together with a familiar service feud ... Irving Wallace's dialogue is excellent. Furthermore, his unpretentious scenario is credible and persuasive in training sequences and especially in the hearth scenes." The performances of the leads was also considered "natural." Overall, The New York Times critic thought "'Bombers B-52' is not [terrific], but it could have been much, much worse." Variety gushed that it was "magnificently mounted, with breathtaking scenes of the new B-52s," while Time magazine more aptly characterized Bombers B-52 as a "$1,400,000 want ad for Air Force technicians." In other reviews, the dichotomy of 19-year-old Natalie Wood being courted by 40-year-old Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was noted, as well as the attempt to portray a contemporary, if tepid, love story.

Comic book adaption