Dramatic portrait! Paul Tibbets-Enola Gay both names that mean part of the history. This is an absorbing subject, carefully handled about the officer who piloted and drooped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Even I think Taylor wasn't the most appropriate actor for this role, ( I just can think in three names for that moment: Robert Donat, Fredric March and Michael Redgrave) and the film surely would have elevated to a major status. The only default to my mind is the real nightmare derived from this action; the awful sequels that surrounded the mind and personality of Tibbets are simply absent. There was a very long introduction showing the backgrounds. A well supporting cast accompanied him. Good point for Melvin Frank. Two years later after this film was released, the American journalist William Bradford Huie wrote the most documented text about this subject. Try to get this important historic testimony.
A stunning movie Though I could have seen this movie as a 10 year old when it first came out, I didn't, and was even unaware of its existence. But by chance I caught it yesterday on a cable movie channel. I was stunned by its power. The final scenes of Hiroshima on fire were especially powerful. (Even though I knew the Enola Gay didn't actually hang around to observe, I accepted the artistic license, as the scene "felt" right.) Since I grew up in the 1950s, I wasn't troubled by the acting or by the movie being in black and white. And if you want to see scenes involving B-29s, there sure are lots of those here. This movie should be more widely known.
Should've been called "Atomic Love Story" I wouldn't have bought this movie for myself, but got it for my Dad's 75th birthday. Dad had fond memories of it from seeing it on the big screen in 1952.
It seems to me that the movie was designed (maybe inadvertently) to appeal to men AND women. The primary emphasis is how Tibbetts' job of getting a squadron ready to drop the first atomic bombs affected his marriage. That looks pretty dumb in print, but it's true.
Much is made of how long the Tibbetts were separated during the war and how the stress of Paul's job and the need for secrecy (even where his wife was concerned) almost caused their marriage to fail.
The acting is typical for the era: melodramatic. This aspect of old movies probably turns off more people than black and white does. The characters don't seem real. I don't think anyone talked that way even in World War II.
The only actor who seemed the least bit natural was the infant playing the Tibbetts youngest son.
This last bit is minor compared to my major gripes, but no other reviewer mentioned it so here goes:
After the bomb has exploded the crew of the Enola Gay use binoculars in the cockpit to see fires burning on the ground in Hiroshima. This would have been impossible as the bomber was speeding AWAY from the city.
Great for WWII Buffs!! It you are interested in World War II history you will like this film. But you will love it if you are a Robert Taylor or Eleanor Parker fan. They are both great in it. It was one of RT's best performances. (it doesn't hurt the picture that Taylor and Parker were supposedly romantically involved while making it) It deals with the plan to bomb Japan at the end of WWII. It takes you through the behind the scenes operations and finally you are there in the plane as the bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. Real footage is blended into the movie. Taylor plays Paul Tibbets who piloted the plane that carried the bomb and Parker plays his wife. Even though some liberties are taken regarding Paul Tibbet's personal life you probably won't mind as this makes the picture interesting. The supporting cast is great. You will want to watch it again and again.
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