Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Hitchcoc Being very young and actually seeing this film on the big screen, I remember being totally engrossed in the trial of this man who was really a hero. The military doesn't like rebels very much and Mitchelll was just such a rebel. He saw the future of air power in warfare. His record and knowledge of his specialty were public record, but when he began to slam the shortsightedness of his superiors, it didn't work well for him. He faced a court martial and was in the sights of the lawyers who were determined to get him. Many of the films that involved courts martial have as the punishment, the death penalty. This was not on the table because he was dealing with charges of insubordination. His punishment was to be drummed out. I was so lucky to see Gary Cooper in an actual movie theater and be moved by his performance. Some say he was miscast, but I thought he showed a well rounded, solid characterization of Mitchell. Historians may disagree.

Spikeopath The first World War had just ended in total victory for the United States and its Allies. Now war was a thing of the past, America disbanded its army and stabled its navy, its air force was still an unwanted child. In 1921 off the coast of Virginia, the high command of the army and navy gathered to consider a revolutionary experiment.William Mitchell was a controversial and famous character in American aviation history, his beliefs and future ideas as regards the importance and advancement of aviation in war got him into so much trouble it culminated in the Court Martial of the title. Though this Otto Preminger directed telling is not completely accurate in its history lesson, it is however (thanks to Gary Cooper's excellent portrayal) an excellent depiction of the man and his staunch nature. Naturally the picture is reliant on long pieces of dialogue, so really if anyone is after a blitzkrieg type war film then they should steer well clear, for this is a lesson in letting talking lead the way, and thus opening the door for the actors to do their respective stuff. Rod Steiger (solid if dangerously close to mugging too much), Ralph Bellamy, Charles Bickford and Elizabeth Montgomery round out the cast with varying degrees of success, but really it's with Gary Cooper that the films borders on success or failure, thankfully he comes thru with a fine line of sympathetic emotion that lifts the piece just above being middle of the road. 6/10

escaparc-1 1st of all ...you need to realize what exactly sank the greatest battleship that ever so briefly sailed the sea was the German Bismark sunk a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor even happened --- they were WWI biplane torpedo dive bomber in a last ditch desperation attack flying off an English carrier by disabling the battleship's rudder control thereby demonstrating the point that Gen Mithchell was trying to make ! Next ...I saw Billy Mitchell in a mid 30's news reel - pretty much in the Chuck Yaeger - Gary Cooper style - if I remember correctly - sitting back in khakis - cane at his side - " What I've been fired for - predicting the aviation dynamics of the next war - the devastation of - civilian targets - cities - the enemy nations industrial capacity to fight wars - WHEN THE NEXT WAR STARTS THE HEADS ARE GOING TO ROLL - what I have gone through will be nothing in comparison ! " What the movie got right so dramatically ... a poetic Hollywood license --- was when citizen Mitchell walked out from his court martial trial there was a propeller biplane fly - bye which turned into the Air Force JET Thunderbirds that the movie ended on ! My thoughts on all this is America will be secretly attacked again and again - unprepared - coward into protracted generational conflicts due to the public's unwillingness to see the problem - get the job done ! Clock punchers - pencil pushers - paper shufflers - war criminals - incompetents ! Thank God for men like Billy Mitchell !

jotix100 Otto Preminger was perhaps honing his skills as a director, because this film seems to be a dress rehearsal for his greatest achievement, "Anatomy of a Murder", which is a classic of the courtroom drama genre. The movie is interesting in that it presents a man of honor, Billy Mitchell, who not only was an aviation pioneer, but a visionary that pointed out to the future in uncanny ways. He realized that wars were going to be fought in the air, and that soon the world would shrink thanks to faster planes than the primitive two engine jobs he was flying during WWI.Billy Mitchell was an outcast, rejected by the same people that were too obtuse to realize the upcoming revolution in aeronautics. In trying to prove a point, Billy is found guilty and tried for disobeying orders. It's a sad story in which a highly developed mind, like Billy's has to contend with the ignorance of his peers. Testimony from other leading figures of the time, such as Eddie Rickenbacker, and others speak volumes about Mitchell's incredible insight on the new technology and how vulnerable America was from air raids by enemies.Gary Cooper's approach to the role doesn't clarify much about the real life Mitchell. He is not quite as effective as in many of his most outstanding films. Somehow we don't get any passion out of his character, where perhaps another actor would have run away with the role. Mr. Cooper's take on Mitchell, or perhaps Otto Preminger's direction, doesn't shed much insight in the character. The best thing in the movie is Rod Steiger as Allan Gullion, who is brought to the trial to help the main prosecution officer. He steals the picture in his short time in front of the camera. Mr Steiger brings a different concept to this officer; he stands out against all the other people around him. What a presence he had! In contrast with Mr. Cooper's stoic presence, Mr. Steiger was ready to smolder the screen if given the chance. The rest of the cast is outstanding. Charles Bickford, Ralph Bellamy, Elizabeth Montgomery, Jack Lord, James Daly, Fred Clark, among others, enhance this movie. The only problem with the copy I saw, is the horrible coloring that tends to give a fading images. This is a film in need of restoration.