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Command Decision | 
| Director: Sam Wood
Actors: Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford
Studio: Warner Home Video
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $9.31
You Save: $10.67 (53%)
New (44) Used (13) Collectible (1) from $8.49
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 6675
Format: Black & White, Full Screen, Ntsc, Subtitled
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 79704
UPC: 012569797048
EAN: 0012569797048
ASIN: B000NTPG5W
Theatrical Release Date: February 1949
Release Date: June 5, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New - Sealed - NOT a Bootleg or Copy - Fast Shipping.
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Product Description
World War II drama that shows the battles - on and off the field - that a general must fight in order to win the war. General Casey of the US Forces in England must fight congressional representatives and his own chain of command to be allowed to complete an important mission. He must get his men's planes out during a small window of fair weather in order to prevent the Germans from making more military jet planes. Although the general knows the success of his plan could decide whether the Germans get the upper hand in the war it could also mean suicide for his men. Adapted from the William Wister Haines stage hit.Running Time: 111 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating: NR UPC: 012569797048 Manufacturer No: 79704
Amazon.com
Command Decision (1949) takes on the kind of questions that Hollywood could never have raised during the war--questions about the cruel responsibilities of command, including the responsibility to spend a great many lives to save thousands more in the future. In 1943, from an American airbase in the English countryside, a campaign of daylight bombardment is being waged against aircraft factories in Germany. For much of the way to their targets and back, the bombers are bereft of fighter escort and at the mercy of the Luftwaffe. The mortality rate is shocking--but perhaps, for reasons that are not widely known, necessary. Clark Gable (himself an air war veteran) plays the commandant who has to call the next day's target, and the film never leaves command HQ; the closest we get to combat is a scene of an untrained crewman trying to land a crippled plane. Command Decision is earnest but outshone by the similarly focused Twelve O'Clock High. The main problem is that it's based on--and essentially remains--a play, static in setting and schematic in its arguments. Still, those arguments should be heard. --Richard T. Jameson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Excellent war movie, with nary a shot fired on-screen! February 19, 1999
M. Broderick (Oklahoma City, OK USA)
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
This movie beats out 12 O'Clock High in my book--It focuses on a conflict of priorities between commanders. Gable is the obvious hero, but it is clear that his boss, looking at the "Big Picture" may have a point as well. If nothing else, entertaining for illustrating the maneuvering over public image that sometimes drove military strategy, even in the years before CNN.
terrific behind- the- military brass movie!must watch ! June 4, 2002
shoumojit banerjee (pune,india)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
I CAUGHT THIS ONE FIRST ON T.N.T;SINCE I AM FROM INDIA,EVEN COMMON WW2 MOVIES LIKE "THE DIRTY DOZEN"&"WHERE EAGLES DARE" COME EXTREMELY RARELY IN A THEATRE NEARBY.THIS 1948 RELEASE IS A WW2 FILM WITH VERY LITTLE ACTION;IT'S MORE OF A DISCUSSION(A RATHER ABSORBING ONE!)ON THE U.S. MILITARY BRASS DURING WW2.CLARK GABLE(IN A MATURE PERFORMANCE) INSISTS ON FLYING DANGEROUS MISSIONS IN ORDER TO WIN THE WAR;VAN JOHNSON IS FINE IN A LIKEABLY FUNNY PERFORMANCE,WHILE WALTER PIDGEON & CHARLES BICKFORD LEND THE FILM IT'S DIGNITY.AN EXTREMELY ABSORBING FILM IN THE REALM OF OTHER POLITICAL THRILLERS LIKE"SEVEN DAYS IN MAY".
a true classic July 31, 2004
cinephillie
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
One of my favorite films of all time, I would really like to see this released to DVD. The production design is very stage-like. The first time I saw it, I felt I was watching a tightly, but perfectly composed piece. It was, of course, adapted from a stage play and unlike other film adaptations that use the medium of film to break out of the proscenium, the design of this film is contained. It serves to contain the dramatic tension and the pressure the characters are under. The script is beautifully taut. There is a good lesson in this classic, questions on which we should reflect when it comes to putting our people in harm's way. It shows the terrible burden of the few who are at the fulcrum between the policy makers, always far away from the battle, and the men and women on the point.
Long Lost Classic WW2 Movie..!! March 3, 2007
Seen Them All (SoCal Desert)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
This movie stars Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon as Air Force generals forced to send up bombers during daylight to bomb Germany. As casualties mount their tactics are questioned by Congress and the top brass in Washington. All through it all you realize the stress of combat is not only born by those flying the missions but the officers who send them. One of the best WW2 Air Force movies. Both Gable and Pidgeon give outstanding performances and convey what it really means to be a combat commander. Excellent..!!!
Please offer Command Decision in DVD. April 12, 2006
Hal Owen (Burbank, California USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
"Command Decision" is that rare WWII era studio offering that attempts to penetrate the fog of patriotism and expose the myth of the good war. While no one will deny the Nazi menace in Europe had to be destroyed to prevent a return of the dark ages, the day to day routine of the U.S. 8th Air Force's program of daylight bombing was as ruthless and cold blooded as any campaign fought then or now. "Maximum effort" and missed targets are not too subtle reminders that precision bombing was one of the great fictions of WWII. When an American commander, stoically played by Army Air Force veteran Clark Gable, attempts to destroy a German jet fighter program with a series of very dangerous bombing raids, the politics of winning the war take center stage. Based on the play by William Wister Haines, "Command Decision" comes as close as the times would allow to telling the behind the scenes story of America's air war over Europe. Directed by Sam Wood, MGM spared no expense in producing this 1948 classic with an all star cast and some of the best in-flight footage of B-17s this side of William Wyler's famous documentary, "The Memphis Belle." For those who flew the missions as well as those who love this film, please can we have "Command Decision" back and in DVD?
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