The Thousand Plane Raid

Typical for the era. Romantic view of WWII, bits of war footage thrown together for added reality with no real cohesion (scored a direct hit..shown bombs landing in woods, haha). Still, enjoyed it as kid ... wary of the message these days. Nothing glamorous about war. And that campaign does reek a little of payback rather than genuine military strategy.

"The Thousand Plane Raid" is a fictionalized account of an actual raid that occurred using 1000 American bombers. It also is in many ways like the movie and TV show "12 O'Clock High"....and focuses only on the B-17, which is odd, as in reality the US built and used even more B-24s which are never shown in movies. I assume part of it might be that there were just more B-17s in flyable shape for films. Christopher George plays Colonel Brandon, a humorless and intense bomb group leader. He's very tough on his men...presumably because not quite good enough would mean death. In so many ways he's like General Savage from the "12 O'Clock High" film and show...a tough guy who knows what needs to be done and is willing to do it...and do it along with his men. Overall, this is a pretty exciting and well made film. My only complaint is a common one...the use of stock footage. Now I would NOT expect them to blow up real planes and risk stuntmen's lives...but sometimes stock footage just is bad. In this case, when the Colonel's B-17 crashes later in the movie, it suddenly becomes a B-29 bomber...a much larger and different style plane...and it's obviously NOT a B-17. Oh, and if want to be more picky, IMDB says 'US Air Force'....but that term was created AFTER WWII. At that point the air service was part of the US Army and was called the US Army Air Corps.

World War Two had many facets which claim to have been the pivotal point of the conflict. Regardless, it took the whole industry of several countries to group themselves into the Allied cause, which eventually destroyed the Nazi dream of world dominance. This is one of the key elements which was essential towards that goal. The film is called " The Thousand Plane Raid " which was directed by Boris Sagal and penned by novelist Ralph Barker. It purports to tell the story of Col. Greg Brandon (Christopher George) who proposed to group together a thousand allied B-17 Bombers to destroy a specific target producing German fighter planes. He finds that he is troubled by both the British high command as well as his own men. In addition, those closest to him realize that he is obsessed with his idea and is losing touch with everyone. A good movie, though a bit melodramatic. Nevertheless, a solid action oriented story. A fine cast which includes J.D. Cannon, Gary Marshal, Michael Evans, Gavin MacLeod and Bo Hopkins as Capt. Douglass. Recommended to War buffs. ****

Just saw this 36 year old movie on a Spanish T.V. channel.It was a midnight movie and it's dubbed in Spanish. This movie is very and I mean very cheaply made. It looks more like a made for T.V. movie. However, it was made in 1969 and most likely it was riding on the coat-tails of such films as Battle for Britan or Operation Crossbow. I like Christopher George, but the poor guy just wasn't given any decent acting roles. I feel his "meatiest" role was that of gunman Nelson McCloud in the John Wayne movie, El Dorado. Sadly, Christopher George died of a massive heart attack at 54, and is best remembered for his hit 1960s T.V. show, The Rat Patrol. As for this film, well, it's better in Spanish! Only thing, I don't speak Spanish!

If you want to watch real WW2 planes in real WW2 footage, this is a good movie. You won't see these beautiful planes flying again without CGI. The movie gives a pretty accurate depiction on life aboard a WW2 bomber. Movies today will have to use CGI to show these beautiful planes. Sadly, there are too few of these aircraft available today to duplicate the airplanes in this movie. Appreciate these beautiful airplanes and the bravery of the young pilots and crew that were able to keep these beautiful airplanes flying. Pretty good movie that uses real WW2 footage and new footage. The acting is okay with a pretty good cast.

A low-cost production for a typical war film of the era where triumphant and propagandistic tones seem more important than a well-executed movie. The characters are not fully developed, and while their performances are correct, they lack significant interpretive moments. It is a passable film if considered as a TV movie, but that is not the case. When compared to the series "12 O'Clock High," its level doesn't even reach that of its worst episodes, not to mention comparing it to the movie of the same title. The worst part is that it's a work of fiction that appropriates successes from real events, which, however, haven't occurred in these terms, and that's why I refer to it as propaganda, like the very feat that gives the film its title, which is actually based on a mission carried out by the British aviation in the famous raid on Cologne in 1942.

This is a poor man's "Twelve O'Clock High". Even some of the characters track: a pushy commanding officer with an idea and a leadership problem, an adjutant (only a woman this time to try to appeal to the female audience). There is even an attitude-changing event (getting wounded) during the last raid that tries to turn him into more of a likable human being. However, there was one statement he made during a briefing that turned out to be very accurate in real life. During one briefing on his idea of a 1,000 plane raid, the British were insisting on a night raid, the American Colonel Brandon said, "If the Germans couldn't bomb the British into submission, what makes us think we can do it to them?"

I thought this movie was pretty good. They had a good cast, but the writing could have been better. I thought most of the characters were pretty one dimensional, almost wooden in the way they behaved. Rather a waste of all that talent. The action sequences were good. Makes me wonder if some of the footage was from Army Air Force archives. It is fun to watch those big, old bombers fly. Many of the facts seem to be correct. Bomber losses did start a sharp rise before they changed tactics. All in all. Not a bad way to relax for an hour or so and watch the war go by. As WWII films go, this is about middle of the road.

This film takes place during World War II on a fictitious USAAF bomber base in England, referred to as Steeple Bassington. It was released to local California audiences only in the summer of 1969, and stars Christopher George as the no-nonsense, by-the-book bomb group commander Colonel Brandon, who develops a plan to attack a heavily defended German aircraft factory using 1,000 bombers, that if successful, could turn the tide of the air war in the allies favor. The remainder of the cast is a proverbial who's who of TV-Movie character actors of the day including J. D. Cannon, Laraine Stephens, Gavin MacLeod, Ben Murphy, Bo Hopkins, and Charles Dierkop. British actor Gary Marshal portrays Wing Commander Howard, a free-spirited and highly successful RAF fighter ace, who's been assigned to the base to teach fighter tactics to Brandon's hard luck outfit, the 103rd Heavy Bombardment Group. The cliche riddled script is predictable, and the combat sequences are a hastily prepared mishmash of wartime footage, movie clips, and cheesy, low budget airplane sets. In spite of all that, I actually found this movie to be semi-entertaining; the acting is competent and believable, and the use of actual B-17 aircraft for the location flying scenes, including the extremely LOW buzz job of the field, was particularly satisfying. In addition, historical credibility was enhanced by the period control tower, base operations, and maintenance buildings that were constructed on the site of what is now Santa Maria Public Airport, formerly known as Santa Maria Army Airfield, which was an actual B-25 and P-38 pilot transition training base during WWII.

The director Boris Segal directed several good films. The star Christopher George was a good actor with a strong presence on film. Laraine Stephens had a great naked back and good hair. There is a terrific low flying stunt (repeated scene several times) with a B-17 wing just above the ground. There is excellent cutting with stock combat footage from the Second World War. Yet all that amounts to not that much. A television writer Donald Sanford wrote a script that might have worked for a made-for-television feature. Even though the narrative comes from an actual raid, the complexities of the script—the hardbound commander never quite engages viewers—at least it did not engage this viewer. I kept wondering what purpose Gabrielle had on the English base other than sleeping with Commander Brandon. The film lacks any sense of majesty, terror, or depth. It seems another mindless war movie made in the late sixties but reflecting an earlier ethos. I kept wondering what the BBC would have done with this material. Review updated: This is a good-looking film with attention to sets and design. Editing is extremely good.