This film chronicles the life and career of Paul Tibbets, who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Far from getting heavy into the ethics or justification of that event, it mainly looks at the personal life of the man involved in this controversial bombing.
There is one scene early on when one of his commanders is trying to decide if Tibbets is right for the job. He asked him if he could end the war tomorrow and save half a million American lives and others but would have to kill 100,000 people in the process, could he do it. He hands him a buzzer, and asks is he could push it. Tibbits pushes it. And thus he is chosen to head the mission.
They go into a great deal of time in chronicling the relationship with his wife and the strain his "secret" mission put on the marriage. So it was interesting to see if from this personal perspective.
But overall I found it a simplistic approach to a very difficult topic. The film was made in 1952 and the country was still very much pro-war in regards to WWII. To be certain if the film were made today, it would look VERY different by the liberals in today's Hollywood.
Mucxh of the film is told from the viewpoint of Tibbets wife, played by Eleanor Parker. She in fact narrates much of the film to add necessary details. I suppose this tactic was used to make the viewer more sympathetic and forgiving of a difficult subject - and kept them from delving too deeply into the controversy.
There is one attempt at the end when, after the bombing makes news and Tibbets is revealed as commander, a reporter asks him what he felt personally about dropping the bomb. He doesn't want to comment, but when the reporter pushes with a "but my readers WANT to know!", he turns the question back to the reporter. He says "How do THEY feel about it?"
Don't look to this film for any in depth answers to difficult questions. But if you enjoy seeing the personal side of the story to those involved, then this is a well made film with an adequate cast.
There is one scene early on when one of his commanders is trying to decide if Tibbets is right for the job. He asked him if he could end the war tomorrow and save half a million American lives and others but would have to kill 100,000 people in the process, could he do it. He hands him a buzzer, and asks is he could push it. Tibbits pushes it. And thus he is chosen to head the mission.
They go into a great deal of time in chronicling the relationship with his wife and the strain his "secret" mission put on the marriage. So it was interesting to see if from this personal perspective.
But overall I found it a simplistic approach to a very difficult topic. The film was made in 1952 and the country was still very much pro-war in regards to WWII. To be certain if the film were made today, it would look VERY different by the liberals in today's Hollywood.
Mucxh of the film is told from the viewpoint of Tibbets wife, played by Eleanor Parker. She in fact narrates much of the film to add necessary details. I suppose this tactic was used to make the viewer more sympathetic and forgiving of a difficult subject - and kept them from delving too deeply into the controversy.
There is one attempt at the end when, after the bombing makes news and Tibbets is revealed as commander, a reporter asks him what he felt personally about dropping the bomb. He doesn't want to comment, but when the reporter pushes with a "but my readers WANT to know!", he turns the question back to the reporter. He says "How do THEY feel about it?"
Don't look to this film for any in depth answers to difficult questions. But if you enjoy seeing the personal side of the story to those involved, then this is a well made film with an adequate cast.