Otto Preminger's "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell" isn't that well known and it's easy to see why. It's something of a dull history lesson about the court-martial of a former general, demoted to colonel for disobeying orders and now charged with accusing the powers-that-be with criminal intent for their disregard of a fledgling airforce. Mitchell himself is played by Gary Cooper, looking stiff in his uniform, and old-timers Ralph Bellamy and Charles Bickford are the men for and against him. Rod Stieger is also on hand, lending the film a touch of gravitas as a hotshot army lawyer, a role George C Scott would play in Preminger's much better contribution to the courtroom drama, "Anatomy of a Murder". Preminger shoots the film in widescreen and visually it is impressive but it's also more than a little on the turgid side.
