User Reviews

12 O'CLOCK HIGH "The Climate of Doubt" 1964

12 O'CLOCK HIGH was a television series about the fictitious 918th Bomber Group of the U.S. Air Force. The Group flew Boeing B-17 bombers and was based out of Archbury Field in England. The series ran for a total of 78 episodes between 1964 and 1967. Regular cast members included, Robert Lansing, Frank Overton, Paul Burke, Chris Robinson and Barney Philips. The series is loosely based on the superb 1949 film of the same name. This episode is the fifth episode of the series.

This episode starts out on the ground in occupied France. The French Resistance has just attacked a German troop train. They are soon hunted down and one of their members captured. The leader of the Underground group, Jacques Roux decides to try and rescue the man. Before he heads in with guns blazing, he tells his wife, Viveca Lindfors, to go to England.

Once in England, Lindfors contacts an old flame, General Crowe (John Larkin) for help. She wants Larkin to order a bomb raid against a target in Normandy. The target is however a low priority for the Allies. It is still a year and a half before the actual D-Day.

Larkin however orders his Group Commander, Robert Lansing to arrange a raid anyways. Lansing protests that he can see no reason for the raid, and will only go under protest. The raid is launched and the Group sustains heavy losses. Lansing's boss, Larkin is called on the carpet to explain the raid. Did he order the raid just to please his former lover?

Lansing is called to give evidence at the hearing. Before the hearing, Miss Lindfors visits Lansing and tells him about her husband and the Underground actions in France. Lansing now decides to say to the court that he feels the raid really was needed. Larkin is not charged and returns to command.

Not an easy episode to peg as it wanders from the combat arena to a political take. Not great, but by no means is it a waste of time.

Miss Lindfors was still a stunner at age 44. The former wife of director, Don Siegel, arrived in Hollywood from Sweden in 1948 as the new, Ingrid Bergman. She was a decent actress, but no Bergman.

This is a very enjoyable episode. The plot has been well covered by others so a few observations.

This series had many episodes driven by character conflict. Usually, it is the guest star creating problems and it is all wrapped up in one episode and we never see the character again. (Two exceptions: Joe Gallagher (Paul Burke) and Gus Denver (Gary Lockwood) Both had two appearances as the same character and, of course, Paul Burke would later lead the series after Lansing's departure) The conflict in this outing is between two well established characters who were together before these events and will be together afterward. It is waged in a low-grade unemotional way as opposed to some of the other conflicts seen on the show. There is no obvious right or wrong side, and I can see the reasoning behind each position. I like shades of gray and this show has them.

Bernard Fox is great in his limited screen time. The perfect Englishman with a matching sense of humor. However, Viveca Lindfors as Nicole Trouchard is excellent and she is the driving force here, both with her character's motives and her own acting. Her scenes with Robert Lansing crackle with chemistry. I don't blame Wiley Crowe (John Larkin) a bit. I would fall for her. Lansing, Larkin, and Lindfors are a superb trio here. Of course, in three months Larkin would die of a heart attack and Lansing would be off the show at the end of the broadcasting year and this series would lose something in the transition.

The dialogue throughout is well done. Savage's speech at the board of inquiry is much above average TV wordsmithing. I always thought Lansing was much better than Paul Burke in the role of commander of the 918th. Lansing brings gravitas and depth to it. He is a military leader while Burke seems too emotional and rah-rah for believability. Burke isn't horrible but just a little too much of a lightweight. I can't see him delivering that speech and making me believe it.

One note on the technical side. David White plays a brigadier general (one star) on the inquiry board who does most of the talking and interrogating. In any formal board (Court-martial, inquiry, investigative, etc) the military rules call for all members of the board to be of higher rank than the people being judged since junior people can't pass judgement on their seniors. Since General Crowe is a major general (two stars), the board members must be three stars or two stars with an earlier date of rank than Crowe. I realize this is a minor point in the scheme of things.

One last comment. Not sure I would have had Nicole Trouchard killed off in the final scene. Makes for a nice speech by Crowe but just didn't quite sit right. Maybe because I would have liked to see her character return. I'll let you decide on that final point. A good episode. Do see it.

Okay - one more last comment. I wonder what the show would have been like if Gus Denver (Lockwood) had replaced General Savage rather than Joe Gallagher. I would have liked to see it.

Two-star General Wiley Crowe requests Brig. General Frank Savage fly to bombing runs on a single mission. After they drop their first payload, Savage's B-17s are supposed to fly to another target, without fighter escort, and unload their payload on a site that will reinforce the support of the French Resistance. Crowe asks Savage to to fly the missions, but Savage has severe misgivings about the two targets. Later, he learns Crowe has been involved with a leader of the resistance movement and she has swayed his feelings. Naturally, Savage opposes this kind of nonsense, but when Crowe orders him to do it, he has no alternative. The mission turns out to be a disaster and General Crowe must appear before a board of inquiry. Meantime, Savage has approved a request from one of his sergeants who wants to receive permission from his commanding officer so he may marry his sweetheart. Predictably, this sergeant dies when his plane goes down and nobody bails out. Eventually, the board of inquiry clears Crowe, partially on Savage's testimony. Although he opposed the mission, he qualified his judgment because he is concerned only with the day-to-day problems of the squadron. However, Crowe is concerned about the overall scheme of things beyond the daily missions, and Savage explains to the board that he doesn't feel Crowe has done anything improper. An excellent episode!