Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

JohnHowardReid Despite its intriguing title, this is a very talkie and very dated stage play that is calculated to bore most audiences stiff. And the complete absence of women doesn't help matters at all! With the exceptions of Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon, the actors walk through their parts without much conviction. In fact, although Pidgeon has to carry the main burden of the circular dialogue, he bears up well. We must also draw attention to John McIntire. In addition to his role as Major Belding Davis, he also provides the off-camera voice of Congressman Malcolm, played and spoken (on camera) by Edward Arnold. The direction by the usually very capable Sam Wood is astonishingly stiff. He died on September 22, 1949, yet is also credited with "The Stratton Stor"y (released June, 1949) and "Ambush" (January 1950). Production values are generally first class, and there are some skillful special effects, but they do little to relieve the overall tedium.

PWNYCNY Even in the middle of war, politics can gum up the works. Military people are told to fight a war, and then are second-guessed by the very same people who told them to fight. That is not fair. This movies dramatizes how politics directly influences command decisions. The movie portrays the top brass as being sycophants who are terrified of disappointing those who fund their projects and career, and what happens if one of the generals refuse to kowtow. This has nothing to do with legitimate civilian oversight of military operations. Rather, it is about how the military is rendered subordinate to politicians who are more interested in making political points at the expense of the military than actually winning the war. Edward Arnold gives a command performance as a US senator who uses his position to try to bully the military to the point that it poses a direct threat to military operations already decided upon at the highest levels. Clark Gable gives one his stronger performances as the general who maintains his integrity and belief in the mission. To commission soldiers to fight a war and then rag them for doing exactly what they have been ordered to do is the height of hypocrisy. Yet, sadly, it is all too true.

edwagreen In times of war, duty and commitment are called upon first and this 1948 film is no exception to that rule.Clark Gable stars as the hard-nosed general who must decide to bomb 3 German cities that are manufacturing German planes. Part of the bombing goes awry when a torpedo factory is hit at first.In a brief supporting performance, Edward Arnold steals the show as a Congressman who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.In a dramatic sense, Sgt. Van Johnson lends some sort of comic relief in his role.How many difficult decisions had to be made due to the war effort is the central theme to this fine film.

mryerson Political expedience clashes with strategic necessity in the skies over Europe and the results ain't pretty. Although talky and with poorly integrated actual wartime footage, MGM attempts some distasteful truths about war and largely succeeds. Clark Gable, perfectly cast and photographed to great advantage here, plays Brigadier General 'Casey' Dennis who recognises the crucial importance of initiating and completing an air operation to destroy the three factories involved in producing German jet fighters which will be vastly superior to allied aircraft. He also recognises the weather will dictate he move swiftly if the opportunity is not to be lost. He also recognises the breathtaking losses his aircrews are likely to suffer. He will be resolute. Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown. Yet the steep price will be a hard sell to a politically sensitive general staff and especially to his immediate superior Major General Kane (Walter Pidgeon) as it will open the entire allied air effort to increased scrutiny, criticism and second-guessing by the wartime press in the person of war correspondent Elmer Brockhurst (Charles Bickford). Gable sets his magnificent jaw and goes forward with the operation on his own authority knowing there will likely be an unpleasant reckoning later but for now, let's bomb those stinkin' jet factories! The script is competently written, presenting a complex of issues plausibly and yet...and yet...somehow the entire thing seems premeditated, too many set pieces, too many speeches, the dialogue sometimes crackles but is sometimes too pat, the humor too broad, the sentiment bordering on the maudlin. Being from a play (by William Wister Haines), the predictable effect is of a well-oiled precision machine, humming along noiselessly. With some subjects this is not a problem, a murder mystery perhaps, or a drawing room comedy but here, in the crucible of war, the consequence is a loss of dramatic tension, a loss of spontaneity. People under extraordinary pressure just don't talk like this, certainly not people surrounded by circumstances over which they have little or no control. MGM being genetically predisposed to great lighting, a rousing score and happy endings, one can feel Louis B. Mayer's hand on this production picking his way through a veritable minefield of depressing images and tragic outcomes. But the underlying source material does present an intelligent rumination on the claustrophobic alternatives faced by military commanders throughout history. Frequently compared to the superior Twelve O'Clock High. Still worth your time.