''Bombers B-52'' (released in the UK as ''No Sleep till Dawn''Leverence 1974, pp. 233–234.) is a 1957

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

CinemaScope film in WarnerColor, produced by

Richard Whorf Richard Whorf (June 4, 1906 – December 14, 1966) was an American actor, writer and film director. Life and acting career Whorf was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah (née Lee) Whorf. His older brother was linguist Benjamin Le ...

and directed by Gordon Douglas. The film stars

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

and

Karl Malden Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American actor. He was primarily a character actor, who according to Robert Berkvist, "for more than 60 years brought an intelligent intensity and a homespun aut ...

, and co-stars Marsha Hunt and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. It was adapted from a

Sam Rolfe Samuel Harris Rolfe (February 18, 1924 – July 10, 1993) was an American screenwriter best known for creating (with Herb Meadow) the 1950-60s highly rated CBS television series ''Have Gun – Will Travel'', as well as his work on the 1960s NBC ...

story by screenwriter

Irving Wallace Irving Wallace (March 19, 1916 – June 29, 1990) was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. He was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme. Early life Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Bessie Liss a ...

Leonard Rosenman Leonard Rosenman (September 7, 1924 – March 4, 2008) was an American film, television and concert composer with credits in over 130 works, including '' East of Eden'', ''Rebel without a Cause'', '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', ''Beneath the ...

composed the score. The film's storyline is focused on the introduction of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber by the U.S. Strategic Air Command (SAC) in the 1950s. A respected and highly experienced master sergeant must choose between continuing his career in the Air Force and accepting a job in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

that would pay him three times his military salary.

Plot

The Strategic Air Command is about to introduce the B-52 Stratofortress bomber as its primary manned strategic weapon. Stationed at

Castle Air Force Base Castle Air Force Base (Castle AFB, 1941–1995) is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base in California, located northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced, and about south of Sacramento. The Central Valley base in u ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, with the 329th Bomb Squadron, 20-year

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

(USAF) veteran MSgt. Chuck Brennan dislikes his commanding officer, the "hotshot" Lt. Col. Jim Herlihy. Brennan has not trusted Herlihy since an incident in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. This career-long problem interferes with flight operations and aircraft support. When Herlihy starts dating Brennan's daughter Lois, tensions grow. Brennan demands his daughter break off the relationship. Brennan, Herlihy, and others try to solve all the technical problems that plague the introduction of the B-52. On one top-secret test flight to Africa, after being refueled in mid-air, a control panel short-circuits, causing a fire. Herlihy orders everyone to bail out and ejects Brennan when he refuses to leave the bomber. After safely landing the burning aircraft at Castle AFB, Herlihy sends out search parties, who manage to recover all of the crew except for Brennan. Following a hunch, Herlihy eventually finds his chief aircraft mechanic, who is severely injured, and airlifts him by helicopter from remote back country to the base hospital. While recovering, Brennan realizes that he was wrong about Herlihy, who risked his life to bring him home. He accepts that his daughter and his commanding officer should now reunite. Eventually, Brennan also has to choose between a high-paying civilian job and his US Air Force career. When told that his discharge papers are ready to sign, he decides to continue the career he loves in the USAF.

Cast

as Lois Brennan *

as MSgt. Chuck V. Brennan * Marsha Hunt as Edith Brennan * Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Lt. Col. Jim Herlihy * Don Kelly as MSgt. Darren McKine * Nelson Leigh as Brig. Gen. Wayne Acton * Robert Nichols as Wilbur "Brooklyn" Stuart * Ray Montgomery as Barnes * Robert Hover as Simpson (as Bob Hover) *

Juanita Moore Juanita Moore (October 19, 1914 – January 1, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actress. She was the fifth black actor to be nominated for an Academy Award in any category, and the third in the Supporting Actress category at a t ...

as Clarissa

Production

''Bombers B-52'' was filmed with the full cooperation of the United States Air Force at Castle and

March Air Force Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB) is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's ...

s in California, where examples of

Boeing B-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long- range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...

bombers,

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing ...

fighters, and B-52s were based. During production, Natalie Wood was named "Sweetheart of Castle Air Force Base". The first choice for the starring role was

Tab Hunter Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond, clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. He was a Hollywood heartthrob of t ...

, who subsequently turned it down because he was tired of playing military roles. Writer

wrote a "racy" screenplay; one of the working titles was ''No Sleep till Dawn'' (which was used as the title for the film's UK release). The screenplay was later the subject of a 1980s exposé of sexual innuendo by film historian Hal Erickson.Fristoe, Roger
"Article: Bombers B-52."
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: March 29, 2012.

Reception

Reviews of ''Bombers B-52'' mainly focused on the aerial scenes, which during the Cold War era projected a near-propaganda effort, using many period aircraft to depict the era faithfully. The review in ''The New York Times'' was mildly laudatory, describing it as a "frank tribute to Air Force nuclear power, laced together with a familiar service feud ... Irving Wallace's dialogue is excellent. Furthermore, his unpretentious scenario is credible and persuasive in training sequences and especially in the hearth scenes"."'Bombers B-52'; Film at Paramount Stars Karl Malden."
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

,'' November 23, 1957. The performances of the leads was also considered "natural". Overall, ''The New York Times'' critic thought "'Bombers B-52' is not errific but it could have been much, much worse". ''Variety'' gushed that it was "magnificently mounted, with breathtaking scenes of the new B-52s", while ''Time'' magazine more aptly characterized ''Bombers B-52'' as a "$1,400,000 want ad for Air Force technicians". In other reviews, the dichotomy of 19-year-old Natalie Wood being courted by 40-year-old Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was noted, as well as the attempt to portray a contemporary, if tepid, love story.

Comic book adaptation

* Dell Four Color #831 (September 1957)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Hunter, Tab and Eddie Muller. ''Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star.'' New York: Algonquin Books, 2005. . * Leverence, John. ''Irving Wallace: A Writer's Profile''. Bowling Green, Ohio: Popular Press 1, 1974. . * Maltin, Leonard. ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2009''. New York: New American Library, 2009 (originally published as ''TV Movies'', then ''Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide''), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. .

External links

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Bombers B-52 movie trailer
o
YouTube.com
{{Gordon Douglas 1957 films 1957 romantic drama films CinemaScope films American romantic drama films American aviation films Cold War aviation films Films scored by Leonard Rosenman Films directed by Gordon Douglas Films set in California Films shot in California Warner Bros. films Films about the United States Air Force Films adapted into comics 1950s English-language films 1950s American films