A Gathering of Eagles (1963)

Synopsis: Delbert Mann teams with Rock Hudson in this Cold War film. Col. Jim Caldwell is assigned to command a new Air Force base in California after base personnel fail to respond adequately to a surprise... Delbert Mann teams with Rock Hudson in this Cold War film. Col. Jim Caldwell is assigned to command a new Air Force base in California after base personnel fail to respond adequately to a surprise alert devised by Strategic Air Command. He immediately alienates his new colleagues, as well as his new British wife, Virginia (Mary Peach) by removing missile squad commander Col. Bill Fowler (Barry Sullivan) from his post because of alcoholism. His tough, no-nonsense demeanor, and the long hours he puts in at work do little to help his marriage, and his lonely wife begins spending time with Jim's best friend Hollis Farr (Rod Taylor), the vice commander at the base. Jim becomes increasingly unhappy with the gregarious Farr's lax attention to efficiency and suggests to his superior General Kirby (Kevin McCarthy), that he be replaced. But when a new emergency arises, Farr is put to the test. Cast against type as a hard-ass military type, Hudson acquits himself well, as does McCarthy as the low-key, Eisenhower-like general. The film Includes impressively realistic aerial scenes, as well as the "SAC Song," a satiric ditty by songwriter Tom Lehrer, whose "We'll All Go Together When We Go" reflect the anxieties of the time. [More]

Starring: Rock Hudson, Mary Peach, Rod Taylor, Leif Erickson

Starring: Rock Hudson, Mary Peach, Rod Taylor, Leif Erickson, Barry Sullivan, Henry Silva, Leora Dana, Robert Lansing

Director: Delbert Mann

Director: Delbert Mann
Screenwriter: Robert Pirosh
Producer: Sy Bartlett
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

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