646f9e108c The story of Colonel Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Although unaware of the full potential of this new weapon, he knows that it is capable of doing tremendously more damage than any other weapon used before, and that the death toll resulting from it will be enormous. He is reluctant to be the person who will end so many lives, but if using it may bring an end to the war, then not doing so may result in even more lives being lost in continued ground assaults as the fighting goes on. At the same time, the intense secrecy surrounding this mission leaves him with no one he can express his thoughts and doubts to, not even his wife. As time goes on, the pressure upon him only increase.
Col. Paul Tibbetts piloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in World War 2.
The baloney that dropping the A-bomb saved anyone's life is still showing up in textbooks, and most of the confusion traces back to this blockbuster. Without recognizing pure Hollywood myth, audiences swallowed hook, line and sinker its careful rewrite of history, so that ultimately it became the American excuse for using nuclear weapons on a country that was already on its knees, had no defenses left, and was actively negotiating terms for surrender. My daughter returned home from school one afternoon recently and described the printed warnings, dropped from American planes by kind-hearted soldiers, that Hiroshima would soon be vaporized and residents had better leave. I remember learning about them myself. That's a great story, but the fact is, no warnings were ever dropped. Most Americans don't know that. This film is why. Our firebomb assaults had already fried 85% of Tokyo; Japan's planes and navy were gone; what would be the strategic advantage of incinerating 100% of two remaining cities other than to test the costly atomic weapons? Even the Manhattan Project scientists expected these bombs to be used as a threat -- rather than actually be dropped on anyone -- and petitioned the President with that message. Rewriting the truth to paint a kind, gentle American everyman pilot, the plot assures viewers we did the right thing. By the time the story's over, there is no question that dropping bombs this big was the right thing to do, saving countless lives -- except that these mitigating things simply never happened. Any red blooded American can look up the facts. I did. For its cock and bull story, this film is a treasure. Read it and weep.
I just finished watching "Above and Beyond" and could not believe what a wonderful overlooked film this is. Robert Taylor as Col. Paul Tibbets is amazing. What a horrible job he had to do, to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima ending World War Two. His life was nearly destroyed by this call to duty. Eleanor Parker is great as his wife, Lucey. She loves him, they have two children, and there life seems idyllic, until he is given this horrible task. Top secret, no talking, no telling, and certainly no way out. Duty comes before anything even the love of his wife and his children. He becomes sullen, withdrawn, and unable to give any affection to her, and in the pursuit of duty almost loses everything that means anything to him. James Whitmore is the aide that has to keep all together and his performance is one of restraint and conviction. I don't get why Taylor was always overlooked by the Academy, first for "Johnny Eager" then for "Waterloo Bridge" and then at the height of his maturity, "Above and Beyond." What a insult to this remarkable performer to never get his due as an excellent actor. This film gives us a look at the personal devastation of the private Paul Tibbets, and somehow we can understand that if the bomb had not been dropped, many more lives would have been lost. A great film, with insight and daring.