This is the final of three posts dedicated to The Rock Hudson Blogathon being held over at In The Good Old Days of Hollywood and Love Letters to Old Hollywood.
Tnx Crystal and Michaela for letting me take part!
“Oh, I’ll guarantee you they’re great. Listen, when Happy Jack smiles at a wing commander, that’s like giving him the Airman of the Year Award.” – Col. Hollis Farr.
Number of Times Seen – 1 (18 Nov 2018)
Brief Synopsis – At the height of the Cold War, an Air Force Colonel must make sure his wing of aircraft are ready for war which leads to much tension between his and his subordinates.
My Take on it – This film has a interesting premise, but it is presented in a very lackluster fashion which takes away from any kind of real impact that it could possibly have.
This was probably much better received when it was made because the world was in a very different mindset at the time and were probably quite eager to see how pilots need to be constantly on call in order to stop the impending threat.
Watching it 55 years later just isn’t as gripping.
The pacing of the story is good, but once again since this is geared much more towards the mindset of people during the Cold War, it just doesn’t work well enough to be convincing.
Rock Hudson is fine here in the lead, but he doesn’t manage to give the viewer the feeling that he really is in command of this base because it doesn’t feel genuine enough.
They do a good job of showing how he needs to juggle both his home and work life, but something feels like it’s missing that would make this film that much more thrilling or enjoyable.
Bottom Line – Another mediocre Hudson film that was probably much better received when it came out. The story moves along at a nice pace but it is geared much more to trying to instill the fear of the Cold War and seems too tame in retrospect. Hudson is fine in the lead but doesn’t manage to fully capture the command feeling that his character should have. The way they show how he deals with things at home and on the base is good, but not as thrilling or enjoyable as one would hope for.
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – To familiarize himself with the B-52 and it’s flying characteristics, Rock Hudson flew on a short mission out of Walker AFB, Roswell NM. (From IMDB)
Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)
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MovieRob 
What a pity that this film hasn’t aged well. I’d pretty much watch anything Rock is in, but I think I’ll put it behind other better films of his in terms of to watch order. I liked your to the point take on it.
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Hudson certainly starred in his fair share of clunkers, and A Gathering of Eagles sounds like it might belong in that category. Nonetheless, I’m sure I’ll get to it someday, especially since it co-stars Rod Taylor.
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