The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell

Otto Preminger’s drama, based on a true story, stars Gary Cooper as the eponymous Colonel Billy Mitchell. Mitchell, a Wwi flying hero, is convinced America’s security lies not with the navy but with a strong, separate air force. The hidebound traditionalists of the navy and army ignore him but, when one of Michell’s friends is killed flying an ill-maintained plane, Mitchell’s public outbursts leave them no choice but to court-martial him. But what was supposed to be a quiet affair becomes a cause celebre, as Mitchell rallies to his cause such luminaries as Eddie Rickenbacker and Fiorello LeGaurdia (Tom McKee and Phil Arnold). The film is fascinating for the glimpses of President Calvin Coolidge (Ian Woolfe) and General Pershing (Herbert Heyes) pursuing the traditionalist line but more so for Mitchell predicting, in 1925, the possible destruction of the navy by aerial attack, specifically at the Pearl Harbor base…, Gary Cooper as the airman whose advocacy of air power caused him to be court-martialed. Charles Bickford, Rod Steiger, Ralph Bellamy, James Daly, Elizabeth Montgomery, Jack Lord. Excellent trial sequence dominates the film. Directed by Otto Preminger., Courtroom drama, based on fact, about the controversial American general who was court-martialled in 1925 for challenging the military establishment’s neglect of the development of air power. Mitchell predicted the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor 16 years before it took place., In this 1955 Otto Preminger film, Gary Cooper stars as World War I hero Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. The film recounts Mitchell’s efforts to prove the viability of a strong air force. The hidebound military higher-ups refuse to finance aviation any further, figuring that the strength of the United States lies in its navy. When a friend is killed by flying a faulty plane, Mitchell charges the War and Navy department with incompetence and criminal negligence. When the brass tries to quietly court-martial Mitchell, they are forced into the open by the strength of public opinion, largely in Mitchell’s favor. Subjected to the grilling of prosecutor Alan Guillon (Rod Steiger) during his trial, Mitchell sticks to his guns, even outlining a potential Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor unless the military wises up and strengthens its air power. Elizabeth Montgomery makes her film debut in the role of Margaret Landsdowne.