A Gathering of Eagles

This loose remake, transposed to a peacetime setting, of producer Sy Bartlett's script for the much superior Twelve O'Clock High sees Rock Hudson struggling vainly to imitate the former version's Gregory Peck, as a colonel determined to improve the alertness and efficiency of a Strategic Air Command base. The conflict that arises from his ruthlessness - and the rumours surrounding his relationship with another officer's wife - are a pale shadow of the desperate strain evoked by Peck's wartime predicament. The flying footage, however, with its impressive if disturbingly hawkish shots of B-52 bombers, gives the film a sense of life; hardly surprising, since Bartlett and his director were both former fliers themselves.