The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell

Based on fact, Preminger's impressively low-key film is about an American general who, in 1925, accused the military of incompetence and criminal negligence for their lack of interest in building up an air force, and was court-martialled for his views. With Cooper as the crusading officer, one is never in any doubt as to the correctness and sincerity of his views (Mitchell was posthumously rehabilitated in 1947), while Steiger puts in one of his inimitably flashy performances as the prosecuting attorney.