24 Hour Alert

Because I've always been interested in studying and reading about military aircraft, I was excited to see this short film playing on TCM one afternoon. This film, a half hour in length, concerns itself with a residential area located near an air force base. It's the 1950s, and the jet age is underway. Because jets are much louder than propeller driven aircraft, the people in the town are starting to get irritated with all the noise. Jack Webb (who also narrates) travels to the base and meets with Colonel Breech, who is the man the civilians have been sending their complaints to. The mayor of the town wants the base to move somewhere else in order to make the complaints go away, but changes his tune after his private plane has a hard time landing one day because the plane's wheels won't fold out. Jets from the base are sent up to fly close to his plane and nudge the wheels, making them operate normally again. Being spared from a bad accident, the mayor is now convinced of the importance of having the base nearby. The formerly annoyed people of the town also show up to the base to show their support, and witness a huge spectacle of different aircraft, such as the massive c-130 cargo plane, f-84 Thunderjets, b-52s, and even an aerobatics team that flies f-86 Sabres, america's main offensive air weapon during the korean war. In the end, the town learns to accept the air force base because they realize its importance in making sure america is safe. While this film is pretty average, I thought it was good because it focuses on planes. Not only this, but you can see all the amazing and vibrant paint schemes on them because it's in color. They also show an experimental plane that never entered serial production: the Douglas Stiletto. Unfortunately, they only show it on the ground but it was nice to see it at all. To make a short story even shorter, 24 Hour Alert is a good enough film that features some interesting planes, but it's not really that memorable because of its lackluster story.

Oscar-nominated short film, a Walt Disney co-production distributed by Warner Bros., honoring the military forces that keep us safe from enemy harm--at the expense of families living in homes located around the noisy air bases. Jack Webb tours one such location (in sunny Millville, possibly standing in for Southern California's March Air Force Base), filled with Tigers--"a nice bunch of kids"--which has come under fire for its particular flight patterns. Narrating in his halting, somber style, Webb (courtesy screenwriters Beirne Lay Jr. and Richard L. Breen) makes melodramatic observations about the aircraft, the pilots, and the controllers as if the country were on the verge of World War III (one presumes to belittle the complaints of mothers down below who can't get their babies to sleep because of the passing jets). Not particularly well-executed, the 30-minute film is both awkward and naïve, a showcase for the military advancement in decimating entire towns. *1/2 from ****

Outstanding aerial shots of 1950's USAF fighter jets. If you like warplanes, this little gem of a movie is an absolute must see.

Great narration by Jack Webb. This film honors those who served in the USAF back in the Cold War 1950's. There are no combat scenes, but there is plenty of aerial action.

At the end, there is extensive high quality footage of a 1950's USAF air show. B-52's, F-100's, B-47's, early C-130's, and F-86's. The highlight was the Pre-Thunderbirds USAF aerial demonstration team called the Sabre Knights.

Never heard of this short movie. But it was great.

Jack Webb did a great job honoring the USAF.

The story with Webb narrating is bland enough, as far as jack Webb can make it.

But the real treats are the flying sequences.

We get to see some of the great mid-50s jets, including an early look at the B-52.

The "drama" includes an F-100 assisting an old B-25 in deploying its landing gear.

And, what Webb off-handedly describes as a turbo-prop cargo aircraft, which turns out to be the early version of the famous workhorse C-130 Hercules.

Those are worth the price of admission.

N.I.M.B.Y.....an acronym for the phrase 'not in my backyard'. This term is quite appropriate for "24 Hour Alert", a short film about a troubled Interceptor base. This is because the air base is in a residential area and the neighbors are NOT happy about having the loud fighter planes disturbing them. The film is narrated by Jack Webb and stars him as he visits the base and does what he can to get the public to embrace such a base.

This is a relatively dull film that MIGHT still hold a lot of interest for some viewers...such as me. I love seeing the 1950s era airplanes, such as the F-86D Sabre, the F-100 Super Sabre as well as the B-47 bomber (among others) and aside from films like "Strategic Air Command" there are not a lot of films featuring these sorts of jet planes. Well worth seeing...IF you love classic jets and history.