24 Hour Alert

24 Hour Alert (1955)

** (out of 4)

This short from Warner runs 31-minutes for some reason and it also picked up an Oscar nomination for some reason. Jack Webb appears as himself and also narrates as he talks about a U.S. Air Force base that is coming under attack by local residents who are unhappy over all the noise that the jets are making. Webb goes with the some experts as they talk to the people and see if they can come to some sort of understanding since the work of the jets are so important. Um, yeah, I'm really not sure what the entire point of this film was but it's certainly a strange little picture. I'd be lying if I said it was any good in regards to entertainment but I'll at least give it credit for being well made. The entire subject matter is just so bland and boring that it's impossible to really care about anything going on. I'm sure those who enjoy watching jets in motion should at least get some mild entertainment out of that. The only great thing in the film is its WarnerColor, which looks downright terrific. Seriously, the colors are so remarkable that it really does seem as if you're watching some sort of animated movie.

I am watching 24 Hour Alert right now on TCM. Jack Webb stars in and narrates this documentary style short film about a fictional town that wants the nearby temporary Air Force base to move. The locals don't like the noise the jets make. There are numerous 1950s jets shown in action and they are really the stars of this tribute to the Air Force and the great work it does protecting the country. Jack gets to go for a ride in a T-33 trainer with the base commander as pilot and gets to see what a jet can do. An uncredited role is the film is "2nd pilot in ready room" with Gordon Cooper as that pilot. I don't know if that is the Gordon Cooper who later became an astronaut. 24 Hour Alert is only 31 minutes long and is well worth a look, especially if you are interested in vintage aircraft.

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.

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 ****

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.