Command Decision (film)

Command Decision
theatrical Poster
Directed bySam Wood
Written byWilliam Wister Haines (play)
George Froeschel
William R. Laidlaw
Produced bySidney Franklin
Gottfried Reinhardt
StarringClark Gable
Walter Pidgeon
Van Johnson
Brian Donlevy
CinematographyHarold Rosson
Edited byHarold F. Kress
Music byMiklós Rózsa
Production
company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • February 1949 (1949-02)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.4 million[1]
Box office$3.6 million[1]

Command Decision is a 1949 war film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, and Brian Donlevy, and directed by Sam Wood, based on the 1948 stage play of the same name written by William Wister Haines, which he based on his best-selling 1947 novel. The screenplay for the film was written by George Froeschel and William R. Laidlaw.[N 1] Haines' play ran on Broadway for almost a year beginning in October 1947.[2]

Although portraying the strategic bombing of Nazi Germany in World War II, the main action takes place almost entirely within the confines of the headquarters of its protagonist. Depicting the political infighting of conducting a major war effort, the film's major theme is the emotional toll on commanders from ordering missions that result in high casualties, the effects of sustained combat on all concerned, and the nature of accountability for its consequences.

  1. ^ a b The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ^ "Command Decision." IBDB . Retrieved: June 7, 2013.


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