Aviation Hero Shares Dire Prediction

The Court-Martial Of Billy Mitchell (1956) Keeps Coop Indoors

This title stuck with me from early on because we had a kid next door named Billy Mitchell. Whatever gets it done ... only trouble was no station ran Court-Martial as I grew up, consequence perhaps of loopy ownership of United States Pictures output, an independent released through WB, with ownership of negs later reverting to Milton Sperling, who was, among other things, a Warner son-in-law. Now Olive has most of them out and Milton's is a household name again, at least among cineastes. The elements are a bit rugged, along with early Cinemascope mumps, but that's charm of 50's relics. Who's going to spring, after all, to clean this up? Court-Martial has little for reputation, a stepchild to director Otto Preminger's oeuvre and down the list of Gary Cooper vehicles that interest us. The show looks economical, but wasn't, the negative cost ($2.3 million) equaling dollars spent on Warners' previous Mister Roberts and East Of Eden. There was less suspense because viewers knew (or found out) that Billy Mitchell was found guilty and suspended from service. Juicing up a long last third is Rod Steiger as a vicious prosecutor, forerunner to acid George C. Scott gave Preminger's Anatomy Of A Murder. Big gotcha is Mitchell's real-life 20's prediction that the Japanese would one day attack Pearl Harbor, and must have gotten ooh-ahhs from 1956 patronage and sent them home with plenty to talk about and pass along to friends. Maybe this spiked boxoffice, as Court-Martial did turn respectable profit.