February 1st

Happy Birthday to Clark Gable and my niece Melissa (Due to the weather in Kansas we cannot be together to celebrate her 11th birthday, but she got several days off school to make up for the disappointment).

Clark Gable is probably most known for Rhett Butler. I think Rhett is the best character in Gone With The Wind. When Scarlett asks what will happen to her, Rhett states the famous line “Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn” and leaves, I cheer.

I watched Command Decision. Clark Gable plays a leader of jet fighters. He plays a very good commander who supports his men and stands up for them. The film is a different type of war film. The focus is not the action but as the title states, it is the decisions that the officers make that the men follow. It is a lot of talk and little action yet it is very intriguing an intense. It is a side of war films I have not seen before. The story takes place in England and the military has to deal with congress people who come over to see what is going on, public relations, and the almost publicity style or propaganda the generals deal with the camera crews. It gives a new take on the war that we are currently fighting in the Middle East.

In an early scene where the men are coming back from a mission a plane is in trouble. Gable has to talk him down and the plane crashes and explodes. The hand holding the microphone shakes and the men on the podium watching the action are very still. There are close ups of the men to show their reaction.

There is a voice over scene explaining the action of the crews to get the planes ready and go over the maps and the targets. When the men are on the planes ready to go, the scene cuts to one watch to another watch to another watch to show the passing of seconds until the command to go finally happens. Gable's friend dies in the battle and Gable goes to sit alone in the combat room. There is voice over is of the men on the radio in combat and sound of bombs, fighting and planes. The camera starts as a wide shot and slowly comes closer to Gable to show him in profile with the map in the background. It is a somber moment of reflection.