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12 O’Clock High Trivia
By Nick Hodge | December 22, 2008
Amongst the ladies with perfect early 1960s hair-dos and dresses in a series set in the mid 1940s; and the eucalypts of Southern California appear the episodes of 12 O’Clock High
And there is lots of smoking: even by the combat pilots in-flight! Maybe cigarette companies were primary sponsors of the original shows as the screened on US TV? Without a doubt, there are many young American fliers chasing after English girls in pubs and the countryside.
Many of the cut-scenes are repeated; both in air and on the ground. These were genuine WW2 gun camera footage and in combat shots.
In these stock shots you can see reversed insignia, old USAAF insignia, mixture of B-17F and B-17G types. The German planes are Hudsons rather than Heinkels, yet the interior of the B-17 seems authentic.
Robert Lansing is like a Brigadier-General Superman who commands his B-17 “Piccadilly Lily” with a constant sneer and consistent coolness. Nazis in the air, nazis on the ground and evil spies; he wins against them all. Never promoted with at least 3 crash landings and near death at least four times.
Other bits:
- Hazel Court as common love interest, “Liz”
- Tom Skerritt starred as 5 different characters in 5 different episodes. I did not realise that he was a common star of 1960s TV Shows.
- Sorrell Booke, who later played Boss Hogg in the TV version of Dukes of Hazard
- Famous screen sirens of the 1950s make an appearance in individual episodes, with many minutes of women swooning: Dana Wynter (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Glynis Johns, Viveca Lindfors, Australian-born Victoria Shaw, Barbara Shelley
- Norman Fell: was a tail gunner during WW2
- A young Peter Fonda, with superb acting.
- Episode 109, Appointment At Liege: Innocent phrases such as “If I could commandeer a Jeep, could you play hookey for an hour and a half?” and “I don’t know. I’ve never run away with anybody before.” <long eye gazing> “you wait here” (Future 2001: A Space Odyssey Gary Lockwood playing Major Gus Denver’s sweet lines to Nancy Kovack, playing a perfectly 1960s coiffured weather intelligence Lt Cooper)
- Sally Kellerman, to star in the later MASH movie, had a repeated role as a Nurse Lt. Typecast?
- Episode 118 Lorelei. In this spooky episode, a haunted B-17 named Lorelei returns to UK by itself and continues to cause havok. Stars Rip Torn and Bruce Dern: one of four he was in as a bombardier. Bruce Dern as Lt Michaels quotation on the Lorelei: “We gonna get together an’ buy this here airplane. And then we’re gonna get us some matches then we gonna have us a bomber bar-be-que”
- “That’s the thing with loners: they tend to be outsiders trying to get back in” (said of Keir Dullea; later to play Dave Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey
- In Episode 124, the future 99 from Get Smart playing Lt Betty Cumming: Barbara Feldon
Onwards to Series 2 and 3, then Combat!
Oh, I love holidays
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