The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell [Blu-ray]

good performance by rod steiger. slow moving, but good film nothing has changed in washington after all these years.

An expert in foreign affairs who was both a Commanding General and a U.S. Ambassador in the Middle East wrote, "The risk of Senior U.S. Commanders' becoming intellectually arrogant and cognitively rigid is real." The real plus with a civilian-run military is waging war and national defense are deadly serious that require planning assumptions based on empirical evidence and probabilities, not just on hope. The DVD, "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell" demonstrates all of the foregoing. At the end of WW I, Colonel Mitchell dared to challenge the arrogance of superiors over the reality the day of the Battleship was over, and enter the Aircraft Carrier and Airpower. The Army did not want to concede the audacity of Colonel Mitchell and loss of his career shaped history in which he predicted the Japanese would aerial bomb Pearl Harbor; the USA prevailed in WWII because this incident caused further inquiry which resulted with aircraft and aircraft carriers in the Military inventory. The media would expose all of this at the inception ofMitchell's Court Martial. This DVD is an excellent example of what public service is, not self interest especially the military code of thethe Armed Forces: Duty, Honor, Country under God. There are some principles worth loosing everything for - this DVD withremarkable historical accuracy - portrays real citizenship both civilian and military. Some things are not bought and paid for.; the most valuable is not always found in the size of a wallet. Secure this DVD!

I am a history buff and this movie is fantastic. Gary Cooper is one of my favorite actors. If this movie is historically accurate, then Billy Mitchell is one brave dude to do what he did. I am retired military. The fact that he went public denouncing military leadership is not a good thing. It doesn't matter what he said was accurate or not. The fact that he said it is enough to convict. Billy Mitchell knew that long before he said it. That's the big difference between military law and civilian law. It cost him plenty. I'm pretty sure President Reagan vacated his conviction (I might be wrong on that).

No closed captions for the hard of hearing. I would think $24.50 for a DVD of a 1955 movie would be ADA-compliant. Bottom line: Don't buy this DVD if you are hard of hearing.

I am sorry. I did not realize I purchased a used digitally mastered film in a DVD. May be this explains why the product did not have wrapping and the DVD was moving around in the case! Picture quality of the Cinemascope/Warner Color film produce by Republic in the same year they created Audie Murphy’s “To Hell and Back,” was not the best in my Blu ray player. Only a few film-frame defects are observable in this product.Oh my God what as cast! On top of this great cast Otto Preminger directed this very effective screen play even though it was not totally accurate starting with the sinking of the German Dreadnought in which actual footage still exists. The film was shot on location in Washington DC for the city filming which provides some idea of the landscape in the 50s. I learned much watching the film as I verified parts of it starting with Lt Cmdr Zachary Lansdowne.This film hit home for I too was involved in a similar dispute. I had a similar experience with the air force and although I as a captain with a powerful senator for support, I was told to leave the organization. Every USAF officer needs to view this film. We need another Billy Mitchell today!

I'm sorry to say I'd never heard of Billy Mitchell for before I started working for the Air Force. This movie is a great overview of his life and the challenges/stupidity he faced. It also hints at and the book American Caesar illustrates in more detail the relationship between Billy Mitchell and Douglas MacArthur. Together with LeMay, these men shaped the future of America by capitalizing on the newest technologies available - airpower.In the modern era, it's hard to imagine a world without planes, but in their day, there was an amazing amount of resistance to the then new "toys" and this group of men was able to see clearly the need for these tools in America's defense.Billy Mitchell could see not only the advantages of airpower for America's defense, but also the impending threat for lack of air superiority in the attack from Japan on America's naval assets. Truly a visionary man and I'm so glad this movie introduced me to a patriotism so deep and committed that he was willing to commit political/career suicide to cement our future success.A rebellious hero from the military is an inherent contradiction, but Billy was the best.

**** 1955. Directed by Otto Preminger. Academy award nomination in the Best Writing, Story and Screenplay category. Washington DC, 1921. Shocked by the attitude of his hierarchy who doesn't believe in the future of aviation, Col. Billy Mitchell makes a statement to the press and is then court-martialed. After  Carmen Jones  and its all black cast,  The Man with the Golden Arm  which handled the drug addiction theme, this is the third Otto Preminger movie of a row about a delicate topic. The Austrian born director, after the termination of the contract he had with 20th century Fox, can at last choose all the movies he wants to direct and thus demonstrates that he's a genuine author who should absolutely be rediscovered one of these days by our distinguished critics. Highly recommended.As for the Artisan DVD in my possession, the least I can say is that it doesn't pay tribute to the quality of this film. No english subtitles (falsely advertised on the cover), a film ratio of approximately 2:20 while it's written 1:33 on the cover, no extras, a hushed up sound and images coming from your washing machine. SHAME.

really good to find this dvd in proper ratio but the colour is a bit weak it's only Warnercolor but very viewable

Excellent

Ho comprato questo Titolo anche se avevo visto le recensioni pessime su di esso, perciò, "Mea Culpa"Era un Titolo che cercavo da anni, è ho fatto un pò di "abbi pazienza" ma mai mi sarei immaginato uno sfracello simile.1)formato Letterbox con bordi sfuocati2)definizione ai minimi storici con striature dovute al pessimo codec utilizzato e a peggiorare le cose, per me l'hanno presa da una VHS, o chi ha fatto il telecinema è da processare insieme al Generale Mitchell.3)Audio incostante e con numerosi buchi (soppiantati dall'audio originale)anche nel bel mezzo di una frase senza cambio di scena3)Per tutto il film l'audio è disturbato da un gorgoglio di rumori che a tratti sembrano voci in sottofondo.Insomma se per Voi è indispensabile, amen, sennò lasciate perdere.Zelig46

Soweit es den Film selbst betrifft, habe ich der Rezension von Mladen Kosar nichts hinzuzufügen, so dass ich mir eine eigene detaillierte Bewertung sparen kann. Hier daher nur einige Worte zu dieser DVD aus italienischer Produktion:Es gibt neben dem englischen Originalton und der italienischen Tonspur auch eine eine deutsche, was, gerade weil es sich um keinen Action-lastigen Kriegsfilm, sondern um ein fast ausschließlich aus Dialogen (in denen durchaus komplexe Fragen besprochen werden) bestehendes Gerichtsdrama handelt, zweifellos vielen deutschen Zuschauern willkommen sein wird. Die Tonqualität (deutsch und englisch) ist ordentlich. Das Bild fällt dagegen deutlich schlechter aus - Quelle war offensichtlich eine VHS-Kassette. Die Bildschärfe lässt zu wünschen übrig und die Farben wirken teils verblasst, teils verfälscht. Dafür ein Sternchen Abzug; dem Film selbst würde ich bedenkenlos fünf Sterne geben. Als Extras gibt es lediglich eine Bildergalerie.

Eccellente film, avvincente dall'inizio alla fine, senza momenti di fiacca. Ottime le interpretazioni. Praticamente diviso in due parti: nella prima - chiamiamola militare - vi sono gli antefatti della seconda, quella giudiziaria. Poiché pare che il film si basi su una storia realmente accaduta, il generale (poi retrocesso a colonnello) Mitchell appare un vero profeta. Buona (non eccezionale) la qualità del DVD (edizione restaurata).