The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell is a 1955 film about the American general Billy Mitchell and his court martial for publicly complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces. Directed by Otto Preminger. Written by Milton Sperling and Emmet Lavery. He defied the army and navy... and they gave him a Court Martial!  taglines Col. Billy Mitchell In future wars, soldiers will invade peaceful lands by leaping in parachutes from airplanes in the sky. If being a good soldier means being unable to think for himself and say what he thinks, then I am glad I'm a bad one. Pearl Harbor has no adequate defense against air attack... and that a foreign power could attack in a matter of minutes. All aviation policies, schemes, and systems are dictated by nonflying officers of the Army or Navy who know practically nothing about it. It goes beyond blind obedience... and depends on a man's faith in his knowledge of what is right. This row on air power is not a row between the Army and the Navy. It is a clash between men who love to fly and men who don't, men who think in terms of air power and men who can't think at all. The Army owes me nothing. I owe the Army everything. As an officer in the United States Army, I had to choose between my duty to the Army and what I considered to be my duty to my country. I chose the distasteful method of inviting my own court-martial... because I felt in no other way could I focus attention upon a desperately urgent problem. Anyone with any knowledge of the air knows that the ultimate speed of aircraft is almost unlimited. It depends only on technical developments. Maj. Allan Guillion You think you can change the Army by defying it? You think your vision of the air can override fifty years of tradition and command? Admiral William S. Sims The Navy hasn't got any policy on flying, they are ignoring the aeroplane in hopes that it will just go away. Just because you read a lot of books about golf, doesn't make you a good golfer. Taglines He defied the army and navy... and they gave him a Court Martial! All the staggering drama of a fighting hero who risked disgrace as a traitor! Cast Gary Cooper - Col. Billy Mitchell Charles Bickford - Maj. Gen. Jimmy Guthrie Ralph Bellamy - Congressman Frank R. Reid Rod Steiger - Maj. Allen W. Gullion Elizabeth Montgomery - Mrs. Margaret Lansdowne Fred Clark - Col. Sherman Moreland James Daly - Lt. Col. Herbert White Jack Lord - Lt. Cmdr. Zachary Lansdowne Peter Graves - Capt. Bob Elliott Darren McGavin - Capt. Russ Peters Robert Simon - Adm. Gage Charles Dingle - Unnamed US Senator Dayton Lummis - General Douglas MacArthur Tom McKee - Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker Stephen Roberts - Major Carl Spaatz Herbert Heyes - General John J. Pershing Robert Brubaker - Major H. H. Arnold Phil Arnold - Fiorello LaGuardia Ian Wolfe - President Calvin Coolidge Will Wright - Admiral William S. Sims External links 0047956 Category:1955 American films Category:American biographical drama films Category:Films based on true stories Category:Films set in courtrooms Category:Films set in Texas Category:Films set in Washington, D.C. Category:Films set in the 1920s Category:Films about the military