Editing Strategic Air Command (film) (section)

==Production==
[[File:Stewart on set.jpg|thumb|Stewart seen later in his Air Force career with a B-52.]]
In real life, during [[World War II]], Stewart had been a [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17]] instructor pilot, a [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator|B-24]] squadron commander, and a bomb group operations officer, completing 20 combat missions. At the time of filming, Stewart, much like the character he portrays, was also a [[colonel]] in the [[Air Force Reserve]], serving with the Strategic Air Command when on duty and at the time was qualified as a pilot on the B-47,<ref name="Torch95">{{cite journal|title=A Little Bit of All of Us|journal=Torch: Safety Magazine of AETC|volume=2|issue=5|page=4|publisher=[[Air Education and Training Command]]|year=1995}}</ref> although much of the B-47 flying was performed by his friend and fellow Air Force pilot, Maj. (later Col.) A.W. Blizzard, Jr. Stewart's military service and lifelong interest in aviation greatly influenced the making of the film. He pushed for an authentic but sympathetic portrayal of the [[Strategic Air Command]], which led Paramount to put together a strong cast of Hollywood veterans and production people including [[June Allyson]], [[Frank Lovejoy]], director [[Anthony Mann]], and the top stunt pilot of the day, [[Paul Mantz]]. The film accurately portrays (from the perspective of the 1951 starting point of the script) the duties and responsibilities of an Air Force strategic bomber pilot, and the demands such service places on family life.<ref>Thomas 1998, p. 166.</ref>

Mann later said the film "was to promote the Air Force and the idea of SAC which in 
itself had its own restrictions, just being a military subject. Therefore, the co-operation of the Air Force was vital, and we were held within the bounds of what they 
wanted. The story itself was restricted and the whole concept of its shooting was confined to what they would let me show, which is perfectly all right. I went into it 
purely as a service to the Air Force, and as Jimmy Stewart was of the Force, we accepted this handicap and just tried to make an exciting film, not out of the characters which were paper-mache, but out of the B-36 and B-47 - we tried to dramatic them as our two 
great characters."<ref name="mann">{{cite magazine|title=Interviews with Anthony Mann|magazine=Screen|volume=10|date=July–October 1969| first1=Christopher|first2=Barrie|last2=Pattinson|last1=Wicking|url=https://archive.org/details/Screen_Volume_10_Issue_4-5/page/n31/mode/2up|page=38}}</ref>

The film includes dramatic [[aerial photography]], credited to Thomas Tutwiler, for which it was awarded a special citation by the American [[National Board of Review]]. It is also the only motion picture to highlight the [[Convair B-36 Peacemaker|Convair B-36]] (depicted in the theatrical release poster), the largest mass-produced piston-powered aircraft ever built, and the first bomber for the [[hydrogen bomb]]. The propeller-driven B-36 was then near the end of its service life and was about to be replaced by the jet-powered B-47 Stratojet, followed by the [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress]]. The aerial footage was accompanied by a dramatic and soaring musical score composed by [[Victor Young]].

The film was made with the full cooperation of the [[U.S. Air Force]], and it was filmed partly on location at [[MacDill Air Force Base]], [[Tampa, Florida]];<ref name=Natola>{{Cite book |editor=Mark Natola |title=Boeing B-47 Stratojet |publisher=Schiffer Publishing Ltd. |year=2002 |isbn=0764316702 |page=162}}</ref> [[Lowry Air Force Base]], [[Colorado]], and [[Carswell Air Force Base]], [[Texas]].

The baseball scenes were filmed with the cooperation of the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] at their [[spring training]] home of [[Al Lang Field]] in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]], just across [[Tampa Bay]] from MacDill AFB.<ref name="Reflections"/>

Stewart's character is based on the real-life military career and an actual mission flown by Brigadier General [[Clifford Schoeffler]], who crashed during an Arctic B-36 mission and survived. Brigadier General Schoeffler was on site at Carswell Air Force Base during the filming of ''Strategic Air Command'' as a consultant.<ref name="Reflections">[http://www.7bwb-36assn.org/reflect.html "Reflections."] ''7bwb-36assn.org.'' Retrieved: August 21, 2011.</ref>

Some commentators have speculated that the plot was inspired by [[Boston Red Sox]] legend [[Ted Williams]], a World War II veteran, who was recalled for Korean War service as a [[U.S. Marine Corps]] aviator, at the height of his baseball career.<ref>Crowther, Bosley. [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E05E7DF113AE734A25752C2A9629C946492D6CF "Review: Strategic Air Command (1955)."] ''The New York Times,'' April 21, 1955.  Retrieved: August 21, 2011.</ref>