12 O'Clock High

General Gregory Peck whips a low-morale WWII bomber group into shape, driving officers Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger and others to the limit -- and himself over it. Peck won the NY Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a man cracking under command stress (the film was long used as a Navy and Air Force training aid; the B-17 crash at the beginning is real, courtesy of legendary stunt flier Paul Mantz).