Warbird Information Exchange

Just an interesting thought, does anybody know if any of the structures utilized or built at Eglin for the filming of "12 O'Clock High" still exist?
I've never been to Eglin, but somebody out there might know if any remain.
Blue skies,
Jerry

I can't tell you about the TV series sets, but the airfield in England where the movie was filmed is now an antenna farm for the nearby USAF base; RAF Croughton. I was stationed there from `85 to `88 and the control tower and several of the other buildings used during the war and the filming of the move were still intack and were being preserved.

I don't think any of the film was shot in England. They used some original combat footage supplied by the US Goernment, but all principle shooting took place in the U.S. at Eglin Field in Florida, and Ozark Army Air Field (now Fort Rucker) in Alabama. It's teh Eglin Feild question that I'm interested in since no structures were built in Alabama.
Jerry

I read the Mantz opening scene was filmed at Dothan AL...any truth to that?

Jim

I think the Mantz scene was filmed at Ozark AAF (now Fort Rucker). I'd recommend the new book "12 O'Clock High Logbook" that tells the story of the book, film, and TV series. I've read it and it has much good information . Here is a link:
http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id85.html

Re England and sorry to wander off-thread. Most of "The War Lover" was shot in England, hence the possible confusion.

Rob / Kansan

Just FYI...here are the locations at which the movie was filmed

Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA
Ozark Army Airfield, Ozark, Alabama, USA
RAF Barford St. John Air Base, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Would that be in the opening / closing sequence where Harvey Stovall is riding his bicycle onto the abandoned "Archbury" airfield? It never even crossed my mind

Rob / Kansan

Unfortunatley I can't find any specifics as to how much was filmed at which location. But that would be a good bet that it was the opening and closing scenes that were filmed at the RAF base.

The Stovall scenes were filmed in Alabama. All the remaining scenes were filmed in Alabama, Florida, or studios in California. Accounts by the director (AAHS Journal article by Jim Farmer), several excellent books that include accounts of the filming (such as "When Hollywood Ruled the Skies" by Bruce Orriss) and the account in the new, well researched book on the making of the movie confirm this. The only footage shot in Europe was the AAF combat footage.

Of all the sources about the filming of "Twelve O'Clock High" there has not been one that suggests any English location work. I'd like to see a reliable published source, or any for that matter, that suggests otherwise.

Amazing how you ask a question and the discussion has no bearing on that actual question, huh? The field they used at Elgin is now called Duke Field. The last time I was there was in the early 90s, and it was home to a Reserve Special Ops unit of AC-130 gunships:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... y/duke.htm
I went there twice when I was thinking of joining the AF reserves (came to my sense and went Army Green later). They still had at that time the main building that was used for the briefing scenes. I think it was called, “eagles Nest” of something like that. It was pretty close to the flightline. In 1993 I think, I scored a “volunteer” ride on the Collings Foundation B-17 to Crestview from Tallahassee. I rented a car to go back home and swung by there again and took photos of the building. They’re in a massive container of photos I took then, it’d take days to find it. I have no idea if that building is still there, but one building from the filming was there at that point.

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Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Thanks for the replyand it's amazing to think that one building might still be standing! It might be a nice building to preserve at a museum in it's briefing form, both Film and AAF history would benifit from such preservation. It would be a "Shrine" to all the lovers of "12 O'Clock High"!
(as long as no one gets reassigned to "The Leper Colony!!!)
Jerry

The opening and closing scenes of 12 O'Clock High were shot at Ozark Field. It was overgrown in 1949 and it had camouflaged runways that were perfect duplicates of the ones used in England by the 306th. Paul Mantz did the crash landing for a paycheck of $2500.00.