Don't Look Back

Stumbling back from a pre-Fourth of July barbeque …

Dead-tired from beer, ribs and too much of everything else I manage a decision to drift away on the couch with whatever might be playing on the television. The ‘On’ button brings up TCM’s broadcast of the 1952 film “Above and Beyond.”

All I know about the movie is what I can see. Robert Taylor is a pilot, the head-pilot from the way he’s behaving – giving instructions to the crew. His voice gives no room for nonsense, but his eyes are troubled. It’s a secret mission and he’s the only one with the knowledge of where they’re heading and what they’re supposed to do, the only one on the plane aware of their assignment to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. As they near Japan, he reveals to the crew their purpose and they discover that Hiroshima is the best target. I hear in my head David Lindley’s El Rayo-X recording of Smokey Robinson’s Lot-quote: “Don’t look back…”

Flying over the city, the bomb bay opens, the bomb falls, and… silence. No dramatic music. No serious banter from the crew. No ominous narration.

What an effectively interesting directorial choice for a Hollywood picture of the 1950s, I think. Then I realize this silence is not part of the picture, as the Emergency Broadcast System sound erupts from the speakers. I’m not tired anymore. This can’t be. Not now. Not like this…

Then the slow scroll of large white text crawls across the screen: “THIS IS A TEST. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY YOU WOULD BE INSTRUCTED TO TURN TO CHANNEL 14 FOR DETAILS.”

My heart settles down, the soundtrack to the film restored, as the crew grimly observes the fiery destruction of their work. No one is happy, no cheers and high-fives, no “Go USA” chants. When Taylor asks for confirmation of the hit, he repeats back what he hears: “Success.” The way he pronounces it, though matter-of-factly, resigns the word and their work to fate. You can hear slightly sarcastic quote-marks around the word.

“Just great,” I think and continue my stumbling on to bed, where I’d discover an old book better for sleeping-off to than anything else I might find on the tube that night.