12 O'Clock High
(1965)
Starring Robert Lansing, Frank Overton,
and John Larkin this show aired on Friday nights from September 1964 to January
1967 on
ABC. It was an hour-long World War II drama, and was based on the novel by
Bernie Lay, Jr. and Sy Bartlett. The novel was also made into a movie starring Gregory Peck in 1949.
When Sgt. Phil Reece (Robert Brown) entered the Army Air Corps, he didn't
count on meeting up with an old classmate, Lieutenant Tony Kemp, who knows
his real identity - Phil Chapman - and the secret he's running from - a
hit-and-run accident that killed a child. Kemp has been blackmailing Reece
for the money and the sport, but when a crew member cracks up following a
mission, Kemp hatches a bigger plan, and extorts Reece's cooperation.
During a routine mission over Europe, Kemp and Reece convince the rest of
the crew that the flight commands of General Frank Savage (series star
Robert Lansing) are endangering them, and are a sign of his diminished
mental capacity. Kemp forces a situation he thinks will require the plane to
set down in neutral Switzerland, where the whole crew will be interned and
get to sit out the rest of the war. Savage discovers the plot, but the crew
can't be dissuaded until Reece comes forward to unmask Kemp's intentions. In
the struggle, Kemp shoots Reece, but with the crew now convinced of Kemp's
plot, Savage manages to get the plane landed safely.
Featuring a host of familiar faces, including veteran TV actors Stuart
Margolis (Angel - Rockford Files), Lee Merriwether as Nurse (Lt.) Amy
Patterson, Reece's girlfriend, and John Kerr (Lt. Cable - South Pacific).
