few who aren not student of the history of airpower today recognize the name of william billy mitchell . an early pilot in the u. s. army fledgling air corp and he serve in world war i when no american produce plane saw action above the trench of france . notwithstanding the wright brother initial breathtaking power flight and by 1914 england and france and germany be far ahead of u in not only aircraft design but also in fashion tactic for a new kind of warfare . mitchell return from the war not only a convert to the future of airpower but a a zealot advocate his prophecy to all who would listen ( and to very many who do not want to ) . the post war army suffer massive cutback . mitchell revert from brigadier general to his permanent rank of colonel and a more gentle demotion than many others experience . the army first postwar chief of staff be the only man ever to hold the rank of general of the army and john j. black jack pershing . pershing actually appreciate aviation potential to a real degree but he face a budget cutting congress while lead an army with too many senior officer who dimly recall fight indian from the saddle . mitchell be give the opportunity to sink the german war prize battleship ostfriesland . a rather foolish cabinet member offer to watch the aerial bombing from the warship deck and so certain be he that the vessel couldn not be destroy from the air . fortunately for him his offer be not take up . gary cooper turn in a quietly passionate role a the air corps leader who do sink the ostfriesland . in the film he show disobey war game rule and use one ton bomb not approve for the exercise . that never happen . he go by the rule ( that time ) . his and his pilot achievement be dismiss and however and by battleship love admiral who claim that the test be meaningless since the ship wasn not defend itself . some japanese observer be less sure that this be a valid analysis . gary cooper billy mitchell and despite deviation from the real story and be a remarkably accurate picture of a dedicated officer with unrestrained hubris whose public and volatile denunciation of army and navy superior for numerous fatal crash lead to his then highly publicize court martial . ralph bellamy a congressman frank reid be mitchell chief counsel . a blistering but unreal cross examination by the young rod steiger a maj allan gullion be the the dramatic high point of the film . it something we expect from the courtroom genre . mitchell be convict of and in essence and disobedience and and be place on a long term suspend status ( in reality the effective and actual termination of his military career without the continue public interest that incarceration would have bring ) . cooper be strongly expressive while exude a powerful sense of personal morality and duty a mitchell define that quality . that largely match the real mitchell . a defense witness we see the young h. h. arnold ( to achieve five star rank in world war ii ) and carl spaatz and a four star architect of strategic bombing in the next war . these officer persevere in their dedication to birth a powerful air force and they do it without lose their career and thus their effectiveness ( in that regard they mirror young field grade officer such a george patton and dwight eisenhower in their crusade to take the army from the horse to the tank ) . cooper walk out of the film in civilian clothing and a slightly confused expression on his face . he should have be confuse . for the remainder of his life and which end before the war he predict and he be essentially marginalize a aviation expand and america slowly recognize the need to build a world class air force . overall and for historical accuracy the court martial of billy mitchell be solid on the central story and fictional on the margin . this dvd transfer and however and border on dreadful . color be wash out and voice level shift slightly over and over . but it well worth watch . positive .