Air Power | |
---|---|
| |
Genre | Educational |
Narrated by | Walter Cronkite |
Theme music composer | Norman Dello Joio |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Production | |
Producers |
|
Running time |
|
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | November 11, 1956 May 5, 1957 | –
Air Power is a historical educational television series broadcast on CBS from November 11, 1956, until May 5, 1957. In 1958 it was repeated, replacing The Twentieth Century during the summer. [1] It dealt with the rise of aviation as a military weapon. It was produced in cooperation with the United States Air Force. [2] The series also featured a musical score composed by Norman Dello Joio and conducted by Alfredo Antonini.
Air Power told the story of the rise of aviation as a military weapon, covering military aviation history from the invention of the airplane through the supersonic aircraft and missiles of the mid-1950s, and also discussed rockets and the future of aviation. Air Power included the stories of some of the historical heroes of aviation and the leading aviation figures of the mid-20th century.[ citation needed]
Walter Cronkite narrated all 26 episodes. [2] Eddie Rickenbacker co-narrated the November 18, 1956, episode on the early days of aviation. Michael Redgrave co-narrated the December 5, 1956, episode on the Battle of Britain. Art Carney co-narrated the December 12, 1956, episode on stunt flying and wing walking.[ citation needed]
The CBS Public Affairs Department produced Air Power in cooperation with the United States Air Force. [2] Norman Dello Joio composed the musical score for the series, and Alfredo Antonini conducted it.[ citation needed]
The series was originally broadcast during the 1956–57 television season on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time from November 11, 1956, to May 5, 1957. Reruns were broadcast from May 4 to October 19, 1958, also at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. [2] [3]
Source:
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Day North America Is Attacked" | Unknown | Unknown | November 11, 1956 | |
The work of the
United States Air Force Combat Operations Center in
Colorado Springs,
Colorado, and of
radar stations,
fighter-
interceptor aircraft, and
strategic bombers of the U.S. Air Force
Strategic Air Command is depicted as they respond to a simulated enemy attack on
North America. Commander-in-chief of the
Continental Air Defense Command
General
Earle E. Partridge,
Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General
Nathan Twining, and Twining′s colleagues on the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff simulate the activities they would engage in during an actual attack. The only one-hour episode of Air Power. | |||||
2 | "The Early Days" | Unknown | Unknown | November 18, 1956 | |
Co-narrated by
Eddie Rickenbacker,
World War I
flying ace and owner of
Eastern Air Lines. The history of the
airplane from its invention in 1903, through its early role as a plaything of rich
Europeans, to its history during World War I (1914–1918), when it rapidly grew in capability from a flying observation post to a multimission weapon of war. The episode includes pre-World War I footage of aviation pioneers such as the
Wright Brothers,
Glenn Curtiss, and
Anthony Fokker and wartime footage of World War I
flying aces
Manfred von Richthofen,
Hermann Göring,
Georges Guynemer,
Charles Nungesser, and Rickenbacker. | |||||
3 | "The Luftwaffe" | Unknown | Unknown | November 25, 1956 | |
The rise of the German
Luftwaffe, told with the use of German film captured during
World War II. | |||||
4 | "Pearl Harbor" | Unknown | Unknown | December 2, 1956 | |
The story of the
Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, which brought the
United States into
World War II. The episode uses Japanese film captured during the war to depict Japanese preparations for the attack and the attack itself. | |||||
5 | "The Battle of Britain" | Unknown | Unknown | December 9, 1956 | |
Co-narrated by
Michael Redgrave. The story of the World War II
Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, in which the British
Royal Air Force defeated the German Luftwaffe′s campaign to gain
air superiority over the
United Kingdom and prevented
Operation Sea Lion,
Nazi Germany′s planned invasion of the United Kingdom, from taking place. | |||||
6 | "Counterblast" | Unknown | Perry Wolff | December 16, 1956 | |
How the British Royal Air Force mounted a counterattack against Nazi Germany during World War II even while the United Kingdom was under attack by German bombers. The episode includes depictions of British air raids on
Hamburg. | |||||
7 | "Fools, Daredevils and Geniuses" | Unknown | Unknown | December 23, 1956 | |
Co-narrated by
Art Carney. A look at aviation during the 1920s, including
stunt flying,
wing walking, and
barnstorming. | |||||
8 | "The 1930s" | Unknown | Unknown | December 30, 1956 | |
Lieutenant General
James Doolittle hosts the episode, which covers major events of the 1930s: the
Great Depression in the United States, the rise to power of
Adolf Hitler in
Germany and
Benito Mussolini in
Italy, the development of the
United States Army Air Corps and of the
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
strategic bomber, and how aviation made it impossible for the United States to continue its policy of
isoationism. | |||||
9 | "Target Ploesti" | Unknown | Unknown | January 6, 1957 | |
The
United States Army Air Forces bomb
oil refineries around
Ploești,
Romania, as part of the
oil campaign of World War II. | |||||
10 | "Schweinfurt" | Unknown | Unknown | January 13, 1957 | |
U.S. Army Air Forces bombers attack
Schweinfurt, Germany, in an attempt to cripple the German
ball bearing industry during World War II. | |||||
11 | "Conquest of the Air" | Unknown | Unknown | January 20, 1957 | |
The story of the U.S. Army Air Forces
North American P-51 Mustang, the high-performance long-range fighter that played the major role in giving the
Allies
air superiority over Germany during World War II. | |||||
12 | "The Japanese Perimeter" | Unknown | Unknown | January 27, 1957 | |
At the outset of the
Pacific campaign of World War II, Japanese forces sweep through the
Philippines,
British Malaya,
Singapore, and the
Netherlands East Indies between December 1941 and May 1942, but their offensive finally ends in defeat at the hands of
United States Navy
aircraft carrier forces in the
Battle of Midway in June 1942. | |||||
13 | "Interdiction and Blockade" | Unknown | Unknown | February 3, 1957 | |
Allied and Japanese forces fight in the
New Guinea campaign and the
Battle of the Bismarck Sea during World War II. | |||||
14 | "Operation Strangle" | Unknown | Unknown | February 10, 1957 | |
In the spring of 1944 during the
Italian campaign of World War II,
Allied air forces
interdict German supply lines in
Italy in
Operation Strangle as Allied ground forces attack the German
Gustav Line, fight the
Battle of Monte Cassino, and liberate
Rome. | |||||
15 | "Pacific Patterns" | Unknown | Unknown | February 17, 1957 | |
In late 1943 and early 1944,
United States Navy
aircraft carriers go on the offensive against the Japanese during the
Pacific campaign of World War II, operating in support of U.S. forces during the
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign — the
seizure of
Tarawa and other
atolls in the
Gilbert and
Marshall Islands — and launching
a major air attack against the Japanese base at
Truk. | |||||
16 | "Advance the Bomber Line" | Unknown | Unknown | February 24, 1957 | |
To secure bases for U.S. Army Air Forces
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
strategic bombers within range of the
Japanese Home Islands, U.S. forces
invade the
Mariana Islands in the summer of 1944. | |||||
17 | "The Winning of France" | Unknown | Unknown | March 3, 1957 | |
The story of air power's role in the destruction of the German
7th Army in France in the summer of 1944 in World War II′s
Operation Cobra and
Battle of the Falaise Pocket. | |||||
18 | "Superfort" | Unknown | Unknown | March 10, 1957 | |
In World War II′s
Battle of Iwo Jima in February–March 1945,
United States Marine Corps forces seize
Iwo Jima from the Japanese to secure a base from which U.S. Army Air Forces fighters can reach the
Japanese Home Islands and on which damaged U.S. Army Air Forces
Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers can land if unable to reach their bases in the
Mariana Islands. | |||||
19 | "Victory in Europe" | Unknown | Unknown | March 17, 1957 | |
The last stages of World War II in
Europe in the winter and spring of 1945, as
Soviet forces capture
Berlin, Soviet and
Western Allied forces meet at the
Elbe, and Germany is left in ruins. | |||||
20 | "Kamikaze" | Unknown | Unknown | March 24, 1957 | |
Between October 1944 and August 1945, Japanese aircraft make
kamikaze
suicide attacks against
Allied ships. | |||||
21 | "Defeat of Japan" | Unknown | Unknown | March 31, 1957 | |
The story of the top-secret production of the U.S.
atomic bomb and
its use against the Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, leading to the
surrender of Japan that ended World War II. | |||||
22 | "The Cold Decade: Airlift" | Unknown | Unknown | April 7, 1957 | |
As the
Cold War begins after the end of World War II, the
Soviet Union institutes the
Berlin Blockade of
West Berlin, prompting the Western Allies to conduct the
Berlin Airlift of 1948–1949. | |||||
23 | "The Cold Decade: To the Yalu" | Unknown | Unknown | April 14, 1957 | |
After the
Korean War breaks out in June 1950,
United Nations and
South Korean forces are pushed back, then regain the initiative and drive
North Korean forces all the way back to the
Yalu River along the border with the
People's Republic of China. | |||||
24 | "The Cold Decade: Korean Stalemate" | Unknown | Unknown | April 21, 1957 | |
The
People's Republic of China intervenes in the
Korean War in November 1950 and pushes
United Nations forces back, resulting a lengthy stalemate along the border between
North Korea and
South Korea. Meanwhile air battles between American and Soviet jets begin over the
Korean Peninsula. Ultimately, the opposing sides agree to a ceasefire in July 1953. | |||||
25 | "Starfighter" | Unknown | Unknown | April 28, 1957 | |
The story of the design and testing of the
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic
interceptor. | |||||
26 | "The New Doctrine" | Unknown | Unknown | May 5, 1957 | |
The new concepts of future warfare, in which U.S. and
Soviet Air Force planes will carry
atomic bombs and
hydrogen bombs if a war breaks out between them, and both sides will engage in new kinds of
guided-missile warfare. |
Air Power | |
---|---|
| |
Genre | Educational |
Narrated by | Walter Cronkite |
Theme music composer | Norman Dello Joio |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Production | |
Producers |
|
Running time |
|
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | November 11, 1956 May 5, 1957 | –
Air Power is a historical educational television series broadcast on CBS from November 11, 1956, until May 5, 1957. In 1958 it was repeated, replacing The Twentieth Century during the summer. [1] It dealt with the rise of aviation as a military weapon. It was produced in cooperation with the United States Air Force. [2] The series also featured a musical score composed by Norman Dello Joio and conducted by Alfredo Antonini.
Air Power told the story of the rise of aviation as a military weapon, covering military aviation history from the invention of the airplane through the supersonic aircraft and missiles of the mid-1950s, and also discussed rockets and the future of aviation. Air Power included the stories of some of the historical heroes of aviation and the leading aviation figures of the mid-20th century.[ citation needed]
Walter Cronkite narrated all 26 episodes. [2] Eddie Rickenbacker co-narrated the November 18, 1956, episode on the early days of aviation. Michael Redgrave co-narrated the December 5, 1956, episode on the Battle of Britain. Art Carney co-narrated the December 12, 1956, episode on stunt flying and wing walking.[ citation needed]
The CBS Public Affairs Department produced Air Power in cooperation with the United States Air Force. [2] Norman Dello Joio composed the musical score for the series, and Alfredo Antonini conducted it.[ citation needed]
The series was originally broadcast during the 1956–57 television season on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time from November 11, 1956, to May 5, 1957. Reruns were broadcast from May 4 to October 19, 1958, also at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. [2] [3]
Source:
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Day North America Is Attacked" | Unknown | Unknown | November 11, 1956 | |
The work of the
United States Air Force Combat Operations Center in
Colorado Springs,
Colorado, and of
radar stations,
fighter-
interceptor aircraft, and
strategic bombers of the U.S. Air Force
Strategic Air Command is depicted as they respond to a simulated enemy attack on
North America. Commander-in-chief of the
Continental Air Defense Command
General
Earle E. Partridge,
Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General
Nathan Twining, and Twining′s colleagues on the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff simulate the activities they would engage in during an actual attack. The only one-hour episode of Air Power. | |||||
2 | "The Early Days" | Unknown | Unknown | November 18, 1956 | |
Co-narrated by
Eddie Rickenbacker,
World War I
flying ace and owner of
Eastern Air Lines. The history of the
airplane from its invention in 1903, through its early role as a plaything of rich
Europeans, to its history during World War I (1914–1918), when it rapidly grew in capability from a flying observation post to a multimission weapon of war. The episode includes pre-World War I footage of aviation pioneers such as the
Wright Brothers,
Glenn Curtiss, and
Anthony Fokker and wartime footage of World War I
flying aces
Manfred von Richthofen,
Hermann Göring,
Georges Guynemer,
Charles Nungesser, and Rickenbacker. | |||||
3 | "The Luftwaffe" | Unknown | Unknown | November 25, 1956 | |
The rise of the German
Luftwaffe, told with the use of German film captured during
World War II. | |||||
4 | "Pearl Harbor" | Unknown | Unknown | December 2, 1956 | |
The story of the
Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, which brought the
United States into
World War II. The episode uses Japanese film captured during the war to depict Japanese preparations for the attack and the attack itself. | |||||
5 | "The Battle of Britain" | Unknown | Unknown | December 9, 1956 | |
Co-narrated by
Michael Redgrave. The story of the World War II
Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, in which the British
Royal Air Force defeated the German Luftwaffe′s campaign to gain
air superiority over the
United Kingdom and prevented
Operation Sea Lion,
Nazi Germany′s planned invasion of the United Kingdom, from taking place. | |||||
6 | "Counterblast" | Unknown | Perry Wolff | December 16, 1956 | |
How the British Royal Air Force mounted a counterattack against Nazi Germany during World War II even while the United Kingdom was under attack by German bombers. The episode includes depictions of British air raids on
Hamburg. | |||||
7 | "Fools, Daredevils and Geniuses" | Unknown | Unknown | December 23, 1956 | |
Co-narrated by
Art Carney. A look at aviation during the 1920s, including
stunt flying,
wing walking, and
barnstorming. | |||||
8 | "The 1930s" | Unknown | Unknown | December 30, 1956 | |
Lieutenant General
James Doolittle hosts the episode, which covers major events of the 1930s: the
Great Depression in the United States, the rise to power of
Adolf Hitler in
Germany and
Benito Mussolini in
Italy, the development of the
United States Army Air Corps and of the
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
strategic bomber, and how aviation made it impossible for the United States to continue its policy of
isoationism. | |||||
9 | "Target Ploesti" | Unknown | Unknown | January 6, 1957 | |
The
United States Army Air Forces bomb
oil refineries around
Ploești,
Romania, as part of the
oil campaign of World War II. | |||||
10 | "Schweinfurt" | Unknown | Unknown | January 13, 1957 | |
U.S. Army Air Forces bombers attack
Schweinfurt, Germany, in an attempt to cripple the German
ball bearing industry during World War II. | |||||
11 | "Conquest of the Air" | Unknown | Unknown | January 20, 1957 | |
The story of the U.S. Army Air Forces
North American P-51 Mustang, the high-performance long-range fighter that played the major role in giving the
Allies
air superiority over Germany during World War II. | |||||
12 | "The Japanese Perimeter" | Unknown | Unknown | January 27, 1957 | |
At the outset of the
Pacific campaign of World War II, Japanese forces sweep through the
Philippines,
British Malaya,
Singapore, and the
Netherlands East Indies between December 1941 and May 1942, but their offensive finally ends in defeat at the hands of
United States Navy
aircraft carrier forces in the
Battle of Midway in June 1942. | |||||
13 | "Interdiction and Blockade" | Unknown | Unknown | February 3, 1957 | |
Allied and Japanese forces fight in the
New Guinea campaign and the
Battle of the Bismarck Sea during World War II. | |||||
14 | "Operation Strangle" | Unknown | Unknown | February 10, 1957 | |
In the spring of 1944 during the
Italian campaign of World War II,
Allied air forces
interdict German supply lines in
Italy in
Operation Strangle as Allied ground forces attack the German
Gustav Line, fight the
Battle of Monte Cassino, and liberate
Rome. | |||||
15 | "Pacific Patterns" | Unknown | Unknown | February 17, 1957 | |
In late 1943 and early 1944,
United States Navy
aircraft carriers go on the offensive against the Japanese during the
Pacific campaign of World War II, operating in support of U.S. forces during the
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign — the
seizure of
Tarawa and other
atolls in the
Gilbert and
Marshall Islands — and launching
a major air attack against the Japanese base at
Truk. | |||||
16 | "Advance the Bomber Line" | Unknown | Unknown | February 24, 1957 | |
To secure bases for U.S. Army Air Forces
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
strategic bombers within range of the
Japanese Home Islands, U.S. forces
invade the
Mariana Islands in the summer of 1944. | |||||
17 | "The Winning of France" | Unknown | Unknown | March 3, 1957 | |
The story of air power's role in the destruction of the German
7th Army in France in the summer of 1944 in World War II′s
Operation Cobra and
Battle of the Falaise Pocket. | |||||
18 | "Superfort" | Unknown | Unknown | March 10, 1957 | |
In World War II′s
Battle of Iwo Jima in February–March 1945,
United States Marine Corps forces seize
Iwo Jima from the Japanese to secure a base from which U.S. Army Air Forces fighters can reach the
Japanese Home Islands and on which damaged U.S. Army Air Forces
Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers can land if unable to reach their bases in the
Mariana Islands. | |||||
19 | "Victory in Europe" | Unknown | Unknown | March 17, 1957 | |
The last stages of World War II in
Europe in the winter and spring of 1945, as
Soviet forces capture
Berlin, Soviet and
Western Allied forces meet at the
Elbe, and Germany is left in ruins. | |||||
20 | "Kamikaze" | Unknown | Unknown | March 24, 1957 | |
Between October 1944 and August 1945, Japanese aircraft make
kamikaze
suicide attacks against
Allied ships. | |||||
21 | "Defeat of Japan" | Unknown | Unknown | March 31, 1957 | |
The story of the top-secret production of the U.S.
atomic bomb and
its use against the Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, leading to the
surrender of Japan that ended World War II. | |||||
22 | "The Cold Decade: Airlift" | Unknown | Unknown | April 7, 1957 | |
As the
Cold War begins after the end of World War II, the
Soviet Union institutes the
Berlin Blockade of
West Berlin, prompting the Western Allies to conduct the
Berlin Airlift of 1948–1949. | |||||
23 | "The Cold Decade: To the Yalu" | Unknown | Unknown | April 14, 1957 | |
After the
Korean War breaks out in June 1950,
United Nations and
South Korean forces are pushed back, then regain the initiative and drive
North Korean forces all the way back to the
Yalu River along the border with the
People's Republic of China. | |||||
24 | "The Cold Decade: Korean Stalemate" | Unknown | Unknown | April 21, 1957 | |
The
People's Republic of China intervenes in the
Korean War in November 1950 and pushes
United Nations forces back, resulting a lengthy stalemate along the border between
North Korea and
South Korea. Meanwhile air battles between American and Soviet jets begin over the
Korean Peninsula. Ultimately, the opposing sides agree to a ceasefire in July 1953. | |||||
25 | "Starfighter" | Unknown | Unknown | April 28, 1957 | |
The story of the design and testing of the
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic
interceptor. | |||||
26 | "The New Doctrine" | Unknown | Unknown | May 5, 1957 | |
The new concepts of future warfare, in which U.S. and
Soviet Air Force planes will carry
atomic bombs and
hydrogen bombs if a war breaks out between them, and both sides will engage in new kinds of
guided-missile warfare. |