of the 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing. The military housing used in several scenes is still used today as base housing at Beale AFB for senior commanders of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing. It was originally announced that John Gavin would support Rock Hudson. Tom Lehrer wrote one original song for this film, called "The SAC Song". Rod Taylor, as Hollis Farr, performs this song at a party for officers and their wives. Most of Lehrer's work is satirical, and the lyrics and music for this song are quite typical of Lehrer. As Sy Bartlett and Delbert Mann were filming at SAC Headquarters at Offutt AFB in Omaha, they noticed that SAC personnel were unusually tense. They would later learn, when President John F. Kennedy would make this fact public, that SAC had recently learned of Nikita Khrushchev's plan to introduce nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles into Cuba. A subplot in the film where Colonel Farr has an affair with Colonel Caldwell's wife, played by Mary Peach, was removed during post production. The original choice for Mary Peach's role was Julie Andrews but according to screenwriter Robert Pirosh, Delbert Mann thought Andrews could not act, only sing. Pirosh felt there was no rapport between Hudson and Peach. Allusions to actual history This film depicts the operations of a typical Strategic Aerospace Wing (nuclear bombers, aerial refueling aircraft, and ICBMs) of the Strategic Air Command during the early 1960s. The depiction of unannounced operational readiness inspections (ORI) accurately reflects events at SAC bases during this time period. When General Curtis LeMay became SAC commander in 1948, he undertook a number of base inspections, frequently flying unannounced to a SAC base. LeMay insisted on rigorous training and very high standards of performance for all SAC personnel, be they officers, enlisted men, aircrews, mechanics, or administrative staff, and reportedly commented, "I have neither the time nor the inclination to differentiate between the incompetent and the merely unfortunate." A poor showing during one of these inspections could, and often did, result in the immediate replacement of that base's wing commander, as well as on-site demotions for poorly performing airmen (or immediate on the spot promotions for officers and airmen who performed well). A portrait of President John F. Kennedy hangs in Colonel Caldwell's office as part of a photographic depiction of the chain of command, providing an obvious time frame reference. Col Daniel J. Bigelow, USAF was the