Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
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If there was a defining moment for the US involvement in World War II, it was obviously Pearl Harbor. However the second, and I think even more important event was the April 1942 bombing raid on Tokyo launched by Col. Doolittle. The sheer brazenness and tenacity that it showed the Japanese, not to mention giving the folks back home a little bit of a lift in spirits.... Too bad we'll never see ballsy, all-or-nothing maneuvers like that again.
In short, Doolittle put together a band of Army Air Force pilots and their B-25's, and taught them how to launch from a carrier, for a bombing raid directly at the heart of Japan. Forget that nobody thought it could be done, dammit, they did it. You can read the whole story over at Wikipedia....
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a look into that raid. Is it a particularly accurate and fact-filled look? Probably not, but that's not the point. Most of the film is centered on Lt. Lawson (Van Johnson), and his new wife Ellen (Phyllis Thaxter.) And that's where the heart of this story lies. Others have tried to pull off similar stories (such as the ill-fated Pearl Harbor) but this film really packs a punch in the emotion department, and really doesn't hold much back.
From Lawson's volunteering for a mission he doesn't know anything about, and really can't tell anyone about, he goes on to training, and on to the mission. Unfortunately he barely makes it to the shores of China, and his entire crew, save the tailgunner, is badly injured. In fact he loses a leg from his injuries, and has to come to terms with that, and so does his wife.
Now, picture yourself in 1944. Imagine how many other people have gone through nearly identical situations. A husband or son or father being called away to God-only-knows where at a moments notice, without a chance for proper goodbyes.... Only to come home (if they're lucky) seriously injured, physically or otherwise. Perspective is everything. But even (especially?) today that message and sentiment is just as relevant.
I can only imagine the nerve a film like this must've struck with audiences back then.
Really everything about the film is vintage 1944. From the acting to the production, to the soft-focus closeups of Ms. Thaxter, to the Asian stereotypes and cultural misunderstandings (which really aren't even that bad in comparison to other pictures...), to the execution of the raid itself.
And I have to say I was somewhat impressed with the technical achievements of the FX crew (if you could call it that) for the raid. I can't help but wonder how they got some of that footage together. For its time they really pulled it off.
If you're interested in what a typical 40's "popular" wartime movie was all about, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is one of the defining classics. Spencer Tracy also gets billing as the legendary Col. Doolittle, although his screen time is really quite limited compared to Johnson, Thaxter, and Lt. Lawson's bomber crew.
If you happen to catch Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo on DVD, like I did (thanks Netflix!) You should check out the special features section. In there is a ho-hum newsreel piece on the French ship the Normandie, a funny bit entitled Movie Pests, and a Barney Bear MGM cartoon, Bear Raid Warden. Watch 'em first for the proper experience!
Technorati Tags: war movie reviews, thirty seconds over tokyo, 1944, doolittle raid, b-25, tokyo, world war ii, spencer tracy, van johnson, phyllis thaxter
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Description
First B-25's in training for bombing mission over Japan, under General Jimmy Doolittle's command.
There is no more ringing title among World War II movies than Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, and the mission it celebrates was unquestionably historic: a 400-mile bombing raid to carry the war to Japan itself mere months after that nation's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet the film is less memorable than many WWII pictures with less exalted factual basis. At the time, critic James Agee eloquently defined both its virtues and limitations as "a big-studio, big-scale film, free of artistic pretension ... transformed by its not very imaginative but very dogged sincerity into something forceful, simple, and thoroughly sympathetic in spite of all its big-studio, big-scale habits." That remains true today, but perhaps the movie--and its unimpeachably noble, admirably life-sized characters--wouldn't seem so stuck in the amber of a bygone era if Mervyn LeRoy and company had pumped a little "artistic pretension" into it. Spencer Tracy--as James H. Doolittle, architect of the raid--rates the most towering screen credit, and he's superb. But his role's an extended cameo; the emotional core of the film is B-25 pilot Ted Lawson (Van Johnson) and his wife, Ellen (the glowing Phyllis Thaxter). Lawson's bestselling memoir (with Bob Considine) of his training for the secret mission, his group's launching from the aircraft carrier Hornet, and his crash landing and protracted ordeal in China--where he lost a leg--has been faithfully served. The film is long on homely detail and all-American decency (including a remarkably outspoken regret over the unavoidability of civilian casualties) but achieves its greatest impact in the raid itself. That sequence, in addition to boasting Oscar-winning special effects, is mostly shot in riveting silence. --Richard T. Jameson
DVD Information
Binding: DVDAspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Brand: Warner Brothers
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Original Release Date:
Actors:
- Spencer Tracy
- Van Johnson
- Robert Mitchum
Features
- First B-25's in training for bombing mission over Japan, under General Jimmy Doolittle's command.Running Time: 138 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG-13 Age: 012569797116 UPC: 012569797116 Manufacturer No: 79711
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