“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” is the story of America’s first response to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor four months later. The film shows how pilots ran out of fuel and were forced to land on Japanese soil, but one crash-lands in the sea off of China. He is stranded and forced endure a series of challenges to get home.
Van Johnson heads the cast as the Army Air captain who is stranded, delivering a riveting performance and dominating much of the film. Spencer Tracy appears as Jimmy Doolittle, the Army officer in charge of the entire operation, called the Doolittle Raid. Co-stars include Robert Walker, Don DeFore, Phyliss Thaxter, Stephen McNally, Robert Mitchum, Leon Ames, Benson Fong, Alan Napier, Steve Brodie, Tim Murdoch, and Scott McKay as Captain David M. “Davey” Jones. Thaxter, Mitchum, Brodie, and Murdoch made their film debuts here.
Director Mervyn LeRoy (“Madam Curie” 1943) ensured good production values, with the film winning the Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It was also nominated for Best Cinematography/Black and White. The outstanding script was written by Dalton Trumbo, based on the 1943 book of the same name by Ted W. Johnson and Robert Considine. The very watchable classic motion picture “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” was a big hit at the wartime box office for producer Sam Zimbalist and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
cinema
My Review
“Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” is the story of America’s first response to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor four months later. The film shows how pilots ran out of fuel and were forced to land on Japanese soil, but one crash-lands in the sea off of China. He is stranded and forced endure a series of challenges to get home.
Van Johnson heads the cast as the Army Air captain who is stranded, delivering a riveting performance and dominating much of the film. Spencer Tracy appears as Jimmy Doolittle, the Army officer in charge of the entire operation, called the Doolittle Raid. Co-stars include Robert Walker, Don DeFore, Phyliss Thaxter, Stephen McNally, Robert Mitchum, Leon Ames, Benson Fong, Alan Napier, Steve Brodie, Tim Murdoch, and Scott McKay as Captain David M. “Davey” Jones. Thaxter, Mitchum, Brodie, and Murdoch made their film debuts here.
Director Mervyn LeRoy (“Madam Curie” 1943) ensured good production values, with the film winning the Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It was also nominated for Best Cinematography/Black and White. The outstanding script was written by Dalton Trumbo, based on the 1943 book of the same name by Ted W. Johnson and Robert Considine. The very watchable classic motion picture “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” was a big hit at the wartime box office for producer Sam Zimbalist and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.