Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

The amazingly-detailed true story of "The Doolittle Raid" based on the personal account by Doolittle Raider Ted Lawson. Stunned by Pearl Harbor and a string of defeats, America needed a victory--badly. To that end, Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, a former air racer and stunt pilot, devises a plan for a daring raid on the heart of Japan itself. To do this, he must train army bomber pilots to do something no one ever dreamed possible--launch 16 fully-loaded bombers from an aircraft carrier. Remarkable in its accuracy, this movie even uses film footage from the actual raid.

From IMDB:

10/10
A classic....

"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" is one of the best movies made during the war years. While the typical war film made during WWII avoided realism in favor of jingoism and propaganda, this one excels because it tried to get the facts right and plays almost like a documentary merged with a typical Hollywood drama. When you read about the efforts that MGM went to make the film, you realize it was a real labor of love and the movie holds up remarkably well today.

This film is about the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan which occurred in 1942. While the actual physical impact of the bombing raid was not especially great, it was a bit public relations victory-- bolstering American morale and reducing the Japanese sense of invulnerability which had been prevalent.

The movie begins shortly before the men were recruited for the raid and follows them through training, the actual raid and the fate of a bomber crew. Incidentally, all the planes were lost in the raid...it was intended as a one-way mission.

What makes the film strong is not just the emphasis on realism but the acting and direction. Van Johnson was sort of an 'everyman' for the audience to love and root for...and MGM did a great job ladling on the sentimentality but not laying it on too thick. Having supporting actors like Spencer Tracy, Robert Walker and Robert Mitchum sure didn't hurt, either! All in all, a great film and an excellent tribute to these crazy but very brave men who did what their country asked. As for the best scene in the movie, it's a little one with no dialog...as you see a Chinese woman crying silently as some of the injured Americans are being taken to safety. Stunning.

By the way, an excellent but over-the-top film about crew captured by the Japanese following the Doolittle Raid is also portrayed in Twentieth Century Fox's "The Purple Heart". It's an excellent film but occasionally lapses into propaganda mode a few times too often to be taken as seriously as "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".