THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO Movie Review

1944 Mervyn LeRoy

Of all the reality-inspired films of World War II, this one really cries out for a remake. Given another chance, filmmakers could focus more intently on the bold mission and the men who flew it. They could leave out the tepid romance and I'm-going-to-be-a-father subplot that clutter up the first half. The story of the Doolittle raid is fascinating enough on its own. In April 1942, less than six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Col. Jimmy Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) led a bombing attack on Tokyo and Yokohama. At the time, such an operation was thought to be impossible. No bomber could fly that far, and bombers could not take off or land on an aircraft carrier. Or could they? It turned out that with the proper training, a crew could perfect a technique to get a B-25 Mitchell bomber into the air within the length of a carrier deck. Ted Lawson (Van Johnson) was one of the pilots who volunteered for the secret mission. At the time, he was newly married to Ellen (Phyllis Thaxter).

The early training scenes were filmed in Pensacola, Florida, where they really occurred. Like the other scenes involving real airplanes, they sparkle. Director Mervyn LeRoy, cinematographers Harold Rosson and Robert Surtees, and recording director Douglas Shearer turn the B-25s into key parts of the story. The sets recreating the interiors of the planes have an authentic feeling, right down to the rack where David Thatcher (Robert Walker) keeps his thermos of coffee. The sounds of the engines, the bulky appearance, and the gracefully ungainly look of the airplane in flight are also important.

The raid itself is carefully re-created and is faithful to its source material, a Collier's magazine article and book by Lawson and Robert Considine. LeRoy and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo show the raid as Lawson and his crew saw it. They use no music, little dialogue—just the drone of the engines, the mechanics of flying, aiming the bomb sight, actually dropping the bombs. It's fascinating stuff, told without the usual Hollywood trappings and all the more effective for it.

What happens afterward necessarily loses some focus, though it is still interesting. After all, they knew how to get a bomber off an aircraft carrier; they didn't know how to land one. It's much more emotional and conventionally adventurous material, but something of a letdown after the flying scenes. The symbolism during a key Christmas dream scene has become unfortunately and unintentionally comic. That's a small flaw, however. The special effects won an Oscar in 1944 and they stand up well today.

Cast: Spencer Tracy (Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle), Van Johnson (Capt. Ted Lawson), Robert Walker (David Thatcher), Robert Mitchum (Bob Gray), Phyllis Thaxter (Ellen Lawson), Scott McKay (Davey Jones), Stephen McNally (Doc White), Louis Jean Heydt (Lt. Miller), Leon Ames (Lt. Juriles), Paul Langton (Capt. “Ski” York), Don DeFore (Charles McClure), Tim Murdock (Dean Davenport), Alan Napier (Mr. Parker), Dorothy Morris (Jane), Jacqueline White (Emmy York), Selena Royle (Mrs. Reynolds), Bill Phillips (Don Smith), Donald Curtis (Lt. Randall), Gordon McDonald (Bob Clever), John R. Reilly (Shorty Manch), Douglas Cowan (Brick Holstrom), Ann Shoemaker (Mrs. Parker), Steve Brodie (M.P.); Written by: Dalton Trumbo; Cinematography by: Robert L. Surtees, Harold Rosson; Music by: Herbert Stothart. Producer: Sam Zimbalist, MGM, Loew's, Inc. Awards: Academy Awards '44: Best Special Effects; Nominations: Academy Awards '44: Best Black and White Cinematography. Running Time: 138 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta.