Behind the Rising Sun (1943)

In Japan, foreigners and their Japanese friends are caught up in the rising tide of militarism.

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

James Young (book), Emmet Lavery (original screenplay)

Stars:

Margo, Tom Neal, J. Carrol Naish

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Margo	...	Tama Shimamura
Tom Neal	...	Taro Seki
J. Carrol Naish	...	Reo Seki
Robert Ryan	...	Lefty O'Doyle
Gloria Holden	...	Sara Braden
Donald Douglas	...	Clancy O'Hara (as Don Douglas)
George Givot	...	Boris
Adeline De Walt Reynolds	...	Grandmother
Leonard Strong	...	Tama's Father

Storyline

Cornell-educated Taro Seki returns to Japan just as the war party gains control. He hopes to work for American engineer O'Hara, and falls for his secretary Tama, but he is drafted. War service in China finally hardens Taro to atrocities, and he returns to Japan a changed man. His father, now a cabinet minister, feels remorse at what war has done to his son and country, but too late to save Taro's foreign friends.

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Plot Keywords:

japan | engineer | sino japanese war | air raid | chess | 

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Taglines:

The year's most timely story.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

8 November 1945 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Alytrotoi laoi

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Benson Fong.

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Soundtracks

"Three Little Words"
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Ruby
Lyrics by Bert Kalmar
Played in the bar

User Reviews

An interesting propaganda film that actually isn't quite as ridiculous as it appears...

This film is the story of a fictional family. Their son had gone to Cornell University in the USA to study and when he returns, he's not used to the Japanese ways. However, he is anxious to be accepted and soon gravitates towards the militaristic wing of Japanese society and he rather quickly shifts from a nice and decent person to a cold monster.

This film is a real mixed bag. On the one hand, it does look pretty ludicrous, particularly today, to see American actors like J. Carrol Naish and Tom Neal done up with heavy makeup--playing Japanese people! Sure, there may not have been that many actors of Japanese descent in Hollywood at the time, but at least having an Asian of some sort play the roles would have made a lot more sense. As one reviewer put it, the film was "loopy". On the other, while much of the propaganda may seem ridiculously overzealous and ridiculous today, the truth is that in many ways what the Japanese had really been doing wasn't that much different than in the film...though it was actually worse. This film showed a few atrocities being committed in China and talked about the Japanese troops doing bayonet practice with a baby--surely this didn't happen, right?! Well, actually it did--and a whole lot worse. It's actually pretty amazing that films made since WWII have mostly ignored the many, many Japanese atrocities committed in China and this wartime propaganda film is one of the few to even mention it. Don't believe me? Read Irish Chang's book "The Rape of Nanking" or the documentary NANKING. I hesitate to go into the details, but they are considerably worse than the killing of a few babies.

Back to the film. Aside from alluding to the truth of the killing of innocents by Japanese troops, the film is amazingly silly in parts. The boxing match with the Judo expert was really silly and the dialog often stilted...and silly. But overall, it's a really interesting curiosity piece and worth seeing. Plus, it lacks the overt racism and stupidity of one of Mr. Neal's other films, FIRST YANK IN TOKYO.