The Purple Heart (1944)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

Jerome Cady (writer)
Darryl F. Zanuck (story)

Release Date:

23 February 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

An EPIC SAGE of RAW COURAGE!(original ad - many caps)

Plot:

This is the story of the crew of a downed bomber, captured after a run over Tokyo, early in the war...

Plot Keywords:

Bomber | Hara Kiri | Prison Cell | Military Trial | Doolittle Raid

Cast

Dana Andrews	...	Capt. Harvey Ross
Richard Conte	...	Lt. Angelo Canelli
Farley Granger	...	Sgt. Howard Clinton
Kevin O'Shea	...	Sgt. Jan Skvoznik
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Lt. Peter Vincent (as Donald Barry)
Trudy Marshall	...	Mrs. Ross
Sam Levene	...	Lt. Wayne Greenbaum
Charles Russell	...	Lt. Kenneth Bayforth
John Craven	...	Sgt. Martin Stoner
Tala Birell	...	Johanna Hartwig - Berlin News Correspondent
Richard Loo	...	General Ito Mitsubi
Peter Chong	...	Mitsuru Toyama
Gregory Gaye	...	Peter Voroshevski - Russian News Correspondent
Torben Meyer	...	Karl Kappel - Swiss Consul
Kurt Katch	...	Ludwig Kruger - German News Correspondent

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Based on the eight men captured by the Japanese after the Doolittle raid: Lt. Robert Hite, Lt. William G. Farrow, Lt. George Barr, Sgt. Harold A. Spatz, Cpl. Jacob De Shazer, Dean Hallmark, Robert Meder, and Chase Nielsen. The trial, as depicted in the film, was held at Police Headquarters in Shanghai, China on 14 October 1942. The eight men were condemned to death. Hallmark, Farrow, and Spatz were executed by a firing squad of the Imperial Japanese Army at sunset the next day. The remainder were given an Imperial commutation to life in prison. In 1943, Meder died of mistreatment and various diseases. The remaining four survived until they were freed upon Japan's surrender in August, 1945.

Quotes:

Title Card: "Let it be known that he who wears the military order of the purple heart has given of his blood in the defense of his homeland and shall forever be revered by his fellow countrymen." - Geo. Washington, General and Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, Aug. 7 1782

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Indie Sex: Censored (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Memories

What would you do in their shoes?

This is a beautiful movie. The story is about what happens to the captured crew of an American Army Air Corps bomber in Japan during WWII.

The performances of the actors are excellent and deeply felt (remember that it was filmed during the war). Once you have watched the first 30 minutes, you must stay to learn their fate at the hands of the Japanese.