The Purple Heart (1944)

This is the story of the crew of a downed bomber, captured after a run over Tokyo, early in the war. Relates the hardships the men endure while in captivity, and their final humiliation: ... See full summary »

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

Jerome Cady, Darryl F. Zanuck (story),

Stars:

Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, Farley Granger

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

This is the story of the crew of a downed bomber, captured after a run over Tokyo, early in the war. Relates the hardships the men endure while in captivity, and their final humiliation: being tried and convicted as war criminals.

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Plot Keywords:

bomber | world war two | war prisoner | military trial | prison cell | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

23 February 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

De kom ikke tilbage

Filming Locations:

Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the article "Hollywood's friends and foes" by Colin Shindler in the film history tome 'The Movie', "In 1943 20th Century-Fox made 'The Purple Heart', best of the anti-Japanese pictures. Written and produced by 'Darryl. F. Zanuck' . . . it was intended to strength public hatred of the Japanese at a time when it appeared as if the war in Europe were stealing all the headlines. The film was not finally released until 1944 when the [US] War Department was prepared to concede officially that the Japanese had indeed been torturing American POWS. Zanuck would have been quite prepared to wait until the end of the war to release his picture - so strongly did he feel about it."

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Goofs

There should be a solid red circle inside the white star on the insignia on the fuselage of the B-25 "Mrs. Murphy". The insignia shown was not adopted until June, 1942, two months after the Doolittle Raid.

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Quotes

Captain Harvey Ross: No your excellency. It's true we Americans don't know very much about you Japanese. And we never did. And now I realize you know even less about us. You can kill us. All of us, or part of us. But if you think that's going to put the fear of god into the United States of America, and stop them from sending other flyers to bomb you, you're wrong. Dead wrong. They'll come by night, they'll come by day. Thousands of them. They'll blacken your skies and burn your cities to the ground and make you ...

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Connections

Referenced in The Wonder Years: Courage (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Turkey in the Straw"
Traditional
Played briefly during Ross' flashback

User Reviews

An American Trilogy

This movie is essentially the third in a trilogy of films that deals with the actual bombing of Japan by the Doolittle raid, very early in World War Two. The first is "Destination Tokyo," a presentation about the submarine which went ashore to mark targets for the American raiders. The second is "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," which is the story of the Doolittle raid, including the launching of the B-52's from the U.S.S. Hornet and the raid itself. "The Purple Heart" completes the cycle with the war trial of a captured American crew which took part in the attack.

One wonders how so many good things can be put into a movie which lasts only an hour and a half. There is a trial, action, good acting, few technical flaws, very precise and accurate dialogue, questions of honor and decency, patriotism on all sides, questions as to the role of the media, and the ever present suspense of the final resolution. Lewis Milestone deserves commendation for excellent direction, as each scene is composed to blend well with the major ideas in the movie. There is little in the film which is distracting or ill-fitting. And the characters are portrayed with confidence and continuity. In fact, it is difficult to find any character, major of minor, American or Japanese, which is less than complete. It seems some award is in order for the total effort of making this movie.