December 7th (1943)

"Docudrama" about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and its results, the recovering of the ships, the improving of defense in Hawaii and the US efforts to beat back the Japanese reinforcements.

Directors:

John Ford, Gregg Toland

Stars:

Walter Huston, Harry Davenport, Dana Andrews

Won 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Walter Huston	...	Uncle Sam 'U.S.'
Harry Davenport	...	Mr. 'C'
Dana Andrews	...	Ghost of US Sailor Killed at Pearl Harbor
Paul Hurst	...	World War I Ghost Soldier
George O'Brien	...	Single Voice of the Dead Servicemen (voice)
James Kevin McGuinness	...	Narrator (voice) (as James K. McGuiness)

Storyline

In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, director Gregg Toland is tasked by producer John Ford, both now serving in the navy, to film a documentary about that infamous day. What Toland provided was an 82 minute documentary that featured not only the attack but focused heavily on the local Japanese population's supposedly large role as spies providing information to the homeland. Ford took over the direction of the film and the military eventually released a 34 minute version focusing on the attack. The longer version features Uncle Sam telling the audience how naive America was before Pearl Harbor with recreations of Japanese people collecting information in preparation for the attack.

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Plot Keywords:

japanese | pearl harbor | hawaii | japan | docudrama | 

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Genres:

Action | History | War

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

December 7

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Navy Department,U.S. War Department

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min (restored) 20 min (war workers') 20 min (Academy Award) 34 min (original theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Japanese planes attacking Pearl Harbor were US "Dauntless" bombers.

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Goofs

Showing the events of the Sunday morning attack, the priest at Mass (at Kaneohe, I believe) announces incorrectly that it is the 1st Sunday of Advent. Actually it was the 2nd Sunday of Advent.

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Quotes

World War I Ghost Soldier: Six will get you twelve that fifteen to twenty years from now they'll be opening up new sectors in here.

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Crazy Credits

The War and Navy Departments, producers of the movie, are credited orally by a narrator.

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Alternate Versions

Special 50th anniversary edition on video released in 1991 is restored to 82 minute length with subtitles added to Japanese language sequences and a descriptive prologue added. The 1943 version was a completely censored 34 minute version with the full version being banned by the US government for being damaging to morale.

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Connections

Featured in John Ford Goes to War (2002)

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Soundtracks

Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean
Written by David T. Shaw
Arranged by Thomas A. Beckett
Played as background music often

User Reviews

excellent movie of historical value expressing sentiments of the time.

Should be shown to all students of American history of the World War II era. Shows the perspective of the times. Unfortunately, it appears previous reviewer has a revisionist history view of what the times should have reflected. The Uncle Sam-Mr Conscience sequence is of particular value, showing what can happen if our leaders fall asleep or become over confident. The combat footage is dramatically realistic, and some of that footage was used in the great series "Victory at Sea". The part at the end when the narrator talks to those men who died at Pearl also shows one important emotional truth. "We are all Americans". A truth we sometimes forget.