Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Dalton Trumbo (screen play), Ted W. Lawson (based on the book) (as Captain Ted W. Lawson)

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Van Johnson	...	Ted Lawson
Robert Walker	...	David Thatcher
Tim Murdock	...	Dean Davenport
Don DeFore	...	Charles McClure
Herbert Gunn	...	Bob Clever (as Gordon McDonald)
Phyllis Thaxter	...	Ellen Lawson
Stephen McNally	...	'Doc' White (as Horace McNally)
Spencer Tracy	...	Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle
John R. Reilly	...	'Shorty' Manch
Robert Mitchum	...	Bob Gray
Scott McKay	...	Davey Jones
Donald Curtis	...	Lieut. Randall
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Lieut. Miller
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Don Smith (as Wm. 'Bill' Phillips)
Douglas Cowan	...	'Brick' Holstrom

Storyline

The amazingly detailed true story of "The Doolittle Raid" based on the personal account by Doolittle Raider Ted Lawson. Stunned by Pearl Harbor and a string of defeats, America needed a victory - badly. To that end, Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, a former air racer and stunt pilot, devises a plan for a daring raid on the heart of Japan itself. To do this, he must train army bomber pilots to do something no one ever dreamed possible - launch 16 fully loaded bombers from an aircraft carrier! Remarkable in its accuracy, this movie even uses film footage from the actual raid.

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Plot Keywords:

aircraft carrier | japan | doolittle raid | air attack | army air corps | 

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Taglines:

Heart-Warming Romance . . . Stark, Sensational Drama! Thrills! Action! Adventure! ...Ripped From The Heart!

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

November 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Treinta segundos sobre Tokio

Filming Locations:

Stage 15, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios -10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,900,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lt. Col. Richard E. "Dick" Cole, Doolittle's co-pilot, portrayed in the film by an unnamed actor, was the last surviving Raider when he passed at the age of 103 on 9 April 2019. He was the only member of the Tokyo crews to die older than Jimmy Doolittle, who was 96 at his passing, and the only Raider alive when the USS Hornet, sunk 27 October 1942, was rediscovered in February 2019.

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Goofs

The 3-pointed pinwheel (called a "triskelion") shoulder patches worn by the B-25 crewmen are those of the Air Force Combat Command, a renaming in June 1941 of the former "General Headquarters Air Force" (an air force, not a headquarters) to administer all combat flying units stationed in the continental United States. On February 23, 1942, while the raiders were still in training, the AAF adopted a new "winged star" patch (the "Hap Arnold patch") to replace the pinwheel patch. The raiders arrived in Florida two weeks before the change was adopted. However the new patch should have been worn by the time the raiders flew to Oakland in the film.

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Quotes

'Shorty' Manch: Well feed me corn and watch me grow! How did all this scum get in here?

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Alternate Versions

There is an alternate colorized version.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Invasion USA (1994)

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Soundtracks

The Army Air Corps Song
(1939) (uncredited)
Written by Robert Crawford
Played during the opening credits

User Reviews

Good Romantic War Movie

In World War II, several B25 pilots and their crew volunteers for a secret mission, including the recently married Lt. Ted Lawson (Van Johnson), under the command of Gen. James Doolittle (Spencer Tracy). When the mission is disclosed, they are informed that they will bomb military facilities in Japan. After successfully accomplishing the bombing and returning to the base in China, the airplane of Lawson crashes on the Chinese coast, and his men and he are rescued by the Chinese soldiers.

"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" is a good war movie, but also a clear American propaganda in times of war. There is a shallow and corny romance in the lead story; the pilots and crew are great friends like a brotherhood and their wives and girl-friends are silly and naive; when Lawson loses his leg, Doolittle says that the army can not lose an experienced man like him; all the allied Chinese are cooperative, submissive and friends; there are lots of nationalism, like for example, the Chinese scouts singing the American hymn. Anyway the story entertains, the special effects and the cinematography are excellent and I liked this film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "30 Segundos Sobre Tóquio" ("30 Seconds Over Tokyo")