1941 (1979)

Hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Robert Zemeckis (screenplay), Bob Gale (screenplay)

Stars:

John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Treat Williams

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dan Aykroyd	...	Sgt. Frank Tree
Ned Beatty	...	Ward Douglas
John Belushi	...	Capt. Wild Bill Kelso
Lorraine Gary	...	Joan Douglas
Murray Hamilton	...	Claude Crumn
Christopher Lee	...	Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt
Tim Matheson	...	Capt. Loomis Birkhead
Toshirô Mifune	...	Cmdr. Akiro Mitamura (as Toshiro Mifune)
Warren Oates	...	Col. 'Madman' Maddox
Robert Stack	...	Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell
Treat Williams	...	Cpl. Chuck 'Stretch' Sitarski
Nancy Allen	...	Donna Stratton
Lucille Benson	...	Gas Mama (Eloise) (as Lucille Bensen)
Jordan Cohen	...	Macey Douglas (as Jordan Brian)
John Candy	...	Pvt. Foley

Storyline

Hysteria grips California in the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. An assorted group of defenders attempt to make the coast defensible against an imagined Japanese invasion, in this big budget, big cast comedy. Members of a Japanese submarine crew scout out the madness, along with a Captain in Germany's Kreigsmarine (Navy).

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Plot Keywords:

year in title | year 1941 | slapstick comedy | california | female rear nudity | 

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Taglines:

A Comedy Spectacular!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | War

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The man eating spaghetti during one of the riot and fight scenes was also played by John Belushi.

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Goofs

The P-40 flown by "Wild Bill" Kelso would not have had the shark tooth paint job on the plane. This was only used by the Flying Tigers in China and would not have been used on a plane stationed in the United States.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: On December 7, 1941, the Naval Air Arm of the Imperial Japanese Fleet, in a surprise attack, struck the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor and hurtled an unsuspecting America into World War II.
Title Card: American citizens were stunned, shocked and outraged at this treacherous attack. On the West Coast, paranoia gripped the entire population as panic-stricken citizens were convinced that California was the next target of the Imperial Japanese Forces.
Title Card: Major General Joseph W. Stilwell, ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

End credits feature scenes showing cast members screaming.

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Alternate Versions

There is one single difference in music between the 6-channel and 4-channel/mono mixes, according to expanded soundtrack liner notes: the cue "The Sub Commander", about a minute long. The biggest change between the two is that in the standard version, there are four uses of timpani near the end, but in the alternate version used on the 70mm 6-channel release, there is no timpani on the third of the four spots. On home video, the standard appears on the theatrical edition Blu-ray, while the alternate is found on extended edition DVD and Blu-ray as well as the music-only extended track on DVD.

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Connections

Referenced in 'Halloween' Unmasked 2000 (1999)

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Soundtracks

Baby Mine
(uncredited)
Music by Frank Churchill
Lyrics by Ned Washington
Performed by Betty Noyes

User Reviews

GUARANTEED ENJOYABLE COMEDY ACTION ENTERTAINMENT

If you liked the old war-era POPEYE cartoons then you'll love "1941" !

It was great FUN when it first came out and its still enjoyable on so many levels ...

Opening gag alluding to JAWS, Slim Pickens doing his DR. STRANGELOVE homage, Chris Lee as a most despicable pulp villain, Robert Stack crying at a dumb DUMBO premiere, sexy Nancy Allen ... howza'bout Treat Williams doing his tuff GI bit in an amazingly choreographed USO dance-hall sequence that predates the fun of TEMPLE OF DOOM's opening dance number ?

This is a massive film along the frenetic lines of ITS A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD and Spielberg should be proud of it (which I am sure he is, despite the bashings he took from world film critics wanting to "put him in his place" at the time).

Way to go Steven ...

And thanks for all the fun ...

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese German Spanish

Release Date:

14 December 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Night the Japs Attacked

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,701,898, 16 December 1979

Gross USA:

$31,755,742

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$92,455,742

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, A-Team

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min 146 min (director's cut) 142 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1