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    1941

    • 19791979
    • PGPG
    • 1h 58min
    IMDb RATING
    5.8/10
    32K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,403
    70
    • Cast & crew
    • User reviews
    • Trivia
    • IMDbPro
    John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Nancy Allen in 1941 (1979)
    Trailer 1
    Play trailer1:47
    1 Video
    73 Photos
    ActionComedyWar

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

    IMDb RATING
    5.8/10
    32K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,403
    70
    • Director
      • Steven Spielberg
    • Writers
      • Robert Zemeckis(screenplay)
      • Bob Gale(screenplay)
      • John Milius(story)
    • Stars
      • John Belushi
      • Dan Aykroyd
      • Treat Williams
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Steven Spielberg
    • Writers
      • Robert Zemeckis(screenplay)
      • Bob Gale(screenplay)
      • John Milius(story)
    • Stars
      • John Belushi
      • Dan Aykroyd
      • Treat Williams
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 266User reviews
    • 77Critic reviews
    • 34Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 6 nominations total

    Videos1

    1941
    Trailer 1:47
    1941

    Photos73

    Ned Beatty in 1941 (1979)
    John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in 1941 (1979)
    1941 (1979)
    John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Robert Stack in 1941 (1979)
    John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Nancy Allen, and Dianne Kay in 1941 (1979)
    John Belushi in 1941 (1979)
    John Belushi in 1941 (1979)
    John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in 1941 (1979)
    1941 (1979)
    John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in 1941 (1979)
    1941 (1979)
    Eddie Deezen in 1941 (1979)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Belushi
    John Belushi
    • Capt. Wild Bill Kelsoas Capt. Wild Bill Kelso
    Dan Aykroyd
    Dan Aykroyd
    • Sgt. Frank Treeas Sgt. Frank Tree
    Treat Williams
    Treat Williams
    • Cpl. Chuck 'Stretch' Sitarskias Cpl. Chuck 'Stretch' Sitarski
    Nancy Allen
    Nancy Allen
    • Donna Strattonas Donna Stratton
    Ned Beatty
    Ned Beatty
    • Ward Douglasas Ward Douglas
    Lorraine Gary
    Lorraine Gary
    • Joan Douglasas Joan Douglas
    Murray Hamilton
    Murray Hamilton
    • Claude Crumnas Claude Crumn
    Christopher Lee
    Christopher Lee
    • Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidtas Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt
    Tim Matheson
    Tim Matheson
    • Capt. Loomis Birkheadas Capt. Loomis Birkhead
    Toshirô Mifune
    Toshirô Mifune
    • Cmdr. Akiro Mitamuraas Cmdr. Akiro Mitamura
    • (as Toshiro Mifune)
    Warren Oates
    Warren Oates
    • Col. 'Madman' Maddoxas Col. 'Madman' Maddox
    Robert Stack
    Robert Stack
    • Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwellas Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell
    Lucille Benson
    Lucille Benson
    • Gas Mama (Eloise)as Gas Mama (Eloise)
    • (as Lucille Bensen)
    Jordan Cohen
    • Macey Douglasas Macey Douglas
    • (as Jordan Brian)
    John Candy
    John Candy
    • Pvt. Foleyas Pvt. Foley
    Elisha Cook Jr.
    Elisha Cook Jr.
    • The Patron (Dexter)as The Patron (Dexter)
    • (as Elisha Cook)
    Eddie Deezen
    Eddie Deezen
    • Herbie Kazlminskyas Herbie Kazlminsky
    Bobby Di Cicco
    Bobby Di Cicco
    • Wally Stephensas Wally Stephens
    • Director
      • Steven Spielberg
    • Writers
      • Robert Zemeckis(screenplay) (story)
      • Bob Gale(screenplay) (story)
      • John Milius(story)
    • All cast & crew
    See production, box office, & company info

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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). —Keith Loh <loh@sfu.ca>
    year 1941slapstick comedycaliforniafemale rear nuditychristmas115 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Paranoia meets pandemonium.
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Comedy
      • War
    • Certificate
      • PG
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to co-writer Bob Gale in the DVD documentary, many of the events in the movie are based on real incidents. The Army really put an anti-aircraft gun in the yard of a homeowner on the Maine coast. The Japanese submarine I-17 shelled a refinery in Ellwood on the California coast on the evening of February 23, 1942. Although the shells missed the refinery by a wide margin, the unexpected attack started an invasion panic that late the next night resulted in an air raid false alarm over Los Angeles. Civil Defense and Army weapons ended up firing into the air for about an hour, thinking they were being attacked by the Japanese. The infamous Zoot Suit Riots, between Hispanic youths and servicemen, took place in June 1943.
    • Goofs
      Herbie and Claude change position on the ferris wheel. Spielberg did that deliberately for comedic effect.
    • Quotes

      Japanese soldier: [trying to squeeze a large radio into the sub] We've got to figure out how to make these things smaller!

    • Crazy credits
      End credits feature scenes showing cast members screaming.
    • Alternate versions
      The version released on network television and VHS/DVD/laserdisc is Spielberg's original director's cut, running 146 minutes, fleshing out sub-plots and characterizations, including:
      • Wally and Dennis getting thrown out onto the street by Mr. Malcomb after he fires them from the diner where they work.
      • Miss Fitzroy lecturing a group of women, Betty and Maxine among them, about tonight's USO dance which is interupted by a group of Army service men and Sailors entering and chanting wanting the women.
      • A department store scene with Wally fussing about buying an expensive new zoot suit and Dennis sounding a phoney air-raid siren which leads to panic in the store including a gun-toting Santa Claus yelling out command orders which is revealed to be a set up by Wally who walks out of the store wearing the zoot suit while Dennis meets the twin girls for the first time.
      • A scene with Scioli outside his house arguing with his non-English speaking wife about converting their car into an armored car while talking with Claude about sending him and someone else atop the Santa Monica ferris wheel on a spot mission for Japanese planes.
      • A extra scene with Ito and the I-19 Japanese submarine shore party disguising themselves as Christmas trees in a remote Christmas tree lot and the drunken Hollis Wood trying to "chop" them down which leads to his capture.
      • Scioli arriving at the ferris wheel with Claude and Herbie and explaing to them about their mission in the ferris wheel.
      • A dinner scene at the Douglas home and Ward explaining to Betty about her going to the USO dance and telling her about the pros and cons about meeting servicemen.
      • A barracks scene with Odgen Johnson Jones arriving for the first time at the barracks and imediately quarling with the racist Foley about property lines within their quarters.
      • A scene outside the USO club where Wally arrives and meets with Martinez and his Zoot Suit friends where they are denied access to the club where Corporal Stretch shows up and sets Wally's zoot suit afire which nearly leads to a riot between the Zoot Suiters and the Servicemen. Wally then meets Dennis dressed up as a Marine in order to gain entrance into the club with the twins as his dates.
      • Additional dialoge between Captain Birkhead and Donna in their car on the way to the airstrip and being afraid of the dark.
      • Another barracks scene where Sergeant Tree breaks up a fistfight between Jones and Foley by informing them about the riot on Hollywood Blvd. and showing them climing into their tank and starting it up.
      • A scene of the Japanese submarine I-19 arriving for the first time outside the Douglas house and the sub's entire crew on the deck watching Joan Douglas taking a bath through the bathroom window.
      • A scene of the tank traveling down a residential street and Wally shooting up Officer Miller's police car to pieces, sending the policeman and some paserby's running for their lives.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Special Show: The Magic of Spielberg (1984)
    • Soundtracks
      Down by the Ohio
      Music by Abe Olman (uncredited)

      Lyrics by Jack Yellen (uncredited)

      Performed by The Andrews Sisters

      Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.

    User reviews266

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    1941, a film that will live gloriously
    I have a sneaking suspicion that Steven Spielberg must have seen and loved It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World as a sixteen year old kid and resolved that if he became as big a movie name as Stanley Kramer he'd do a film just like it. In 1979 Spielberg succeeded admirably creating a chaotic classic about a very serious time.

    I doubt we're ever going to be ready for decades for a film like this about the days following the Twin Towers. Those were pretty scary days, especially on the Pacific coast where our fleet with the remarkable exception of the carriers was at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and who really knew where and how many the Japanese were following the attack in Hawaii.

    It should give you cold chills to think that if it was more than Toshiro Mifune lost submarine with German observer Christopher Lee on it that they would have been met with what we see in 1941. At the time our home defense on the Pacific Coast was commanded by Major General Joseph L. Stillwell known to all as Vinegar Joe. But he could be moved as we see as he takes in a screening of Dumbo which did come out around that time.

    Like It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World the cast it populated with some of the great comedians and comic players of the time. At some point or other they all intersect in their comic defense of California under attack from the Japanese as surely as the world was under attack from Orson Welles's broadcast of War Of The Worlds.

    There are a lot of memorable performances where some serious players got to show a comic side and really get unrestrained. One example would be crazy National Guard colonel Warren Oates meeting up with equally crazy would be air ace John Belushi. Slim Pickens saves California by his Faux constipation, he really goes unrestrained. Tim Matheson as Stilwell's aide is as horny as he was in Animal House as he maps out a campaign to nail aviation buff Nancy Allen and winds up midair in a plane he knows not how to fly.

    Robert Stack plays Vinegar Joe Stilwell the only true character in 1941 and he plays it straight as a string. If he survived this bunch of lunatics, how come he couldn't get Chiang Kai-Shek off his duff and fight those Japanese who were really invading his country? Maybe duty in the Far East was a welcome relief for Stilwell, but not for long.

    Be eternally grateful that this was NOT the way it was in 1941 and sit back and enjoy.
    helpful•12
    1
    • bkoganbing
    • Apr 26, 2016

    FAQ2

    • What are the differences between the Theatrical Version and the Director's Cut?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 14, 1979 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Japanese
      • German
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • The Night the Japs Attacked
    • Filming locations
      • Gold Beach, Oregon, USA
    • Production companies
      • Universal Pictures
      • Columbia Pictures
      • A-Team
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $35,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $31,755,742
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,701,898
      • Dec 16, 1979
    • Gross worldwide
      • $92,455,742
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 58min
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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