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:

As They Roared Into Battle, Only One Thing Was Missing...The Enemy!

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese German Spanish

Release Date:

14 December 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Night the Japs Attacked

Filming Locations:

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon, 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:

Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Stereo (Todd-AO)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher Lee's dialogue as the German officer is exclusively in German. Lee was fluent not only in German but French, Italian, and Spanish. He was moderately proficient in Swedish, Russian, and Greek.

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Goofs

The "stop light" threat condition signal in the air defense coordination center is shown twice. The first time, when the trainer is incorrectly reported as enemy aircraft over the reservoir, it switches from green to yellow on the appropriate dialogue command. A few minutes later, a decision is made to "go to red," and the signal moves from green to red. It should have been yellow.

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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 Jeopardy!: Episode #26.26 (2009)

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Soundtracks

I'll Be Home for Christmas
(uncredited)
Written by Kim Gannon, Walter Kent and Buck Ram
Performed by Bing Crosby

User Reviews

Great Laffs

A Japanese sub off the coast of California looking for Hollywood so they can "blow the s**t out of something big". There's your plot.

Yeah, It's got some slapstick but this film cooks. It's sorta like a Murphy's Law about hysteria. What if everything went wrong? Could that happen? Yes! There's solid performances from everybody from the kid in the ferris wheel to Robert Stack (actually crying in a theatre while watching DUMBO). An intelligent piece of film work? No. But comedy doesn't have to be. M*A*S*H* it ain't, but it doesn't try to be either. Enjoy.