Movie Of The Week: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

This is one of the great World War 2 propaganda films. Directed by the great Mervyn Leroy it was just what America needed to hear in the uncertain days of the war. America had been hit hard in the Pacific and needed a victory.

Enter Spencer Tracy as aviation legend Jimmy Doolittle and his daring plan to launch a sneak carrier based bomber attack on the heart of Japan. This movie tells the true story of one crew in the raid, altho they are a composite of the raid it's self.

Van Johnson turns in one of his finest performances as Lt. Ted Lawson, skipper of "The Ruptured Duck" a B25 Mitchell bomber designed for land based runways. A young newlywed and father to be. He leads his young inexperienced crew thru the riggors of launching a B25 in 1/8 of the runway it was designed, the attack on Tokyo it's self and the harrowing aftermath of a crash landing.

The movie is designed to hug at your heartstrings and it does so in spades. Surprisingly, there is little of the bloodshed you would expect from films like these. There are no shots of Jap pilots with blood flowing from them as they crash into the sea. There are clips of the actual mission it's self. For the most part the film is detached from the horror of battle. It does give you a painful look at the horrors of war and it's lasting results.

The film is filled with Hollywood greatness. Robert Mitchum, Robert Walker, Don DeFore, Louis Jean Heydt, and John Dehner all have supporting roles. It won the Oscar for Special Effects and was nominated for Best Cinematography.

A film you owe it to yourself to watch, even if you've seen it 100 times.