Appointment in Tokyo

This brisk documentary compiled many live action shots into a brief story of WWII in the South Pacific Theater right through to the end. We are confronted with flashing images of war acquired at some risk by combat cameramen in all services. Therefore, we have only impressions, but based upon actual observations not conjecture. All situations, causes and effects, are not clearly explained, of course, but there is no guesswork.

Battles in the North Pacific (under Admiral Nimitz)were battles of destruction and acquisition of positions. Battles in the South Pacific (under MacArthur) were often battles of denial and acquisition of position. Destruction in the South was usually incidental.

Since the war began with Japan's violent reaction to the 1938 blockade of areas in the South - to curtail oil supplies - it was logical to reestablish control of the area as soon as possible for the same reasons. Japan also needed rice (and other foodstuff)from South East Asia if the war was to be sustained. We needed to interrupt shipping.

There is only one other comment regarding this documentary. The author seems to have dismissed the still-classified deception operations employed in the Leyte operation (wherein the Japanese fleet inexplicably broke off its positioning maneuver). Furthermore, I would tend to assume that fresh memory trumps revisionism in history every time.

For reasons I never quite understood, the United States during World War II put most of their focus into the European Theater of the war, even though Japan represented a much more intimate threat (at least in my eyes). While Hitler was working on projects that never saw the light of day, such as intercontinental bombers and missiles that could hit targets as far away as New York, the japanese demonstrated that they already had the ability to strike at America's land itself when they hit Pearl Harbor. This film, dated as it may be, provides a good but somewhat rushed overview of america's operations in the Pacific. Because most weapons, vehicles and personnel were being allocated to Europe in order to bring down germany, the men fighting in the sweltering heat of countless miserable islands always seemed overstretched. The film says how america was led to victory in the pacific due to two legendary commanders and how each of them conducted the so called "island hopping" campaigns. The US Army and Marines would attack japanese held island after island, often in locations where they weren't expected so they could easily secure a beachhead or staging area. The two aforementioned commanders who orchestrated these operations were Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz. MacArthur led forces in the south pacific, with Nimitz's troops advancing across northern pacific areas. Before all the successful campaigns, america suffered badly at the hands of the japanese. When the US entered the war, japan controlled an area of the pacific ocean that dwarfed all of continental america. Early in 1942, japanese forces invade the Philippine island of Luzon, and overwhelmed american and filppino forces retreat to the Bataan Peninsula. In April, all are subdued, and it is the largest mass surrender in american military history. The japanese proceed to beat and torture defenseless men as they march toward captivity in the brutal sun in what is now called the bataan death march. MacArthur is forced to flee to Australia, but promises to come back to the philippines when the time is right. Meanwhile, america's huge industrial might begins to wear down the japanese, who are dealt a savage blow at Midway. New Guinea is also attacked in order to make sure japan can't fulfill their dream of invading australia. In late 1944, after more than two years, MacArthur keeps his word and returns to the philippines during the Battle of Leyte. The film doesn't make any mention of the fact that american ships under Admiral Halsey were led away from Leyte by a japanese task force specifically meant to decoy him. Although this dumb decision was known about even as the war was still going, the film just flaunts america's naval prowess by telling us that japan sends ships in order to intercept the landings at Leyte, and they are beat back by an equal sized american force. In 1945, american forces witness urban devastation not yet seen in the pacific theater when they try to take back the philippine capital of Manila from the japanese. The month long bloodbath causes the complete razing of the city and japanese forces murder any civilians they can get their hands on. Once american and filippino troops triumph here, islands even closer to the japanese mainland began to fall. Iwo Jima and Okinawa soon follow, and with japanese infrastructure being habitually pounded by hundreds of bombers flying out of the Marianas, america finishes what their enemy started almost 4 years earlier by deploying the only nuclear weapons used in a war. American forces occupy japan, and MacArthur, Nimitz, and other Allied commanders meet the japanese surrender delegation aboard the battleship USS Missouri in September 1945. World War 2 is over. While this film did kind of gloss over the moments toward the end of the war a little too fast for my liking, its core advantage is the archive footage. There's many things here that I've never seen before, such as a more complete version of MacArthur giving his speech during the surrender ceremony. World at War's episode on the atom bomb has this, but a shortened variant. I feel like the film focused a little too much on the philippines, as they talk again and again about Corregidor, Leyte, Manila, and all these other places in the country. The inclusion of captured japanese footage was interesting, as was the film showing the fighting in Manila. It was mostly unheard of for the war in the pacific to take place in an urban setting, but seeing videos of it, you get the impression that it was basically the Asian Stalingrad. Savage house to house fighting against an enemy that doesn't know the meaning of giving up, so every room or hiding place in sight had to be blasted with machine gun fire, flamethrowers or grenades. Overall, Appointment in Tokyo wasn't really anything special, and I'm sure I'll probably forget I even saw this a few months from now (maybe even sooner). It might sound like I'm putting it down too much, but when you watch as many ww2 related things as I do, they tend to blend together and feel indistinguishable.

The US military produced a war documentary of the advance towards Tokyo. It's only a few months after the official surrender on USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. It's got plenty of war action from the military and some captured footage from the Japanese. They are unbelievable and some familiar explosive action to any who has seen a lot of WWII docs. There are some compelling war footage of the fighting in Manila. Quite frankly, I thought the bloody asian man crawling on the ground towards the camera is something from Vietnam. The narration has the tone of heroic patriotic determination. In today's 24 hour news cycle, this is a relic of a bygone era. I don't know how people saw it back in the day but I'm sure this is some of the freshest footage in middle America theaters.

This was released in 1945 and it shows because it is very dated. The Japanese are evil incarnated -- "bandy legged Nip infantrymen" the narrator calls them at one point -- and we see plenty of Japanese bodies, dead and dying. The Americans are fearless, defiant, homesick, and religious. In fact they're very religious. Some of the footage is news film, some is staged, and some captured from the Japanese.

Here's an example of how the Americans are treated. Any recent history book will refer to the battle of Leyte Gulf as "controversial." The reason it's controversial is that Admiral Halsey took off with his entire fleet to engage a Japanese force that was designed to lure him into doing just that. It left the back door open to another Japanese force which could have sailed down to our ongoing landings at Leyte Gulf and demolished them. That they did not do that is due to confusion and lack of communications among the Japanese. As it was, the Japanese turned away only at the last minute.

How does the film handle the battle of Leyte Gulf. It was very simple. The Japanese sent three naval forces against the landings. We also sent three forces against theirs, and we defeated them. No room for confusion here.

Of course it's easy to criticize inaccuracies or editorial twists in a movie shot and put together in the final months of the war. As propaganda it stacks up fairly well, no worse than Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" series, but not nearly as good as Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will" or John Huston's "The Battle of San Pietro." It lacks any artistry in the shooting (which is understandable) or in the narration (which is less excusable).

On the whole it is a paean to General Douglas MacArthur. The flag is raised over a reconquered Leyte as "the general fulfills a soldier's promise." What's really exceptional about it is the combat footage of the U. S. Army in the Southwest Pacific. There are many familiar shots, but many more that don't show up very often in documentaries or feature films. Mostly we've seen on screen color film of combat involving the Marines and Naval air. Here we see ordinary army grunts slogging through the mud or fighting house to house to take Manila.

Much of the attention in the Pacific has gone to the Marine Corps and Navy in the Central Pacific, island hopping from one famous name to another. The fighting under MacArthur was brutal too but perhaps we know less about it because it was a bit more difficult to figure out why it was taking place. What I mean, for instance, is that the islands of the Central Pacific had strategic importance. The Marines took Saipan because from its airfields our bombers could reach the Japanese mainland. Much of MacArthur's battles had no simple explanation.

Anyway, yes, it twists history, as expected, but maybe its simplicity makes it that much more effective as a learning experience. Let's shave off the rough edges if it helps today's generation of students get at least some grasp of what World War II was about. A poll of high school seniors taken about 15 years ago showed that a substantial number didn't know which side Japan fought on. What was once propaganda may now serve another purpose -- straightforward education, with glosses by the teacher.