Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

I am a retired professional pilot with thirty-eight years experience and I can tell you what the Doolittle Raiders did took more raw courage than you can possibly imagine if you are not a pilot yourself. Simply taking off from an aircraft carrier is dangerous enough for a naval aircraft. Now do it with a heavily loaded bomber not designed for the task flown by pilots who had never even been on a carrier before. Okay, that's scary enough, now I'll try to explain the technical difficulties. Simply stated, to take off a multi engine aircraft at very low airspeed (Necessary for the short length of the deck) is to invite disaster. This is because if you lose an engine as you lift off, the torque from the good engine would roll the aircraft over on its back and into the sea. Now if you survive those rigors you still have to fly to Japan, brave the anti-aircraft fire and fighters, unload your bombs, try to make to China (Low on fuel) find some primitive landing strip at night, which may have fallen into enemy hands by the time you arrive. This movie is but a small tribute to these brave heroes, so please forgive any perceptions of WWII propaganda. Supreme courage? You bet!

"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" is one of the best movies made during the war years. While the typical war film made during WWII avoided realism in favor of jingoism and propaganda, this one excels because it tried to get the facts right and plays almost like a documentary merged with a typical Hollywood drama. When you read about the efforts that MGM went to make the film, you realize it was a real labor of love and the movie holds up remarkably well today.

This film is about the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan which occurred in 1942. While the actual physical impact of the bombing raid was not especially great, it was a bit public relations victory-- bolstering American morale and reducing the Japanese sense of invulnerability which had been prevalent.

The movie begins shortly before the men were recruited for the raid and follows them through training, the actual raid and the fate of a bomber crew. Incidentally, all the planes were lost in the raid...it was intended as a one-way mission.

What makes the film strong is not just the emphasis on realism but the acting and direction. Van Johnson was sort of an 'everyman' for the audience to love and root for...and MGM did a great job ladling on the sentimentality but not laying it on too thick. Having supporting actors like Spencer Tracy, Robert Walker and Robert Mitchum sure didn't hurt, either! All in all, a great film and an excellent tribute to these crazy but very brave men who did what their country asked. As for the best scene in the movie, it's a little one with no dialog...as you see a Chinese woman crying silently as some of the injured Americans are being taken to safety. Stunning.

By the way, an excellent but over-the-top film about crew captured by the Japanese following the Doolittle Raid is also portrayed in Twentieth Century Fox's "The Purple Heart". It's an excellent film but occasionally lapses into propaganda mode a few times too often to be taken as seriously as "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".

Van Johnson, Spencer Tracy and a supporting cast make this movie one of the special few war films that show a naturalistic view of men in combat. Johnson is scared, confused at times, and when he's at the controls, exactly like so many pilots I know - professional. There are elements of jingoism in this film, although remarkably toned-down, certainly less than "..Colonel Blimp", a British war-time effort. Johnson is the classic middle-class guy caught up in a shooting match, same as he was in "Battleground". Some younger viewers may see the special effects as hokey, but I feel the model work was and is unsurpassed, and without any blue-screen trickery! The Hornet flight-deck scenes are amazing in the use of full size B-25's. One other note -"Japanese" are seen on screen only from a distance, curiously.

One of those made-during-the-war war movies that comes with the customary Frank Capra-like homeland security flag-waving and all of that but this is a good flick that stands the test of time.

Oh, it's cornball and the soldiers make like scouts at jamboree but there's an edge here--perhaps because the outcome of the WWII encounter was still in doubt at the time.

As a movie, though, "30 Seconds" has a lot going for it: romance (Van Johnson-Phyllis Thaxter), buddies (Johnson and a young Robert Mitchum), strong Army-Navy relations, strong American-Chinese relations--and plenty of great character parts played by people like Robert Walker, Spencer Tracy and Don DeFore, later to become George Baxter in TV's "Hazel."

There's nothing dated about the cinematography employed here. When the Ruptured Duck flies over Tokyo, you feel like you're right there in the cockpit and the crew's low-altitude escape to China is nothing less than harrowing.

It may not be a 20-20 account of the Doolittle mission to ramp up U.S. spirits after Pearl Harbor but it's a entertaining film with a lot of heavy hitters along for the ride, people like Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)and director Mervyn LeRoy.

Yes, it's one-part propaganda, one part-chin uplifter but there's a lot more to it and it makes my all-time top 10 war movie list.

I think this film is one of the best WWII films (if not the best) made during the war. The principal reason is that it's true and based on the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan on April 18, 1942. The movie follows the lives of a few of the members of that raid and focuses specifically on the experiences of Lt. Ted Lawson, who wrote the book. While a few of the stateside scenes are a bit corny and mushy, it nicely weaves in the story of one flyer and his wife and the way they handle their impending separation due to the upcoming mission. One needs to remember the need to portray and establish patriotism and an "apple pie and mom" sense during a difficult wartime environment when the film was released in 1944. In fact, just as the Doolittle Raid was carried out to bolster flagging US morale after Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941)and a series of US and allied losses in the Pacific war in early 1942, this movie of the raid again plays the role of morale booster for the home front in 1944. The flying scenes, as well as the special effects, are pretty good for the 1940's movie making era and perfect for most WWII aviation buffs. This Hollywood movie version of the book of the same name written by Lt. Ted Lawson and edited by Robert Considine is fairly true to the book, with very minor changes for story continuity and some levity. Spencer Tracy does a good job as Lt. Col. Jimmie Doolittle and adds the needed seriousness to the early part of the film. Van Johnson's role of Lt. Ted Lawson was perfectly played and Phyllis Thaxter as his wife is charming. The story of the early part of their marriage adds the right tone to this movie and sort of personifies all of these types of marriages and relationships that were "put on hold" because of a war. The movie turns quite serious, of course, once the raid begins. The underlying story is quite serious and relates the story of a group of flyers who volunteered for an extremely dangerous mission without even knowing what the mission is. I think this is one of the main attractions of this movie for me...that someone is willing to sacrifice their life for their country when asked to possibly do just that. It is selfish acts like this that we in the US should continue to recognize and to be eternally grateful to those of the WWII generation such as those who took part in this famous and unique event in US aviation history.