December 7th

John Ford's 1943 docu-drama, "December 7th," is an interesting piece of history in its own right. In hindsight, we can see what Ford must have thought when he pulled together this film for the Navy and War Department. Clearly, it had an important purpose and value for that time. And, just as clearly to me, it had more than one message. Remember, up until Pearl Harbor, there had been divergent states of mind in the U.S. about the war.

So, this film set out to wake Americans up and get people to stop to think. It gave us lots of information about Hawaii. Most Americans probably knew of the islands only as a great place to vacation on the beach. How many non-residents knew much about Hawaii or its people at that time? Who knew that 25 percent of the population was of Japanese descent? Or that 122,000 of the 157,000 Japanese then in Hawaii were American citizens? And remember, that was some two decades before Hawaii was to become a state. For that matter, how many people today know much about Hawaii's past up to the start of World War II? I know I had no inkling of much of this data before seeing this film, and then checking some historical references.

This film gives us a broad picture of the Japanese Americans in Hawaii. We see and learn about their businesses, their beliefs, their culture, and their history. The film presents this in a pro and con format between the two main characters. The message seemed clear. Americans should stop to think, and not jump to conclusions. The film should lead viewers to be more open-minded about the Japanese Americans in general. But, also it should help viewers see the need for vigilance by the government because of known Japanese espionage. By this time, we had considerable experiences with the fifth column efforts by Nazi supporters in the eastern U.S. They tried to promote confusion and distrust among the populace and hinder U.S. support for the Allies in the war. Today, we can look at this film and better understand the time, place, moods, fears and concerns of the nation.

My DVD with this film also has some other interesting extras. It has two movie newsreels, a video with interviews when the Ford film was first shown in Japan in 1995, and Frank Capra's 1945 documentary on Japan, "Know Your Enemy."

A cameraman assigned to Honolulu at the time shot the first Universal newsreel of Pearl Harbor. But, its report is quite inaccurate in places. It says that American Army and Navy planes helped repel a fourth wave of attackers. Such guesswork never should have been used by news sources. As we soon learned, the Japanese attack had wiped out the Army airplane force. And, there were no Navy planes because the carriers were out to sea. In another part, a narrator says that the Japanese attack was planned to take place when the carriers were gone. Again, we know that's not true, as the facts later attested. The Japanese planned their attack mainly to knock out U.S. Naval air power as the core of the U.S. naval forces. That would give them a big advantage in the Pacific, and they were surprised to find out that the carriers weren't in port. Later films, such as "Tora, Tora, Tora," give accurate historical accounts of December 7th, including good accounts from the Japanese side.

Finally, the Capra documentary, "Know Your Enemy," was on this DVD. This is an interesting example of a propaganda film. It was produced apparently to show to Americans going to serve in the Pacific in 1945. Some criticize the narrator's tone and derogatory comments in places. I agree. Propaganda should give information truthfully and without racial or cultural slurs. That said, this film gave more interesting – and accurate – information about Japan. Its history, people and culture of the last two centuries before Pearl Harbor would help Americans understand the why and how of Japan's drive for conquest.

One can see some clear similarities between Japan and Germany – in their efforts to arouse the people to support war and conquest. Several news film clips taken in Japan show masses of people being rallied for support of Japan's efforts. The similarity to Nazi Germany is uncanny. One also can see how the nationalistic rallies in this film could lead so many Japanese soldiers to think lowly of other people and be able to treat prisoners, civilians and even women and children so brutally..

Ford's film, "December 7th," is shown in its uncensored and censored parts – noted on the screen as it plays. This is an excellent piece of history in its own right. Anyone interested in World War II, and anyone who wants to know and understand the history of that time better, should see this film. The extras that are on this DVD are also of historical value.

This is another war documentary by Ford, obviously detailing the nefarious 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour that saw the U.S. finally enter WWII. Ironically, the film was originally made as a feature (running 82 minutes) but was heavily censored by the authorities – despite having been commissioned by President Roosevelt himself! – to the point that it was reduced to a 34-minute short, entered in the Academy Award category for Best Documentary Short and winning the Oscar! For the record, only the edited version was released among the extras on Fox's BECOMING JOHN FORD (2007) DVD and, while I managed to acquire the full-length edition off "You Tube", I opted to only watch the shorter print in view of its being Oscar season!

Anyway, this makes a much better attempt to tell the whole story than THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY (one imagines the feature being that more comprehensive in this regard!), and only resorts to mawkishness – albeit movingly done regardless – towards the end i.e. when the fallen soldiers 'introduce' themselves to the audience. Needless to say, the Japanese side is depicted in strictly caricatured terms (which was the accepted norm for the duration of the conflict, seen also in contemporary cartoons!)…but, while a Japanese civilian (sympathizing with the invasion) is interviewed, we also get to see how other naturalized Orientals hid evidence (not just store-signs but the Asian calligraphy itself!) of their old country in shame. Again, a number of stars lend their services to provide the accompanying narration: I recognized Walter Huston's voice in this streamlined copy but, reportedly, the likes of Harry Davenport and Dana Andrews were also involved.

Greg Toland, a phenomenal and temperamental cinematorgrapher ("Citizen Kane" inter alia) wanted to be a director instead of a photographer, and this is basically his film. As part of Ford's Field Photo group he was assigned this project, which was to explain how and why Pearl Harbor could have happened.

Toland was a better photographer than a director. Very little documentary footage of the Pearl Harbor attack existed. Most of what was available was shot after the attack, sometimes days later. So Toland organized a lengthy (some 80 minute-long) version of events by restaging the attack both in Hawaii and on the studio lots in Hollywood.

The rather long prologue is like a cartoon. Walter Houston is dressed in an Uncle Sam costume and has a sort of argument with his conscience before the attack. Oh, sure, Uncle Sam admits, there are some traitors among the hyphenated Japanese but they're a negligible threat. We get to hear Philip Ahn (a Korean) explain that Shintoism is Japan, and Japan Shintoism, and that Hirohito is the direct descendant of God, which must have gone over well with Christians.

The attack itself is reasonably well done for the time but embarrassing to watch now. American dive bombers pose as Japanese. The model work, with tiny airplanes on strings, is obvious. Cardboard ships explode into slivers in a tank. Non-actors pose as American servicemen and die Hollywood deaths, twisting and falling gracefully. The narrator tells us that the whole deal might have been different if an inexperienced lieutenant had heeded the radar warning of a subordinate, which is true, but which couldn't be admitted at the time. The result was an unshowable movie.

Ford and his editor, Robert Sherwood, were called in to try salvaging it by cutting it down to about half an hour. Ford may or may not have added any shots. Only one of them resembles something he might have done. (A chaplain saying mass cuts it short, makes the sign of the cross, and says, "To your battle stations, boys.") Of course Ford's name is on the credits as director. He was John Ford. But it isn't his picture.

December 7th, 1941 (1943)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

John Ford's highly entertaining recreation of Pearl Harbor and the events after it certainly deserved the Academy Award win it received for Best Documentary Short. The film mixes recreated scenes very well with actual footage and I'd go as far to say that the battle scenes (done with models) are among the best from any war film of the period. The version I watched was the original, 34-minute theatrical version.

All of Ford's WW2 shorts are worth seeking out as well as the film's done by Frank Capra during this period.

After America entered World War II at the close of 1941, Hollywood directors were "drafted" into making short films for the war effort. These directors included Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, and the most poetic, sentimental of Hollywood directors at the time- John Ford. Ford made this short film. Part of it is a political cartoon come to life. Uncle Sam (Walter Huston) is on vacation in Hawaii. It's not yet December 7th, 1941. He doesn't have a care in the world, other than his conscious (played with delicate humor by the great Harry Davenport!) reminding him of possible trouble brewing. The film also serves as a neat documentary about life in Hawaii before the war, and offers a peek into the heavy Japanese-American population at the time. Look for Dana Andrews in a ghostly bit part. History books just have the dates and places of historic occurrences. This seldom seen classic shows the mindset!