Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

Spencer Tracy--as James H. Doolittle, architect of the raid--rates the most towering screen credit, and he's superb. But his role's an extended cameo; the emotional core of the film is B-25 pilot Ted Lawson (Van Johnson) and his wife, Ellen (the glowing Phyllis Thaxter). Lawson's bestselling memoir (with Bob Considine) of his training for the secret mission, his group's launching from the aircraft carrier Hornet, and his crash landing and protracted ordeal in China--where he lost a leg--has been faithfully served. The film is long on homely detail and all-American decency (including a remarkably outspoken regret over the unavoidability of civilian casualties) but achieves its greatest impact in the raid itself. That sequence, in addition to boasting Oscar-winning special effects, is mostly shot in riveting silence. --Richard T. Jameson

Van Johnson stars as Lieutenant Ted Lawson and he does a great job as the fighter pilot who is sometimes scared, confused and very human. The supporting cast includes Spencer Tracy as Doolittle, and Robert Mitchum, Don Defore, Robert Walker and a dozen other young actors whose names never did become household words. Phyllis Thaxter is cast as Van Johnson's young wife and the romance scenes they have together, complete with background violin music, are the only scenes I found a bit too overdone for modern tastes.

The rest of the film however, was full of action. I can well understand why it won an Academy Award for special effects because it put the audience right there on those little planes along with the men and used newsreel footage to supplement the scenes shot inside the planes. I really learned about the mission and the nature of the training, and felt the authenticity of a film that was actually made in 1944, not just a revisionist historian's interpretation. Here, the slang was real. They got the "dope" on what was going on, found out that everything was "swell" and the women were called "girls". Everyone smoked cigarettes too, a reality the recent politically correct "Pearl Harbor" seemed to ignore. Also, considering the hatred that raged during the war, I was surprised that in one scene Van Johnson says that his family had a Japanese gardener and he didn't seem like a bad guy. And when Doolittle addresses his men before they take off, he talks about the fact that the men will be taking civilian lives as well as the military targets. The raid was successful but the film doesn't end there. Van Johnson and his crew were shot down over China and were treated like heroes by the Chinese. Some of the scenes that followed, where Van Johnson's leg has to be removed are harrowing and displayed his fine acting skills.

To get a good understanding of what it must have been like in 1944 in America, this video is a must. Not only do we get a feeling of the patriotism, we also hear the music, hear the slang and get a sense of time and place that is impossible to re-create 50 years later. Highly recommended.



It's a Wartime, war movie after all   September 2, 2004
J. Collins (Las Vegas, NV USA)
29 out of 34 found this review helpful

"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" is based on the book of the same name, authored by Captain Lawson. The book tells the story of the training, execution and aftermath of the "Doolittle Raid" through the perspective of Lawson (and to a lesser degree, his crew). Lawson never meant the book to be more than a personal retelling of what happened. The movie pretty faithfully follows the book, though some wartime schmaltz is tossed in as well.
The strike itself was in fact designed primarily to raise morale of the homefront and US armed forces, who were taking a pounding in the first 6 months of the war in the Pacific. The success of the raid, made Doolittle-already famous as an air racer in the 30's- and the B25 household words.
This is ironic in the B25's case as it was accepted for production in the 1940-41 "50000 a year" aircraft expansion authorized by President Roosevelt. As a medium bomber it really had no doctrinal role in airpower as conceived by the AAC at the time; it was accepted because it was reasonably quick, had excellent range and was easy to fly. No small advantage, when the average age of the pilots who would take this aircraft into combat was 22.... The aircraft proved one of the most versatile of the war, especially after conversion into an attack aircraft with the bombardier comparment replaced with a solid-nose of guns and cannon. Doolittle basically chose the aircraft for the simple reason they were available (the upper echelon refused to release the B17/B24 "Strategic" Bombers for what may be a suicide mission) and had the range. Only after he saw what the AAC was willing to cough up did the idea for carrier transport come about-contrary to myth.
The movie glosses over the development of the plan, and the frustrations Doolittle and his planners encountered. Understandably, since the now USAAF senior leadership would look uncooperative-which they were. Instead the movie gives some standard "Hollywood" personalities: the naive but determined kid from Montana, the loudmouthed but sincere Southern person etc They indulge in some all-American antics up to the time they start training for the mission (My Father who was a crewmember during WW2, would say when he saw what the actors were doing, "crews NEVER acted like that, EVER". Certainly, a crew wagging wings while singing "Rockabye Baby" would've been as peculiar then as now.) Some great social history is here for the viewer who looks for it. This film was made in 1944, and the current issues in US society of that time make it into the movie. Also,the B25 footage is outstanding with some of the actual raid footage-the Nav with the movie camera was a real person-combined with stock and model footage. Actual B25 crews were used for the formation flying and training portions of the film. The operations details make this film valuable as a historical piece. As other reviewers have said, doubtful CGI could improve on the aerial sequences.
So, for anyone interested in WW2 aviation, this is a must-see; the running time given over to schmaltzy "All-Americanisms" instead of the planning keep me from giving it 5 stars, though.


A lesson in history and aviation. You're on board !   April 19, 2002
M. Jean Marc Cerutti
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

April 18, 1942 - April 2002. The Doolittle raid over Japan took place 60 years ago which gives me a reason to write a review of this movie really worth seeing.

Like the book it's faithfully based on, the film is divided in 3 main parts :
1) the training for the raid or how to learn on land to get a heavy B-25 to take off from a carrier knowing you only have one chance to do it : the day of the mission,
2) the bombing raid itself involving 16 planes (if I remember right), and
3) the survival story : how to get back home after crashing in hostile territory : mainland China occupied by Japanese forces (knowing it was impossible to fly back to the carrier and that you couldn't probably have landed on it with a heavy plane like a B-25).

The movie focuses mostly one one crew, the one headed by captain Lawson.

It's interesting in many ways.

First, there's the historical aspect of this first US raid on Japan after Pearl Harbor. One purpose of it was to create a strong psychological impact on the Japanese who used to believe their territory was safe from such an attack (a parallel can be drawn here with what happened in New York on September 11, 2001). Another purpose was to boost the morale of Americans, both that of the civil population and of the military. This dual aim was fully reached.

Other main interesting aspects of the film - and the book - include : the training for the mission, the fact that you see the planes from the inside a great deal of the time, the relationships (between the airmen and their machines, between captain Lawson and his wife, between the pilots and their crews, between the army and the navy and between the Chinese and the Americans), another strong aspect being the struggle to survive.

It's also worth mentioning that feelings are depicted in a fairly modest way and that humility is often present which adds to the consistency of the film.

The acting is very good. Van Johnson is Lawson, Robert Mitchum is his pilot friend, Phyllis Baxter is Lawson's wife and Spencer Tracy portrays James Doolittle.

If you're fond of these actors, fond of aviation (particularly if you like propellers), fond of history and aviation history and fond of well-shot and well-scripted movies, don't miss this one !

Don't miss the book either.


Classic movie - TIME TO PUT IT ON DVD!!!   October 2, 2005
R. J. Bennett (Southgate, MI USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I bought this VHS tape last year and absolutely enjoyed it. It is even better in the fact that it so closely follows Ted Lawson's book of how that historic event really happened (a well-planned and well-executed counter strike during America's darkest days of the war with Japan). What a boost it was to U.S. morale.

Only problem is...my VHS tape now starts wigging out during the best part of the movie (when they are launching from the Hornet all the way though the bombing of Japan) and does not go back to normal until where the Chinese were taking them to safety.

I agree with the previous comment on how they can take last years flop and immediately put it on DVD but not this eternal classic of a movie.

PUT IT ON DVD!!!