Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

1944
Approved
2h 18m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

6.6K

YOUR RATING

Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, and Phyllis Thaxter in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

Play trailer3:06

1 Video

99 Photos

Drama History War

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

6.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total

Videos1

Trailer 3:06

Official Trailer

Photos122

115

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
When Lawson's plane arrives in Tokyo and sees the fire and smoke from the previous bomber, Davy Jones, we are not looking at a special effect. During the making of the film, there was a fuel-oil fire in Oakland, near the filming location. The quick-thinking filmmakers scrambled to fly their camera plane and B-25 through the area, capturing some very real footage for the movie.

Goofs
The injuries of the crew of the Ruptured Duck are not completely correct. Lawson was hurt the worse, as the movie tries to portray, but in fact his face was pushed in from going through the windscreen of his plane. All of his front teeth were loosened and fell out into his hand when he tried to straighten them. His lower lip was laid open to the cleft in his chin. In addition to his leg being gashed open, his left bicep was severed in half. McClure's injuries were accurately portrayed; both shoulders were broken from hitting the backs of Lawson and Davenports seats. Davenport was shown was being non-ambulatory in the movie and generally helpless; however, other than a bad cut on his forehead (he went through the windscreen too), he was able to move around and help his three more badly injured crew mates. Clever was as badly injured as the movie portrayed him. Thatcher was the least injured, although he had a bleeding bump on his head, which was not shown in the movie. Thatcher received commendation for his efforts to help the three badly-injured crew members.

Quotes
Ted Lawson: Goodbye.
Young Dr. Chung: I have one sorrow, Lieutenant. that we did not have the medicine to ease your pain.
Ted Lawson: You saved my life, Doc.
Young Dr. Chung: I hope that someday you'll come back to us.
Ted Lawson: We'll be back. Maybe not us ourselves but a lotta guys like us, and I'd like to be with them. You're our kind of people.
Young Dr. Chung: Thank you, sir.

Crazy credits
Intro: "One-hundred and thirty-one days after December 7, 1941, a handful of young men, who had never dreamed of glory, struck the first blow at the heart of Japan. This is their true story we tell here."

Alternate versions
There is an alternate colorized version.

Connections
Edited into Bridge to the Sun (1961)

Soundtracks
The Army Air Corps Song
(1939) (uncredited)
Written by Robert Crawford
Played during the opening credits

User reviews72

Review

Featured review

9/10

A brief bombing mission but a long story

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.