Tora! Tora! Tora!
Encyclopedia
is a 1970 American-Japanese war film
that dramatizes the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor
, to the extent these facts were known at the time of production. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer
and stars an all-star cast, including So Yamamura, E.G. Marshall, James Whitmore
, and Jason Robards
who, in reality, was a survivor of the actual attack.
The commanders in Hawaii, General Short
and Admiral Kimmel
, though scapegoated for decades, are portrayed as taking defensive measures for the apparent threats, including relocation of the fighter aircraft at Pearl Harbor to the middle of the base, in response to fears of sabotage from local Japanese insurgents. They received limited warning of the increasing risk of aerial attack, which was better understood in Washington than in Honolulu. The film is famous for Isoroku Yamamoto's quote likening the attacks to "awakening a sleeping giant
", although it may have been apocryphal.
The title is made up of the code-words that were used by the Japanese to indicate that complete surprise was achieved and is translated in the Japanese as "虎" or "tiger", hence making the code for achieved surprise "Tiger, tiger, tiger".
, flagship for the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
(Sō Yamamura) takes place in 1940. He takes command from Zengo Yoshida
(Junya Usami). The two discuss America's embargo that starves Japan of raw materials. While both agree that a war with the United States would be a complete disaster, army hotheads and politicians push through an alliance with Germany and start planning for war, believing the U.S. to be preoccupied with the war in Europe. Their fear of war increases when Japan signs the Tripartite Pact
with Nazi Germany
and Fascist Italy
in Berlin
, making Japan the third member of the Axis Powers
. With the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, regarded as a "knife to the throat of Japan", Yamamoto orders the planning of a preemptive strike
, believing Japan's only hope is to annihilate the American Pacific fleet at the outset of hostilities.
When planning the attack, the Japanese commanders debate Pearl Harbor's exposure to a torpedo attack, but realize that torpedoes dropped from an aircraft will fall and submerge at least 75 feet (22.9 m) below the surface. Since Pearl Harbor is only 40 feet (12.2 m) deep, the Americans feel they have a natural defense against torpedoes. But the Japanese have a plan to overcome this obstacle.
In a major intelligence victory, American intelligence in Washington manages to break the Japanese Purple Code, allowing the United States to intercept radio transmissions the Japanese think are secret. American intelligence in Washington is seen collecting increasingly threatening radio intercepts and conveying their concern to a White House staff that seems strangely unresponsive. The American response to high quality intelligence in general appears lax, although Pearl Harbor does increase air patrols and goes on full alert well before the raid.
Japanese commanders call on the famous Air Staff Officer Genda Minoru (Tatsuya Mihashi) to mastermind the attack. At Pearl Harbor, although hampered by a late-arriving critical intelligence report about the attack fleet, Admiral Kimmel (Martin Balsam
) and General Short (Jason Robards
) do their best to enhance defenses. Short orders his aircraft to be concentrated in the middle of their airfields to prevent sabotage (leading to a pointed bit of dialogue between two officers when one objects to the order by saying, "Suppose there's an air raid?") Yamamoto tries to avoid an attack and blames the Japanese Army for pushing too hard for war when peace is still an option. Yamamoto stresses that the United States is a mighty foe who would be extremely dangerous to provoke. In order to defeat the United States, he claims, destroying the U.S. fleet or even capturing Hawaii would not suffice – Japan would have to invade the mainland and dictate terms of U.S. surrender on the White House steps, an eventuality Yamamoto clearly sees as impossible to achieve.
Diplomatic tensions increase between the U.S. and Japan as the Japanese ambassador to the United States is seen asking Tokyo
for more information to aid in negotiations to avoid war, but getting little or nothing to work with in return. Army General Tojo (Asao Uchida) is depicted as adamantly opposed to any last minute attempts at peace. The Japanese commence a series of 14 radio messages from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Washington that will conclude with the declaration of war. But the Americans are translating the radio messages faster than the Japanese embassy. Hence, the Americans know of the attack before the Japanese ambassador informs them.
On the morning of December 7, decision makers in Washington and Hawaii
are seen enjoying a leisurely routine while American intelligence works feverishly to interpret the coded transmissions and learns the final message will be received precisely at 1:00pm Washington time. American intelligence notes that the final message instructs the Japanese Ambassador to destroy their code machines after they decode the last of the 14 messages, an ominous point. Attempts to convey this message to American commanders fail because they are enjoying a Sunday of playing golf and horseback riding. Finally, Chief of Naval Operations Harold Rainsford Stark
(Edward Andrews
) is informed of the increased threat, but decides not to inform Hawaii until after calling the President, although it is not clear if he takes any action at all.
Finally, at 11:30 am Washington time, Colonel Bratton (E.G. Marshall) convinces the Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall
(Keith Andes
), that a greater threat exists, and Marshall orders that Pearl Harbor (and all other Pacific installations) be notified of an impending attack. An American destroyer, , spots a Japanese midget submarine
trying to slip through the defensive net and enter Pearl Harbor, sinks it, and notifies the base. Although the receiving officer, Lieutenant Kaminsky (Neville Brand
), takes the report of an attempted enemy incursion seriously, Captain John Earle (Richard Anderson
) at Pearl Harbor demands confirmation before calling an alert. Admiral Kimmel later learns of this negligence and is furious he was not told of this enemy action immediately. Just after 7am, the two privates posted at the remote radar, Joseph Lockard and George Elliot, spot the incoming Japanese aircraft and inform the Hickam Field Information Center, but the Army Air Forces Lieutenant in charge, Kermit Tyler
, dismisses the report, thinking it is a group of American B-17 bombers coming from the mainland, and he is frankly too tired to care.
The Japanese intend to break off negotiations (they did not intend to issue a formal declaration of war) at 1 pm Washington time, 30 minutes before the attack. However, the typist for the Japanese ambassador is slow, and cannot decode the 14th part fast enough. A final attempt to warn Pearl Harbor is stymied by poor atmospherics and bungling when the telegram is not marked urgent; it will be received by Pearl Harbor after the attack. The incoming Japanese fighter pilots are pleasantly surprised when there isn't even any anti-aircraft fire as they approach the base. As a result, the squadron leader radios in the code phrase marking that complete surprise for the attack has been achieved: "Tora, Tora, Tora!"
Once the attack is launched, America's response is desperate and only partially effective. Upon seeing the Japanese low-level bombers, an American officer instructs his colleague to get the tail numbers so the pilot can be reported for safety violations; he thinks they are American aircraft. The sight of the offending aircraft then deliberately dropping a bomb on the base dispels that misconception.
The aircraft security precautions prove a disastrous mistake that allows the Japanese aerial forces to destroy the U.S. aircraft on the ground with ease, thereby crippling an effective aerial counter-attack: all the aircraft on the runways at the major airfields were destroyed spectacularly either as they took off or while they were still parked. Two American fighter pilots (portrayals of Second Lieutenants Ken Taylor
and George Welch) race to remote Haleiwa and manage to take off to engage the enemy, as the Japanese have not hit the smaller airfields.
The catastrophic damage to the base is well detailed, with sailors fighting as long as they can and then abandoning sinking ships and jumping into the water with burning oil on the surface. There are also scenes where the Japanese fleet commander, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
(Eijiro Tono
), refuses to launch the third wave of carrier aircraft out of fear of exposing his six carriers to increased risk of detection and destruction from the still-absent US carriers. Through the years, this action has been debated as having given the Americans a major break in their efforts to recover from the attack. A third wave would have likely struck the large oil tanks as well as destroyed the dry docks and repair facilities, potentially serious blows which could have crippled the U.S. Pacific Fleet for months by themselves.
At the end of the attacks, with the U.S. base in flames, its frustrated commanders finally get the Pentagon's telegram warning them of impending danger. The US Secretary Of State, Cordell Hull
(George Macready
), is stunned at learning of this brazen attack and urgently requests confirmation of it before receiving the Japanese ambassador who is waiting just outside his office. In Washington, the distraught Japanese ambassador
(Shōgo Shimada
), helpless to explain the late ultimatum and the unprovoked sneak attack, is bluntly rebuffed by Hull, who coldly replies to the final Japanese communique: "In all my fifty years of public service, I have never seen a document crowded with falsehoods and deliberate distortions on a scale so huge that, until this day, I would have thought no nation on earth capable of uttering them!"
Finally, Admiral Yamamoto is seen lamenting the fact that the Americans did not receive the declaration of war until 50 minutes after the attack started, noting that nothing would infuriate the Americans more. He is quoted as saying: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Production on Tora! Tora! Tora! took three years to plan and prepare for the eight months of principal photography. The film was created in two separate productions, one based in the United States, directed by Richard Fleischer, and one based in Japan. The Japanese side of the production was initially directed by Akira Kurosawa
, but after two years of work with no useful results, 20th Century Fox
turned the project over to Kinji Fukasaku
and Toshio Masuda
, who completed it. Although Kurosawa worked on the screenplay, his name does not show on the film credits.
From the 2001 DVD, writer and historian Stuart Galbraith IV
interviewed Richard Fleischer about renowned director Akira Kurosawa's role in the project.
Ladislas Farago, Larry Forrester, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni wrote the screenplay, based on books written by Gordon Prange
. Charles Wheeler, the cinematographer, was nominated for an Oscar
. The film contains second unit
and miniature photography, shot by Ray Kellogg. Jerry Goldsmith
composed the film score.
Numerous technical advisors on both sides, some of whom had participated in the battle and/or planning, were crucial in maintaining the accuracy of the film. Minoru Genda
, the man who largely planned and led the attack on Pearl Harbor was an uncredited technical advisor for the film.
The "Japanese" aircraft carrier was the Anti-Submarine carrier . The Japanese A6M Zero
fighters, and somewhat longer "Kate" torpedo bombers or "Val" dive bombers were heavily modified RCAF Harvard (T-6 Texan
) and BT-13 Valiant
pilot training aircraft. The large fleet of Japanese aircraft was created by Lynn Garrison
, a well-known aerial action coordinator, who produced a number of conversions. Garrison and Jack Canary coordinated the actual engineering work at facilities in the Los Angeles area. These aircraft still make appearances at air shows.
A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress’s actual crash landing during filming, a result of a jammed landing gear, was filmed and used in the final cut. A total of five Boeing B-17s were obtained for filming. Other U.S. aircraft used are the Consolidated PBY Catalina and, especially, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (two flyable examples were used). Predominately, P-40 fighters are used to depict the U.S. defenders with a full-scale P-40 used as a template for fiberglass replicas (some with working engines and props) that were strafed and blown up during filming. Fleischer also said a scene involving a P-40 model crashing into the middle of a line of P-40s was unintended, as it was supposed to crash at the end of the line. The stuntmen involved in the scene were actually running for their lives.
The flying scenes were complex to shoot, and can be compared to the 1969 film Battle of Britain
. The 2001 film Pearl Harbor
would contain cut scenes from both films. The carrier entering Pearl Harbor towards the end of the film was in fact the Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship , returning to port. A sailor onboard the Tripoli recounted that he saw the smoke and fire in the harbor, and the crew did not realize what was going on at first.
Robert McCall
painted several scenes for various posters of the film.
. In the film, Akagi's bridge island is positioned on the starboard side of the ship, which is typical on most aircraft carriers. However, the aircraft carrier Akagi was an exception; its bridge island was on the port side of the ship. Despite this, the bridge section appeared accurately as a mirrored version of Akagi's real port-side bridge. Secondly, all the Japanese aircraft in the footage bear the markings of Akagi's aircraft (a single vertical red stripe following the red sun symbol of Japan), even though five other aircraft carriers participated, each having their own markings. In addition, the markings do not display the aircraft's identification numbers as was the case in the actual battle.
Parts of the film showing the takeoff of the Japanese aircraft, are displaying an Essex-class aircraft carrier, , which was commissioned in 1943 and modernized after the war to have an angled flightdeck. The ship was leased by the film producers, who needed an aircraft carrier for the film; Yorktown was scheduled to be decommissioned shortly afterwards. It was used largely in the takeoff sequence of the Japanese attack aircraft. The sequence shows interchanging shots of the more accurate models of the Japanese aircraft carriers and the Yorktown. It does not look like any of the Japanese carriers involved in the attack, due to its large bridge island and its angled landing deck. The Japanese carriers had small bridge islands, and angled flight decks were not invented until after the war. In addition, during the scene in which Admiral Halsey is watching bombing practice an aircraft carrier with the hull number 14 is shown. Admiral Halsey was on the , not the Essex-class carrier , which would not be commissioned until 1944.
The was an old "4-piper" destroyer commissioned in 1918; the ship used in the movie which portrays the Ward looked far different from the original destroyer. In addition, in the movie she fired two shots from her #1 turret. In reality the Ward fired the first shot from the #1 4" un-turreted gunmount and the second shot from the #3 wing mount.
The large scale model of the stern of shows the two aft gun turrets with three gun barrels in each; in reality, Nevada's two heightened fore and aft turrets had two barrels each while the lower two turrets fore and aft had three barrels each. Another model of Nevada, used in the film to portray the whole ship, displays the turrets accurately. It should be noted that the reason for this anomaly is because the aft section model was used in the film to portray both USS Nevada and . The ships looked remarkably similar except that Arizona had four triple turrets and a slightly different stern section.
The film has a Japanese Zero fighter being damaged over a Naval base and then deliberately crashing into a Naval Base hangar. This is actually a composite of three incidents at Pearl Harbor attack: in the first wave a Japanese Zero crashed into Fort Kamehameha
's ordnance building; in the second wave, a Japanese Zero did deliberately crash into a hillside after U.S. Navy CPO John William Finn
at Naval Air Station at Kāne'ohe Bay
had shot and damaged the aircraft. Also during the second wave, a Japanese aircraft that was damaged crashed into the seaplane tender USS Curtiss.
During a number of shots of the attack squadrons traversing across Oahu, a small cross can be seen on one of the mountainsides. The cross was actually erected after the attack as a memorial to the victims of the attack.
Roger Ebert
felt that Tora! Tora! Tora! was "one of the deadest, dullest blockbusters ever made" and suffered from not having "some characters to identify with." In addition, he criticized the film for poor acting and special effects in his 1970 review.Vincent Canby, reviewer for the The New York Times was similarly unimpressed, noting the film was "nothing less than a $25-million irrelevancy." Variety
also found the film to be boring; however, the magazine praised the film's action sequences and production values. James Bernardelli, however, said it's "rare for a feature film to attain the trifecta of entertaining, informing, and educating."
Charles Champlin in his review for the Los Angeles Times on September 23, 1970, considered the movie's chief virtues as a "spectacular", and the careful recreation of a historical event. Despite the initial negative reviews, the film was critically acclaimed for its vivid action scenes, and found favor with aviation and history aficionados, but even the team of Jack Hardwick and Ed Schnepf who have been involved in research on aviation films, had relegated Tora! Tora! Tora! to the "also-ran" status, due to its slow-moving plotline.
Several later films relating to World War II in the Pacific have used footage from Tora! Tora! Tora! including The Final Countdown, Midway
(in the DVD commentary, Fleischer was angry that Universal used the footage) and Australia
, as well as its "almost perfect documentary accuracy." Today, Tora! Tora! Tora! is held in high regard by modern critics and has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
.
(Jack Martin Smith
, Yoshirō Muraki
, Richard Day
, Taizô Kawashima
, Walter M. Scott
, Norman Rockett
, Carl Biddiscombe
), Best Cinematography
, Best Editing
and Best Sound (Murray Spivack
, Herman Lewis
).
and Magnum, P.I.
, the band Tora! Tora! Torrance! and as Tory! Tory! Tory!
for a documentary on Thatcherism
. Some television series, again including Magnum, P.I., have also used shots of the raid on Pearl Harbor taken from the film to illustrate episodes.
"Tora! Tora! Tora!" is also the name of a Depeche Mode
song from their first album Speak & Spell.
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
that dramatizes the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, to the extent these facts were known at the time of production. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer
Richard Fleischer
-Early life:Fleischer was born in Brooklyn, the son of Essie and animator/producer Max Fleischer. He started in motion pictures as director of animated shorts produced by his father including entries in the Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman series.His live-action film career began in 1942 at the RKO...
and stars an all-star cast, including So Yamamura, E.G. Marshall, James Whitmore
James Whitmore
James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
, and Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
who, in reality, was a survivor of the actual attack.
The commanders in Hawaii, General Short
Walter Short
Walter Campbell Short was a Major General in the United States Army and the U.S. military Commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.-Early life:He was born in 1880 in Fillmore, Illinois...
and Admiral Kimmel
Husband E. Kimmel
Husband Edward Kimmel was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. He served as Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Because of the attack, he was removed from office and was reduced to his permanent two-star rank of rear admiral...
, though scapegoated for decades, are portrayed as taking defensive measures for the apparent threats, including relocation of the fighter aircraft at Pearl Harbor to the middle of the base, in response to fears of sabotage from local Japanese insurgents. They received limited warning of the increasing risk of aerial attack, which was better understood in Washington than in Honolulu. The film is famous for Isoroku Yamamoto's quote likening the attacks to "awakening a sleeping giant
Isoroku Yamamoto's sleeping giant quote
Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is portrayed at the very end of the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, and in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor, as saying after his attack on Pearl Harbor, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." The supposed quotation was...
", although it may have been apocryphal.
The title is made up of the code-words that were used by the Japanese to indicate that complete surprise was achieved and is translated in the Japanese as "虎" or "tiger", hence making the code for achieved surprise "Tiger, tiger, tiger".
Plot
A change-of-command ceremony aboard the Japanese battleship NagatoJapanese battleship Nagato
Nagato was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy; the lead ship of her class. She was the first battleship in the world to mount 16 inch guns, her armour protection and speed made her one of the most powerful capital ships at the time of her commissioning.She was the flagship of Admiral...
, flagship for the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Isoroku Yamamoto
was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....
(Sō Yamamura) takes place in 1940. He takes command from Zengo Yoshida
Zengo Yoshida
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy.-Biography:Yoshida was born into an impoverished farming family in Saga prefecture in 1885, and was adopted into the family of a local rice merchant. He was a graduate of the 32nd class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1904, ranking 12th out of...
(Junya Usami). The two discuss America's embargo that starves Japan of raw materials. While both agree that a war with the United States would be a complete disaster, army hotheads and politicians push through an alliance with Germany and start planning for war, believing the U.S. to be preoccupied with the war in Europe. Their fear of war increases when Japan signs the Tripartite Pact
Tripartite Pact
The Tripartite Pact, also the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact or Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II...
with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, making Japan the third member of the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
. With the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, regarded as a "knife to the throat of Japan", Yamamoto orders the planning of a preemptive strike
Preemptive strike
A preemptive strike refers to a surprise attack launched with the stated intention of countering an anticipated enemy offensive. Preemptive strike may also refer to:...
, believing Japan's only hope is to annihilate the American Pacific fleet at the outset of hostilities.
When planning the attack, the Japanese commanders debate Pearl Harbor's exposure to a torpedo attack, but realize that torpedoes dropped from an aircraft will fall and submerge at least 75 feet (22.9 m) below the surface. Since Pearl Harbor is only 40 feet (12.2 m) deep, the Americans feel they have a natural defense against torpedoes. But the Japanese have a plan to overcome this obstacle.
In a major intelligence victory, American intelligence in Washington manages to break the Japanese Purple Code, allowing the United States to intercept radio transmissions the Japanese think are secret. American intelligence in Washington is seen collecting increasingly threatening radio intercepts and conveying their concern to a White House staff that seems strangely unresponsive. The American response to high quality intelligence in general appears lax, although Pearl Harbor does increase air patrols and goes on full alert well before the raid.
Japanese commanders call on the famous Air Staff Officer Genda Minoru (Tatsuya Mihashi) to mastermind the attack. At Pearl Harbor, although hampered by a late-arriving critical intelligence report about the attack fleet, Admiral Kimmel (Martin Balsam
Martin Balsam
Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
) and General Short (Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
) do their best to enhance defenses. Short orders his aircraft to be concentrated in the middle of their airfields to prevent sabotage (leading to a pointed bit of dialogue between two officers when one objects to the order by saying, "Suppose there's an air raid?") Yamamoto tries to avoid an attack and blames the Japanese Army for pushing too hard for war when peace is still an option. Yamamoto stresses that the United States is a mighty foe who would be extremely dangerous to provoke. In order to defeat the United States, he claims, destroying the U.S. fleet or even capturing Hawaii would not suffice – Japan would have to invade the mainland and dictate terms of U.S. surrender on the White House steps, an eventuality Yamamoto clearly sees as impossible to achieve.
Diplomatic tensions increase between the U.S. and Japan as the Japanese ambassador to the United States is seen asking Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
for more information to aid in negotiations to avoid war, but getting little or nothing to work with in return. Army General Tojo (Asao Uchida) is depicted as adamantly opposed to any last minute attempts at peace. The Japanese commence a series of 14 radio messages from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Washington that will conclude with the declaration of war. But the Americans are translating the radio messages faster than the Japanese embassy. Hence, the Americans know of the attack before the Japanese ambassador informs them.
On the morning of December 7, decision makers in Washington and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
are seen enjoying a leisurely routine while American intelligence works feverishly to interpret the coded transmissions and learns the final message will be received precisely at 1:00pm Washington time. American intelligence notes that the final message instructs the Japanese Ambassador to destroy their code machines after they decode the last of the 14 messages, an ominous point. Attempts to convey this message to American commanders fail because they are enjoying a Sunday of playing golf and horseback riding. Finally, Chief of Naval Operations Harold Rainsford Stark
Harold Rainsford Stark
Harold Rainsford Stark served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II. Stark was the US Navy's 8th Chief of Naval Operations, from August 1, 1939 to 26 March 1942....
(Edward Andrews
Edward Andrews
Edward Andrews was an American actor, one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films between the 1950s and the 1980s...
) is informed of the increased threat, but decides not to inform Hawaii until after calling the President, although it is not clear if he takes any action at all.
Finally, at 11:30 am Washington time, Colonel Bratton (E.G. Marshall) convinces the Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
(Keith Andes
Keith Andes
Keith Andes was an American film, radio, musical theatre, stage and television actor.-Early life:John Charles Andes was born in Ocean City, New Jersey on July 12, 1920. By the age of 12, he was featured on the radio....
), that a greater threat exists, and Marshall orders that Pearl Harbor (and all other Pacific installations) be notified of an impending attack. An American destroyer, , spots a Japanese midget submarine
Midget submarine
A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to 6 or 8, with little or no on-board living accommodation...
trying to slip through the defensive net and enter Pearl Harbor, sinks it, and notifies the base. Although the receiving officer, Lieutenant Kaminsky (Neville Brand
Neville Brand
Neville Brand was an American television and movie actor.-Early life:Neville Brand was born in Illinois. He was born to Leo and Helen Brand as one of seven children. Leo, was an electrician and bridge building steel worker in Detroit, where Neville was raised...
), takes the report of an attempted enemy incursion seriously, Captain John Earle (Richard Anderson
Richard Anderson
Richard Norman Anderson is an American actor in film and television, known to TV audiences as Steve Austin's and Jaime Sommers' boss, Oscar Goldman, in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series and their three subsequent TV movies: The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man...
) at Pearl Harbor demands confirmation before calling an alert. Admiral Kimmel later learns of this negligence and is furious he was not told of this enemy action immediately. Just after 7am, the two privates posted at the remote radar, Joseph Lockard and George Elliot, spot the incoming Japanese aircraft and inform the Hickam Field Information Center, but the Army Air Forces Lieutenant in charge, Kermit Tyler
Kermit Tyler
Kermit A. Tyler was an American Air Force officer. Tyler was assigned as a pilot in the 78th Pursuit Squadron at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.-Biography:...
, dismisses the report, thinking it is a group of American B-17 bombers coming from the mainland, and he is frankly too tired to care.
The Japanese intend to break off negotiations (they did not intend to issue a formal declaration of war) at 1 pm Washington time, 30 minutes before the attack. However, the typist for the Japanese ambassador is slow, and cannot decode the 14th part fast enough. A final attempt to warn Pearl Harbor is stymied by poor atmospherics and bungling when the telegram is not marked urgent; it will be received by Pearl Harbor after the attack. The incoming Japanese fighter pilots are pleasantly surprised when there isn't even any anti-aircraft fire as they approach the base. As a result, the squadron leader radios in the code phrase marking that complete surprise for the attack has been achieved: "Tora, Tora, Tora!"
Once the attack is launched, America's response is desperate and only partially effective. Upon seeing the Japanese low-level bombers, an American officer instructs his colleague to get the tail numbers so the pilot can be reported for safety violations; he thinks they are American aircraft. The sight of the offending aircraft then deliberately dropping a bomb on the base dispels that misconception.
The aircraft security precautions prove a disastrous mistake that allows the Japanese aerial forces to destroy the U.S. aircraft on the ground with ease, thereby crippling an effective aerial counter-attack: all the aircraft on the runways at the major airfields were destroyed spectacularly either as they took off or while they were still parked. Two American fighter pilots (portrayals of Second Lieutenants Ken Taylor
Kenneth M. Taylor
Kenneth Marlar Taylor was a new United States Army Air Forces Second Lieutenant pilot stationed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. Along with his fellow pilot and friend George Welch, they got airborne while under fire and Taylor shot down four Japanese dive bombers...
and George Welch) race to remote Haleiwa and manage to take off to engage the enemy, as the Japanese have not hit the smaller airfields.
The catastrophic damage to the base is well detailed, with sailors fighting as long as they can and then abandoning sinking ships and jumping into the water with burning oil on the surface. There are also scenes where the Japanese fleet commander, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
Chuichi Nagumo
was a Japanese admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and one time commander of the Kido Butai . He committed suicide during the Battle of Saipan.-Early life:...
(Eijiro Tono
Eijirô Tono
was a Japanese actor who took supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Yojimbo , as well as Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story and An Autumn Afternoon ....
), refuses to launch the third wave of carrier aircraft out of fear of exposing his six carriers to increased risk of detection and destruction from the still-absent US carriers. Through the years, this action has been debated as having given the Americans a major break in their efforts to recover from the attack. A third wave would have likely struck the large oil tanks as well as destroyed the dry docks and repair facilities, potentially serious blows which could have crippled the U.S. Pacific Fleet for months by themselves.
At the end of the attacks, with the U.S. base in flames, its frustrated commanders finally get the Pentagon's telegram warning them of impending danger. The US Secretary Of State, Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II...
(George Macready
George Macready
George Peabody Macready, Jr. , was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.-Background:...
), is stunned at learning of this brazen attack and urgently requests confirmation of it before receiving the Japanese ambassador who is waiting just outside his office. In Washington, the distraught Japanese ambassador
Kichisaburo Nomura
-External links:...
(Shōgo Shimada
Shōgo Shimada (actor)
- Filmography :Filmography of Shōgo Shimada include 49 films from 1951 to 1995:* * * Tora! Tora! Tora! *...
), helpless to explain the late ultimatum and the unprovoked sneak attack, is bluntly rebuffed by Hull, who coldly replies to the final Japanese communique: "In all my fifty years of public service, I have never seen a document crowded with falsehoods and deliberate distortions on a scale so huge that, until this day, I would have thought no nation on earth capable of uttering them!"
Finally, Admiral Yamamoto is seen lamenting the fact that the Americans did not receive the declaration of war until 50 minutes after the attack started, noting that nothing would infuriate the Americans more. He is quoted as saying: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Cast
The film was deliberately cast with actors who were not true box-office stars, in order to place the emphasis on the story rather than the actors who were in it, as so often happens in all-star cast productions. As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Martin Balsam Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :... |
Admiral Admiral Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"... Husband E. Kimmel Husband E. Kimmel Husband Edward Kimmel was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. He served as Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Because of the attack, he was removed from office and was reduced to his permanent two-star rank of rear admiral... , Commander-in-Chief Commander-in-Chief A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military... , U.S. Pacific Fleet |
| So Yamamura | Kaigun Taishō (Admiral) Naval ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II The following graphs present the rank insignia of the Japanese navy during World War II. These designs had been used from 1931-1945, but were discontinued after World War II, when the Imperial Japanese Navy had been dissolved.... Isoroku Yamamoto Isoroku Yamamoto was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University .... , Commander-in-Chief Commander-in-Chief A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military... , Combined Fleet Combined Fleet The was the main ocean-going component of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Combined Fleet was not a standing force, but a temporary force formed for the duration of a conflict or major naval maneuvers from various units normally under separate commands in peacetime.... |
| Joseph Cotten Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair... |
Secretary of War United States Secretary of War The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation... Henry L. Stimson Henry L. Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk... |
| Tatsuya Mihashi | Kaigun Chūsa (Commander) Naval ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II The following graphs present the rank insignia of the Japanese navy during World War II. These designs had been used from 1931-1945, but were discontinued after World War II, when the Imperial Japanese Navy had been dissolved.... Minoru Genda Minoru Genda was a well-known Japanese military aviator and politician. He is best known for planning the Pearl Harbor attack.- Early life :Minoru Genda was the second son of a farmer from Hiroshima. Two brothers were graduates of Tokyo University, another brother graduated from Chiba Medical College, and his... , Air Staff, 1st Air Fleet 1st Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy at the beginning of World War II contained the world's largest carrier fleet. At the centre, was the 1st Air Fleet which was a grouping of naval aircraft and aircraft carriers... |
| E. G. Marshall E. G. Marshall E. G. Marshall was an American actor, best known for his television roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s... |
Colonel Colonel Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures... Rufus S. Bratton Rufus S. Bratton Colonel Rufus S. Bratton was Chief of the Far Eastern Section of the Intelligence Branch of the Military Intelligence Division in the War Department in December 1941, when the United States entered World War II.... |
| James Whitmore James Whitmore James Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in... |
Vice Admiral Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral... William F. Halsey |
| Takahiro Tamura Takahiro Tamura Takahiro Tamura was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in 100 films between 1954 and 2005. He and his younger brothers Masakazu and Ryō were known as the three Tamura brothers... |
Kaigun Chūsa (Commander) Naval ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II The following graphs present the rank insignia of the Japanese navy during World War II. These designs had been used from 1931-1945, but were discontinued after World War II, when the Imperial Japanese Navy had been dissolved.... Mitsuo Fuchida Mitsuo Fuchida was a Japanese Captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and a bomber pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy before and during World War II. He is perhaps best known for leading the first air wave attacks on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941... , Commander, Air Group of Akagi Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , originally begun as an . She was converted while still under construction to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty... |
| Eijiro Tono Eijirô Tono was a Japanese actor who took supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Yojimbo , as well as Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story and An Autumn Afternoon .... |
Kaigun Chūjō (Vice Admiral) Naval ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II The following graphs present the rank insignia of the Japanese navy during World War II. These designs had been used from 1931-1945, but were discontinued after World War II, when the Imperial Japanese Navy had been dissolved.... Chuichi Nagumo Chuichi Nagumo was a Japanese admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and one time commander of the Kido Butai . He committed suicide during the Battle of Saipan.-Early life:... , Commander-in-Chief, 1st Air Fleet |
| Jason Robards Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award... |
Lieutenant General Lieutenant General Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General.... Walter C. Short Walter Short Walter Campbell Short was a Major General in the United States Army and the U.S. military Commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.-Early life:He was born in 1880 in Fillmore, Illinois... , Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army Forces Hawaii United States Army Pacific Command United States Army Pacific is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army and is the army component unit of the United States Pacific Command, except for units in Korea. The main areas that this command has jurisdiction in include Hawaii, Alaska, the Pacific Ocean, and Japan... |
| Wesley Addy Wesley Addy Wesley Addy was an American actor.He played many roles on the Broadway stage, including several Shakespearean ones, usually opposite actor Maurice Evans... |
Lieutenant Commander Kramer |
| Shogo Shimada Shōgo Shimada (actor) - Filmography :Filmography of Shōgo Shimada include 49 films from 1951 to 1995:* * * Tora! Tora! Tora! *... |
Kaigun Taishō (Admiral) Naval ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II The following graphs present the rank insignia of the Japanese navy during World War II. These designs had been used from 1931-1945, but were discontinued after World War II, when the Imperial Japanese Navy had been dissolved.... Kichisaburo Nomura Kichisaburo Nomura -External links:... , Japanese Ambassador to the United States |
| Frank Aletter Frank Aletter Frank Aletter was an American stage, film, and television actor.During the 1950s Aletter appeared on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing, Time Limit, and Wish You Were Here. He soon moved on to a prolific television career, appearing as a guest on numerous shows between 1956 and 1988.Aletter starred in... |
Lieutenant Commander Thomas |
| Koreya Senda | Prime Minister Prime Minister of Japan The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office... Fumimaro Konoe Fumimaro Konoe Prince was a politician in the Empire of Japan who served as the 34th, 38th and 39th Prime Minister of Japan and founder/leader of the Taisei Yokusankai.- Early life :... |
| Leon Ames Leon Ames (actor) Leon Ames was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis , as Judy Garland's father, and in Little Women .... |
Secretary of the Navy United States Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense... Frank Knox Frank Knox -External links:... |
| Junya Usami | Kaigun Taishō (Admiral) Naval ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II The following graphs present the rank insignia of the Japanese navy during World War II. These designs had been used from 1931-1945, but were discontinued after World War II, when the Imperial Japanese Navy had been dissolved.... Zengo Yoshida Zengo Yoshida was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy.-Biography:Yoshida was born into an impoverished farming family in Saga prefecture in 1885, and was adopted into the family of a local rice merchant. He was a graduate of the 32nd class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1904, ranking 12th out of... , Naval Councillor-Navy |
| Richard Anderson Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson is an American actor in film and television, known to TV audiences as Steve Austin's and Jaime Sommers' boss, Oscar Goldman, in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series and their three subsequent TV movies: The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man... |
Captain John Earle |
| Kazuo Kitamura | Foreign Minister Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan) The of Japan is the Cabinet member responsible for Japanese foreign policy and the chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Since the end of the American occupation of Japan, the position has been one of the most powerful in the Cabinet, as Japan's economic interests have long relied on... Yosuke Matsuoka Yosuke Matsuoka was a diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan during the early stages of World War II. He is best known for his defiant speech at the League of Nations in 1933, ending Japan’s participation in that organization... |
| Keith Andes Keith Andes Keith Andes was an American film, radio, musical theatre, stage and television actor.-Early life:John Charles Andes was born in Ocean City, New Jersey on July 12, 1920. By the age of 12, he was featured on the radio.... |
General George C. Marshall George Marshall George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense... , Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army |
| Edward Andrews Edward Andrews Edward Andrews was an American actor, one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films between the 1950s and the 1980s... |
Admiral Harold R. Stark Harold Rainsford Stark Harold Rainsford Stark served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II. Stark was the US Navy's 8th Chief of Naval Operations, from August 1, 1939 to 26 March 1942.... , Chief of Naval Operations Chief of Naval Operations The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy... |
| Neville Brand Neville Brand Neville Brand was an American television and movie actor.-Early life:Neville Brand was born in Illinois. He was born to Leo and Helen Brand as one of seven children. Leo, was an electrician and bridge building steel worker in Detroit, where Neville was raised... |
Lieutenant Lieutenant A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank... Kaminsky |
| Leora Dana Leora Dana Leora Dana was an American film, stage and television actress.... |
Mrs. Kramer |
| Susumu Fujita Susumu Fujita was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, Sanshiro Sugata, and appeared other Kurosawa film including The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail and The Hidden Fortress . Later, he was a supporting actor in Ishirō Honda's Mothra vs... |
Kaigun Shōshō (Rear Admiral) Naval ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II The following graphs present the rank insignia of the Japanese navy during World War II. These designs had been used from 1931-1945, but were discontinued after World War II, when the Imperial Japanese Navy had been dissolved.... Tamon Yamaguchi, Commander, Second Carrier Division Second Carrier Division was an aircraft carrier unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy's First Air Fleet. At the beginning of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, the Second Carrier Division consisted of the fleet carriers Sōryū and Hiryū... |
| Asao Uchida | Minister of War Ministry of War of Japan The , more popularly known as the Ministry of War of Japan, was cabinet-level ministry in the Empire of Japan charged with the administrative affairs of the Imperial Japanese Army... Rikugun Taishō (General) Army ranks of the Japanese Empire during World War II The following tables present the rank insignia of the Japanese military before and during World War II. These designs were worn on shoulders as passants between the years 1911 and 1938, then on collars afterwards until 1945, when the Imperial Japanese Army was dissolved.- Officer ranks :- Enlisted... Hideki Tojo Hideki Tōjō Hideki Tōjō was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army , the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944... |
| George Macready George Macready George Peabody Macready, Jr. , was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.-Background:... |
Secretary of State United States Secretary of State The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence... Cordell Hull Cordell Hull Cordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II... |
| Norman Alden Norman Alden Norman Alden is an American character actor who has performed in television programs and motion pictures since first appearing on The 20th Century Fox Hour in 1957. He provided the voice of Kay in The Sword in the Stone film in 1963 and received Oscar buzz for his role in I Never Promised You a... |
Major Major Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ... Truman H. Landon Truman H. Landon General Truman Hempel Landon was a U.S. Air Force general and commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe.Landon was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Carlinville, Illinois... |
| Walter Brooke Walter Brooke Walter Brooke was an American actor. Brooke is best known for playing Mr. McGuire in The Graduate, where he said his famous line, "Plastics".... |
Captain Theodore S. Wilkinson |
| Rick Cooper | Lieutenant George Welch |
| Carl Reindel Carl Reindel Carl Warren Reindel was an American actor, best known for portraying Lieutenant Kenneth M. Taylor in the epic war film Tora! Tora! Tora!. Reindel also played "Stanton" in Steve McQueen's hit film Bullitt and "Lt. Comroe" in classic science fiction film The Andromeda Strain... |
Second Lieutenant Kenneth M. Taylor Kenneth M. Taylor Kenneth Marlar Taylor was a new United States Army Air Forces Second Lieutenant pilot stationed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. Along with his fellow pilot and friend George Welch, they got airborne while under fire and Taylor shot down four Japanese dive bombers... |
| Tex Weatherby | Joseph C. Grew Joseph Grew Joseph Clark Grew was a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer. He was the chargé d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Vienna when Austria-Hungary severed diplomatic relations with the United States on April 9, 1917. Later he was the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark 1920–1921 and U.S.... , U.S. Ambassador to Japan |
| Bill Zuckert | Admiral James O. Richardson |
| Dave Donnelly | Major Gordon A. Blake Gordon Blake Gordon Aylesworth Blake was a U.S. Air Force lieutenant general who served from 1962-1965 as director of the National Security Agency .-Early life & training:... |
Production
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, but after two years of work with no useful results, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
turned the project over to Kinji Fukasaku
Kinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
and Toshio Masuda
Toshio Masuda
is a Japanese film director. He developed a reputation as a consistent box office hit-maker. Over the course of five decades, 16 of his films made the yearly top ten lists at the Japanese box office—a second place record in the industry. Between 1958 and 1968 he directed 52 films for the Nikkatsu...
, who completed it. Although Kurosawa worked on the screenplay, his name does not show on the film credits.
From the 2001 DVD, writer and historian Stuart Galbraith IV
Stuart Galbraith IV
Stuart Galbraith IV is an American cinema historian, film critic, and DVD special features producer, essayist, and audio commentator.-Early life and education:...
interviewed Richard Fleischer about renowned director Akira Kurosawa's role in the project.
"Well, I always thought that even though Kurosawa was a genius at film making and indeed he was, I sincerely believe that he was miscast for this film, this was not his type of film to make, he never made anything like it and it just wasn't his style. I felt he was not only uncomfortable directing this kind of movie but also he wasn't used to having somebody tell him how he should make his film. He always had complete autonomy, and nobody would dare make a suggestion to Kurosawa about the budget, or shooting schedule, or anything like that. And then here he was, with Darryl Zanuck on his deck and Richard Zanuck on him and Elmo Williams and the production managers, and it was all stuff that he never had run into before, because he was always untouchable. I think he was getting more and more nervous and more insecure of how he was going to work on this film. And of course, the press got a hold of a lot of this unrest on the set and they made a lot out of that in Japan, and it was more pressure on him, and he wasn't used to that kind of pressure."
Ladislas Farago, Larry Forrester, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni wrote the screenplay, based on books written by Gordon Prange
Gordon Prange
Gordon William Prange was the author of several World War II-historical manuscripts which were published by his co-workers after his death in 1980. Dr...
. Charles Wheeler, the cinematographer, was nominated for an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
. The film contains second unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
and miniature photography, shot by Ray Kellogg. Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
composed the film score.
Numerous technical advisors on both sides, some of whom had participated in the battle and/or planning, were crucial in maintaining the accuracy of the film. Minoru Genda
Minoru Genda
was a well-known Japanese military aviator and politician. He is best known for planning the Pearl Harbor attack.- Early life :Minoru Genda was the second son of a farmer from Hiroshima. Two brothers were graduates of Tokyo University, another brother graduated from Chiba Medical College, and his...
, the man who largely planned and led the attack on Pearl Harbor was an uncredited technical advisor for the film.
The "Japanese" aircraft carrier was the Anti-Submarine carrier . The Japanese A6M Zero
A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a long-range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the , and also designated as the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen and Mitsubishi Navy 12-shi Carrier Fighter. The A6M was usually referred to by the...
fighters, and somewhat longer "Kate" torpedo bombers or "Val" dive bombers were heavily modified RCAF Harvard (T-6 Texan
T-6 Texan
The North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s...
) and BT-13 Valiant
BT-13 Valiant
The Vultee BT-13 Valiant was an American World War II-era basic trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces...
pilot training aircraft. The large fleet of Japanese aircraft was created by Lynn Garrison
Lynn Garrison
Lynn Garrison is a Canadian pilot and political adviser. He was an RCAF fighter pilot from the 403 City of Calgary Squadron, commercial pilot, film producer, director and mercenary...
, a well-known aerial action coordinator, who produced a number of conversions. Garrison and Jack Canary coordinated the actual engineering work at facilities in the Los Angeles area. These aircraft still make appearances at air shows.
A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress’s actual crash landing during filming, a result of a jammed landing gear, was filmed and used in the final cut. A total of five Boeing B-17s were obtained for filming. Other U.S. aircraft used are the Consolidated PBY Catalina and, especially, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (two flyable examples were used). Predominately, P-40 fighters are used to depict the U.S. defenders with a full-scale P-40 used as a template for fiberglass replicas (some with working engines and props) that were strafed and blown up during filming. Fleischer also said a scene involving a P-40 model crashing into the middle of a line of P-40s was unintended, as it was supposed to crash at the end of the line. The stuntmen involved in the scene were actually running for their lives.
The flying scenes were complex to shoot, and can be compared to the 1969 film Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain (film)
Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain...
. The 2001 film Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor (film)
Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...
would contain cut scenes from both films. The carrier entering Pearl Harbor towards the end of the film was in fact the Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship , returning to port. A sailor onboard the Tripoli recounted that he saw the smoke and fire in the harbor, and the crew did not realize what was going on at first.
Robert McCall
Robert McCall (artist)
Robert McCall was a conceptual artist, known particularly for his works of space art. McCall was an illustrator for Life magazine in the 1960s, created promotional artwork for Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey and Richard Fleischer's production Tora! Tora! Tora! and worked as an artist...
painted several scenes for various posters of the film.
Historical errors
A few film errors are made in Tora! Tora! Tora!. One mistake involves the model of the Japanese carrier AkagiJapanese aircraft carrier Akagi
Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , originally begun as an . She was converted while still under construction to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty...
. In the film, Akagi's bridge island is positioned on the starboard side of the ship, which is typical on most aircraft carriers. However, the aircraft carrier Akagi was an exception; its bridge island was on the port side of the ship. Despite this, the bridge section appeared accurately as a mirrored version of Akagi's real port-side bridge. Secondly, all the Japanese aircraft in the footage bear the markings of Akagi's aircraft (a single vertical red stripe following the red sun symbol of Japan), even though five other aircraft carriers participated, each having their own markings. In addition, the markings do not display the aircraft's identification numbers as was the case in the actual battle.
Parts of the film showing the takeoff of the Japanese aircraft, are displaying an Essex-class aircraft carrier, , which was commissioned in 1943 and modernized after the war to have an angled flightdeck. The ship was leased by the film producers, who needed an aircraft carrier for the film; Yorktown was scheduled to be decommissioned shortly afterwards. It was used largely in the takeoff sequence of the Japanese attack aircraft. The sequence shows interchanging shots of the more accurate models of the Japanese aircraft carriers and the Yorktown. It does not look like any of the Japanese carriers involved in the attack, due to its large bridge island and its angled landing deck. The Japanese carriers had small bridge islands, and angled flight decks were not invented until after the war. In addition, during the scene in which Admiral Halsey is watching bombing practice an aircraft carrier with the hull number 14 is shown. Admiral Halsey was on the , not the Essex-class carrier , which would not be commissioned until 1944.
The was an old "4-piper" destroyer commissioned in 1918; the ship used in the movie which portrays the Ward looked far different from the original destroyer. In addition, in the movie she fired two shots from her #1 turret. In reality the Ward fired the first shot from the #1 4" un-turreted gunmount and the second shot from the #3 wing mount.
The large scale model of the stern of shows the two aft gun turrets with three gun barrels in each; in reality, Nevada's two heightened fore and aft turrets had two barrels each while the lower two turrets fore and aft had three barrels each. Another model of Nevada, used in the film to portray the whole ship, displays the turrets accurately. It should be noted that the reason for this anomaly is because the aft section model was used in the film to portray both USS Nevada and . The ships looked remarkably similar except that Arizona had four triple turrets and a slightly different stern section.
The film has a Japanese Zero fighter being damaged over a Naval base and then deliberately crashing into a Naval Base hangar. This is actually a composite of three incidents at Pearl Harbor attack: in the first wave a Japanese Zero crashed into Fort Kamehameha
Fort Kamehameha
Fort Kamehameha was a United States Army military base that was the site of several coastal artillery batteries to defend Pearl Harbor starting in 1907 in Honolulu, Hawaii.-History:The eastern areas of the fort were in the district called Moanalua...
's ordnance building; in the second wave, a Japanese Zero did deliberately crash into a hillside after U.S. Navy CPO John William Finn
John William Finn
John William Finn was a sailor in the United States Navy who, as a chief petty officer, received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II...
at Naval Air Station at Kāne'ohe Bay
Kane'ohe Bay
Kāneohe Bay, at 45 km², is the largest sheltered body of water in the main Hawaiian Islands. This reef-dominated embayment constitutes a significant scenic and recreational feature along the windward coast of the Island of Oahu...
had shot and damaged the aircraft. Also during the second wave, a Japanese aircraft that was damaged crashed into the seaplane tender USS Curtiss.
During a number of shots of the attack squadrons traversing across Oahu, a small cross can be seen on one of the mountainsides. The cross was actually erected after the attack as a memorial to the victims of the attack.
Reception
At the time of its initial movie release, Tora! Tora! Tora! proved to be a major box office flop in U.S. theatres although it was a major hit in Japan; however, over the years, video releases provided an overall profit.Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
felt that Tora! Tora! Tora! was "one of the deadest, dullest blockbusters ever made" and suffered from not having "some characters to identify with." In addition, he criticized the film for poor acting and special effects in his 1970 review.Vincent Canby, reviewer for the The New York Times was similarly unimpressed, noting the film was "nothing less than a $25-million irrelevancy." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
also found the film to be boring; however, the magazine praised the film's action sequences and production values. James Bernardelli, however, said it's "rare for a feature film to attain the trifecta of entertaining, informing, and educating."
Charles Champlin in his review for the Los Angeles Times on September 23, 1970, considered the movie's chief virtues as a "spectacular", and the careful recreation of a historical event. Despite the initial negative reviews, the film was critically acclaimed for its vivid action scenes, and found favor with aviation and history aficionados, but even the team of Jack Hardwick and Ed Schnepf who have been involved in research on aviation films, had relegated Tora! Tora! Tora! to the "also-ran" status, due to its slow-moving plotline.
Several later films relating to World War II in the Pacific have used footage from Tora! Tora! Tora! including The Final Countdown, Midway
Midway (film)
Midway is a 1976 war film directed by Jack Smight and produced byWalter Mirisch from a screenplay by Donald S. Sanford. The music score was by John Williams and the cinematography by Harry Stradling, Jr...
(in the DVD commentary, Fleischer was angry that Universal used the footage) and Australia
Australia (2008 film)
Australia is a 2008 epic historical romance film directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It is the second-highest grossing Australian film of all time, behind Crocodile Dundee. The screenplay was written by Luhrmann and screenwriter Stuart Beattie, with Ronald Harwood...
, as well as its "almost perfect documentary accuracy." Today, Tora! Tora! Tora! is held in high regard by modern critics and has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Honors
Tora! Tora! Tora! won an Academy Award for best special effects. The film was also nominated in a further four categories; Best Art DirectionAcademy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Jack Martin Smith
Jack Martin Smith
Jack Martin Smith was a highly successful Hollywood art director with over 130 films to his credit and nine Academy Award nominations which ultimately yielded three Oscars.-MGM:...
, Yoshirō Muraki
Yoshiro Muraki
Yoshiro Muraki was a Japanese production designer, art director and costume designer. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for his work in Tora! Tora! Tora! , Kagemusha and Ran . He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design for his work in...
, Richard Day
Richard Day (art director)
Richard Day was a Canadian art director. He won seven Academy Awards and was nominated for a further 13 in the category Best Art Direction He worked on 265 films between 1923 and 1970....
, Taizô Kawashima
Taizô Kawashima
Taizô Kawashima is a Japanese production designer and art director. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Tora! Tora! Tora!.-External links:...
, Walter M. Scott
Walter M. Scott
Walter M. Scott was an Academy Award-winning set decorator who worked on films such as The Sound of Music and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid....
, Norman Rockett
Norman Rockett
Norman Rockett was an American set decorator. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Rockett was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:...
, Carl Biddiscombe
Carl Biddiscombe
Carl Biddiscombe was an American set decorator. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Biddiscombe was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:* Gaily, Gaily...
), Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
and Best Sound (Murray Spivack
Murray Spivack
Murray Spivack was a Russian-born American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Sound Recording and was nominated for another in the same category.-Selected filmography:...
, Herman Lewis
Herman Lewis
Herman Lewis was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Sound.-Selected filmography:* Tora! Tora! Tora! * The Poseidon Adventure * The Towering Inferno -External links:...
).
Popular culture
The name of the film has been borrowed – and parodied – for various television productions, including as "Torah Torah Torah" for episodes of NYPD BlueNYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
and Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
, the band Tora! Tora! Torrance! and as Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory! is a 2006 BBC television documentary series on the history of the people and ideas that formed Thatcherism told through the eyes of those on the New Right.-Production:...
for a documentary on Thatcherism
Thatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
. Some television series, again including Magnum, P.I., have also used shots of the raid on Pearl Harbor taken from the film to illustrate episodes.
"Tora! Tora! Tora!" is also the name of a Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
song from their first album Speak & Spell.
See also
- Attack on Pearl HarborAttack on Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
- Isoroku Yamamoto's sleeping giant quoteIsoroku Yamamoto's sleeping giant quoteJapanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is portrayed at the very end of the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, and in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor, as saying after his attack on Pearl Harbor, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." The supposed quotation was...
- Pearl Harbor (film)Pearl Harbor (film)Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...
- List of historical drama films
- List of historical drama films of Asia