John T. Ryan IN THE EARLY days of the official U.S. involvement in world War II, things looked very bleak in all Theatres of War, if you were one of the Allied Nations. In Europe, North Africa, China-Burma-India as well as the Pacific the Axis Powers appeared to have the upper hand.AS A MEANS OF lifting the sagging spirits of the Allies, the plan to bomb Tokyo via a massive air raid was formulated. Usually referred to as "The Doolittle Raid", it was done as a coordinated effort between Army Air Corps and Navy Aircraft Carriers.ADMITTEDLY ITS DEVASTATION wreaked upon Imperial Japan was not so very extensive; but it had a great effect on morale, as we said before. As an afterthought, and a also a brilliant propaganda move, we can think of three major motion pictures that told the story; albeit from very different points of view.FIRST OF ALL, there was DESTINATION TOKYO (Warner Brothers,) which portrayed reconnaissance work done by the Navy's "Silent Service", the Submarine. Next, THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (MGM,) told the story of General Doolittle and the men who flew the mission.THAT LEAVES US with today's honored & reviewed film, THE PURPLE HEART (20th Century-Fox,).RATHER THAN TELLING the story of the raid on the Japanese mainland, the story instead gives us a look at a trial foisted on a downed and captured crew of a B 19 who participated in the surprise attack. Dana Andrews heads up a cast including Richard Conte, Farley Granger, Sam Levine, Trudy Marshall, Don "Red" Barry and Richard Loo.THIS VERY TENSE court room drama exposes us to what the World is dealing with in its war with Fascist ruled nations, wherever they be, whoever they are. The arrogance and self-superior attitudes and authoritarian personalities of the elite, military ruling class is caricatured in bold relief. Whereas the story is fictionalized, the representations portrayed do ring true.ONE BY ONE, various witnesses are brought ion to testify about the hurt and damage that was inflicted upon Japan due to the massive air raid. Among our favorites is a Chinese collaborator/traitor; who is introduced as an official of Manchuko, the name given to the Japanese Puppet State set up in Manchuria & Inner Mongolia. (He is eventually killed by his own son!) ONE PARTICULAR BONE of contention exists between the Imperial Navy and the Japanese Army as to where the planes of the raid took off from. The General of the Army (Richard Loo) insists that it was from a U.S. Aircraft Carrier; ergo, it's the fault and responsibility of the Navy . An Admiral Yamamoto-type contends that it could not be, because a "Flat Top"could.t carry that many planes.THIS COURT NEVER does successfully conclude just whose onus the raid was.AS THE FILM ends, the American crew is marched out of the court to; well, you have to draw your own conclusion. All the while, each and every man marches tall and proud; reminding all that this WAr is definitely Hell, but it is also most necessary.IF YOU HAVEN'T seen it, see it soon. If you have, screen it again!

MARIO GAUCI To borrow a couple of adjectives from its own theatrical trailer, this is one of the most "original" and "gripping" movies about WWII, made by Hollywood's 'Chronicler Of War' par excellence Milestone. It deals with a group of eight American airmen who bail out over China after having bombed Japan; betrayed to the enemy, they find themselves on trial for murder – to which reporters with Communist sympathies from various countries are "invited" to perform jury duty! – since the Japs claim that their targets had been hospitals (which they're ready to corroborate by means of newsreel footage depicting the carnage, even if jury members readily admit amongst themselves to be fake!) rather than munitions factories as the Yanks assert. However, despite the physical and mental torture to which the latter are subjected, all doesn't go smoothly for their accusers: first an opportunistic Chinese Governor, who's a prime witness, is assassinated (by his own upstanding son) in the courtroom and, then, when the Japanese Navy and Military (represented by the wily yet over-confident Richard Loo) themselves lock horns over the means of transportation used by the Americans (which would imply that one or the other was slack in its defense duties!). Being a wartime production, the tone is heavily jingoistic: peppered with homespun recollections of the prisoners' lives back home and displays of camaraderie every time one of them returns from his 'cross-examination', to say nothing of defiance in the face of their impending execution. Milestone's handling never strikes a false note throughout and has selected a sturdy cast besides: led by decent captain Dana Andrews (though the actor preferred to conceal his own operatic background for fear of being typecast, we do get to hear him sing here albeit in unison with his fellow soldiers), Italo-American Richard Conte, youngster Farley Granger and tough-but-compassionate Sam Levene. That said, the film is equally notable for its moody lighting (by top Fox cinematographer Arthur Miller) and inspired art direction (with proceedings mostly confined to the courtroom, prison cell and interrogation room).

tom sawyer The Purple Heart is one of those movies that stays with you. Yes, there is some sentimental and patriotic themese and stereotypes in it. But, considering that it was made during wartime when, while the war may have no longer been in doubt by 1944, it was far from over. The performances by Dana Andrews, and others as the basically doomed American flyers was very good. They managed to not only evoke sympathy and sorrow for their predicament, but strength, bravery and loyalty. If anybody thinks the Japanese portrayals were over the top or unrealistic, then go read the Rape of Nanking and about the Bataan Death March and the real building of the Bridge on the River Kwai. Putting it bluntly, I know a number of veterans who wished we dropped at least six more atomic bombs on the Japanese to pay them back for their cruelties and war crimes. For its time, the movie was pretty accurate and dead on historically. The performances are riveting.All in all it is a pretty good portrayal of how the Japanese actually were. As for the knucklehead who said that we started the war, go read a book meathead. The Japanese actually attacked us before Pearl Harbor near Nanking and the U.S.S. Panay incident where they bombed our gunboat that was a neutral country. This led to the boycotting of materials to the Japanese mainland.

helpless_dancer More of the same propaganda junk from the glorious war years. These fabulous flyboys weren't about to let the nasty Nips break them. They were loyal! They were men! They were AMERICANS!! You gotta love the ending when even the 2 braindead flyers sternly and gallantly marched to the firing squad amid a rousing rendition of "Into the Wild Blue Yonder". This is the kind of bilge designed to load up the foxholes with patriotic lunkheads ready to give their all for the good ol' red, white, and blue. Unfortunately, by the time they discover in the real world that it was only a movie it's way too late to go home. Buy, hey, it was a fun movie and worth seeing.