WWII classic “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” finally takes off on Blu-ray
- Bill Kelley III
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 7 hours ago
BLU-RAY REVIEW / SDR SCREENSHOTS
The Tokyo Raiders included 80 volunteer crew members and 16 Mitchell B-25 bombers, with a one-way mission to Japan.
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“THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO: WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION”
Blu-ray, 1944, Unrated
Best extra: An Oscar-winning cartoon short “Mouse Trouble,” with Tom and Jerry.
THIS WORLD WAR II classic was one of my dad’s favorite movies growing up during the 1940s. His childhood love of U.S. WWII aircraft was evident in his collection of model airplanes. During the dark days of the war, he knew the silhouettes of every plane in the sky.
The MGM production of “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” was also a top choice with the New York Times, selecting the film in its annual Top 10 list. The black-and-white docudrama was filmed under the direction of Mervyn LeRoy (“Random Harvest”), with Spencer Tracy getting top billing, even though his role was more of an expanded cameo as Army Air Corps Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy” Doolittle, who orchestrated the first American bombing raid over Japan, just 131 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The production set up camp at the U.S. Eglin Air Base, near Pensacola, Fla., capturing the training maneuvers of the twin-engine B-25 Mitchell bomber. To prepare for the mission, the pilots had to get off the ground in only 500 feet at 50 mph to simulate conditions in the Pacific Ocean, on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.
(1) Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy” Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) gets the confirmation call for the mission. (2) The Mervyn LeRoy production was filmed near Pensacola, Fla., and premiered on November 15, 1944, in New York City. (3) Three Mitchell B-25 bombers head toward the U.S. Eglin Air Base. (4-6) Right, Captain Ted W. Lawson (Van Johnson), co-pilot Lt. Dean Davenport (Tim Murdock), and background navigator Lt. Charles McClure (Don DeFore) maneuver the B-25 named ‘Ruptured Duck’ toward the air base. Lawson and other pilots head toward Captain York’s office (Paul Langton). (7) Lawson meets up with his wife Ellen (Phyllis Thaxter).
The whole idea is to get up to full power before you release your brakes. Then start at maximum RPM, manifold pressure, and with your wing flaps all the way down. You’ll have to rev your motors until you think they’re going to burn up. And then, when they reach the right pitch, and that’s a matter of sound and feel rather than instruments, release your brakes and hunt for heaven.” — Naval instructor Lt. Miller (Louis Jean Heydt).
Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (“Roman Holiday,” “Spartacus”) adapted Captain Ted W. Lawson’s 1943 memoirs based on America’s attack on Japan. Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka and Nagoya were targeted by what became known as the ‘Tokyo Raiders.’ MGM song-and-dance man Van Johnson (“Brigadoon,” “Battleground”) plays Lawson, with Phyllis Thaxter in her first theatrical role as his caring wife Ellen. The couple are expecting their first child.
Co-stars included Robert Walker (“Strangers on a Train,” “The Clock”) as the sensitive gunner David Thatcher, positioned on the tail of the ‘Ruptured Duck’ piloted by Lawson. And Robert Mitchum as Capt. Robert Gray, who was killed in action six months after the Japan raid, while flying a mission over India.
(1&2) Lt. Col. Doolittle addresses the 80 crew members of the secret mission. (3) The first B-25 crew tries to take off within 500 feet. (4) Cpt. Lawson revs up the engine and pulls back on the yoke during his first training takeoff. (5) After a long day, Ted and Ellen relax in bed.
After dropping their bombs on oil storage facilities, factories, and military installations, the 16 B-25’s and 80 crewmembers were to land on small airstrips in China, which at the time was occupied by Japan. But, during early morning April 18, 1942, about 650 miles from Japan, an enemy patrol boat spotted the USS Hornet and its battle group. The boat was quickly hit by Naval forces, but did the patrol radio a warning back to Japan before it sank?
Doolittle and Admiral Halsey had the tough decision to either scrub the raid or launch the bombers much sooner than expected, knowing the crews would likely run out of fuel after the bombing raid while crossing the East China Sea.
One by one, the crews, including Doolittle, ditched their B-25s at sea or crash-landed in China, while one crew deviated to the Soviet Union. Lawson and his crew crash-landed along the China coast. The story follows them from take-off to Tokyo and trying to survive with the help of villagers. Lawson suffers a serious leg injury diagnosed to require amputation to save his life.
EXTRAS
“Ode to Victory” (1943, 11 mins.) – an MGM short with a flag-waving musical suite from composer Nathaniel Shilkret, performed by a 50-piece U.S. Army orchestra, and a 25-person choir. Stock footage highlights U.S. history, and the video is presented in standard-def, without any digital cleanup, in its original 1.37:1 aspect.
“A Lady Fights Back” (1944, 10 mins.) – a short theatrical news segment from ‘Passing Parade’ by John Nesbitt, highlights the 11-deck SS Normandie, a French ocean liner that capsized at Pier 88 in New York Harbor, while being converted into a U.S. troop transporter. The video is also in SD, without any digital restoration.
“Mouse Trouble” (1944, 7 mins.) – an MGM color cartoon with cat and mouse rivals Tom and Jerry. The animation was from directors Joseph Barbera and William Hanna, the team behind TV cartoon favorites “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons,” and “The Yogi Bear Show.” The HD video is pretty clean, with a good balance of natural film grain.
Onboard the USS Hornet
(1) Right, Cpt. Lawson and Capt. Robert Gray (Robert Mitchum) have a late-night talk on the USS Hornet. (2-5) Capt. Lawson and the crew of the ‘Ruptured Duck’ prepare to take off for Japan. They get the go-ahead signal and Navy photographers capture the historical launch from several angles. The one view looking down on the B-25 is actual footage from April 18, 1942. (6) Several models were used to recreate the takeoff from the USS Hornet.
VIDEO
The original 35mm camera negative (1.37:1 aspect ratio) is MIA, so Warner Bros. scanned the best surviving black-and-white elements in 4K and applied a digital restoration. The on-screen results are very good, sourced from second-and third-generation elements with a balanced grayscale and film grain, captured from the Oscar-nominated cinematography by Robert Surtees (“Ben-Hur,” “The Sting”) and Harold Rossen (“The Asphalt Jungle”). The tight shots show the most effective film clarity, while some wide shots lack the extra resolution found in the OCN.
AUDIO
The original Mono soundtrack has been restored and mastered in 2.0 DTS-HD, which provides a front and center track. The dialogue is clean and easy to understand, while the sound effects, especially the explosions and the musical numbers, “Deep in the Heart of Texas” and “Auld Lang Syne,” have good fidelity.
Surprisingly, it’s taken 20 years for this WWII favorite to finally get a Blu-ray release. I’ve had the MGM laser disc jacket framed along with “Battleground” in my home theater for over two decades.
– Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
30 Seconds over Tokyo
(1&2) The crew of the ‘Ruptured Duck’ includes tail gunner David Thatcher (Robert Walker) and Lt. McClure, who captured the mission with his 8mm camera. (3) Cpt. Lawson gives to ok to the navigator to prepare to drop their four bombs on selected targets. (4&5) Black thick smoke over Tokyo and one of the bombs from the Ruptured Duck causes a massive fireball.
Crash landing in China
SPECS:
50 GB disc
4K scan from the best 35mm elements and downconverted to 1080p for this Warner Archive presentation.
Captured on 35mm black and white negative film stock (1.37:1 aspect ratio)
Video bitrate: Averages around 37 Megabits per second.
Box office: $4.3 million with a production budget of $2.9 million. It finished the year at No. 4, with “Going My Way” No. 1 and “Meet Me in St. Louis” No. 2.
Awards: Two Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography, Black and White, and won for Best Effects.
New York Times – Top 10 films.
National Board of Review – Top 10 films.