Tora! Tora! Tora!

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Tora! Tora! Tora!

Original movie poster
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Kinji Fukasaku
Toshio Masuda
Produced by Elmo Williams
Darryl F. Zanuck
Keinosuke Kubo
Otto Lang
Masayuki Takagi
Written by Ladislas Farago
Gordon W. Prange
Larry Forrester
Ryuzo Kikushima
Hideo Oguni
Akira Kurosawa
Starring Martin Balsam
Joseph Cotten
E.G. Marshall
Tatsuya Mihashi
James Whitmore
So Yamamura
Jason Robards
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Release date(s) September 23, 1970
Running time 144 min
Language English
Japanese
Budget $25,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Tora! Tora! Tora! (トラ・トラ・トラ!?) is a 1970 film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the series of American blunders that unintentionally improved its effectiveness.

Contents

[edit] Background

The title is made up of the code-words that were used by the Japanese to indicate that complete surprise was achieved (using a repetition of the Japanese word for tiger, though whether this meaning was specifically intended is unknown). At the time it was released into theaters, it was a financial disaster but over the years, video releases allowed a profit. The movie was critically acclaimed for its vivid action scenes (in fact several later films relating to World War II in the Pacific would use footage from Tora, Tora, Tora including The Final Countdown and Midway) as well as its almost documentary accuracy. Its most famous line about awakening a sleeping giant, however, though widely assumed to be a quotation, may have been fictitious.

The film is a dramatization based upon the actual history of events leading up to the attack, to the extent these facts were known at the time of production. While later research has proven many beliefs of the time to be incorrect, nothing in the film was disproved. 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, and getting limited warning of the increasing risk of aerial attack, more clear in Washington than in Honolulu.

[edit] Storyline

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film opens with a change-of-command ceremony aboard the Japanese battleship Nagato, flagship for the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto; he takes command from Osami Nagano. America's embargo against Japan is starving them of raw materials needed to fight the war. Japan believes the U.S. is pre-occupied with the war with Germany. The U.S. has also moved their pacific fleet to Pearl Harbor, which Japanese officials regard as a "knife to the throat of Japan". Soon Yamamoto orders the planning of a pre-emptive strike on American forces in order to give the Japanese Navy a chance of defeating a more powerful enemy. Yamamoto believes Japan's only hope is to annihilate the American Pacific fleet. Pearl Harbor commanders debate their exposure to a torpedo attack but realize that torpedoes dropped from a plane will fall at least 75 feet below the surface. Since Pearl Harbor is only 40 feet deep, they feel they have a natural defense to 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" to mastermind the attack. As the Japanese prepare for the attack, Admiral Kimmel and General Short, although hampered by a critical intelligence report about the attack fleet being too slow coming to them, do their best to enhance defenses. General Short calls for aircraft to be concentrated in the middle of their airfields to protect them against sabotage. A few are moved to outlying airfields, including two young Army lieutenants who are sent to Haliewa, a subsidiary airfield. A more prudent move by Short is his placement of new radar stations including overcoming bureaucratic obstacles to their locations. Yamamoto is portrayed pressing Japanese authorities to try to avoid war and blaming the Japanese Army command for pressing 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, Japan will have to invade the mainland and dictate terms of U.S. surrender on the White House steps, an eventuality Yamomoto clearly sees as impossible to achieve.

In a fortunate defensive move, the U.S. moves two aircraft carriers, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) and Lexington (CV-2) to sea to probe for the Japanese fleet although this did reduce the number of fighter aircraft available to protect the remainder of the fleet which remained at Pearl Harbor. If Japan had been able to destroy these aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor, it would have been much more catastrophic for the Americans. Japanese commanders should have considered aborting the mission. Their intelligence revealed the carriers had left Pearl Harbor. But they had made a political decision to go to war that facts could not disrupt.

A tension develops 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. 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 American's are translating the radio messages faster than the Japanese embassy. Hence, the Americans know of the attack before they are informed by the Japanese ambassador. American intelligence officers are seen trying in vain to inform Defense Department and White House staff of the growing threat, but getting little reaction.

On the morning of December 7th, 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. The Americans propose a final "heart-to-heart" exchange in an effort to preclude war, but the Japanese dismiss it, determined to attack. American intelligence notes that the final message instructs the Japanese Ambassador to destroy their code machines after they de-code 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, Admiral Stark 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 11:30am Washington time, Col. Bratton convinces army Chief of Staff Marshall that a greater threat exists and Marshall orders that Pearl Harbor be notified of a suspected impending attack. An American destroyer also notes a Japanese submarine trying to slip through the defensive net and enter Pearl Harbor, sinks it, and notifies Pearl Harbor. The Captain at Pearl Harbor dismisses the report thinking the new commander of the destroyer must have been over-excited. Just after 7am the two airmen posted at the remote radar unit spot the incoming Japanese aircraft and inform the Pearl Harbor Information Center, but the Lieutenant in charge dismisses the report, thinking it is a group of American B-17 planes coming from the mainland.

The Japanese intend for their declaration of war to be issued at 1pm Washington time, 30 minutes before the attack. However, the typist for the Japanese ambassador is slow, and cannot de-code 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, American 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 planes. The sight of the offending plane then deliberately dropping a bomb on the base dispels that misapprehension. A band playing the National Anthem continues playing during the raid, apparently unable to believe they are under attack until a close bomb blast convinces them otherwise. Anti-aircraft weapons are engaged, which includes seaman Doris Miller using an unattended gun, but with limited success. The B-17 pilots coming in from the mainland, un-armed and out of gas, are a bit surprised to fly into a war, but are able to land safely despite friendly fire from American anti-aircraft guns. The earlier aircraft precautions prove a disastrous mistake that allows the Japanese aerial forces to destroy the US fighters on the ground with ease, thereby crippling an effective aerial counter-attack. Two American fighter pilots (portrayals of second lieutenants George Welch and Ken Taylor) race to Haleiwa and manage to take off, despite the overwhelming odds. 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.

At the end, with the U.S. base in flames, its frustrated commanders finally get the telegram warning them of the danger. In Washington, the distraught Japanese ambassador, helpless to explain the late ultimatum and the unprovoked sneak attack, is bluntly rebuffed by the US Foreign Secretary. Finally, Admiral Yamamoto is seen lamenting the fact that the Americans did not receive the declaration of war until 55 minutes after the attack started and noting that nothing would infuriate the Americans more. He is quoted as saying "I fear that all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve." While this indeed reflects what Yamamoto felt, the quote is now believed to be a fabrication.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Production and filming

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, who completed it.

The screenplay was written by Ladislas Farago, Larry Forrester, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Hideo Oguni, based on the book by Gordon W. Prange. Charles Wheeler, the cinematographer, was nominated for an Oscar. The film contains second unit and miniature photography, shot by Ray Kellogg. The film score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

Numerous technical advisors on both sides, some of whom participated in the battle and/or planning were critical in maintaining the accuracy of the film. Minoru Genda, the man who largly planned and led the attack on Pearl Harbor is an uncredited technical advisor for the film.

The "Japanese" aircraft carrier was the training carrier USS Lexington. The Japanese A6M Zero fighters, and somewhat longer "Kate" torpedo bombers were heavily modified RCAF Harvard (T-6 Texan) pilot training aircraft. These aircraft still make appearances at air shows.

The footage of a B-17 crash was of an actual aircraft that was used in the movie which had problems landing. Other U.S. aircraft used are the PBY Catalina and P-40 Tomahawk.

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 scenes from both battles.

[edit] 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. These were the actors in the film:

[edit] Screenshots


[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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