Thirty Seconds over Tokyo Overview:

Thirty Seconds over Tokyo (1944) was a War - Historical Film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist.

Academy Awards 1944 --- Ceremony Number 17 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best CinematographyRobert Surtees, Harold RossonNominated
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Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944): WWII Written by Dalton Trumbo

By 4 Star Film Fan on Nov 17, 2020 From 4 Star Films

“One-hundred and thirty-one days after December 7, 1941, a handful of young men, who had never dreamed of glory, struck the first blow at the heart of Japan. This is their true story we tell here.” It’s easy enough to lump?Air Force and Destination Tokyo with this subsequent film b... Read full article


Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

By Beatrice on Nov 12, 2014 From Flickers in Time

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Directed by Mervyn LeRoy Written by Dalton Trumbo based on the book by Ted W. Lawson and Robert Consodine 1944/USA Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer First viewing/Netflix rental Lt. Bob Gray: You know I don’t hate Japs yet. It’s a funny thing. I don’t like them, but ... Read full article


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Quotes from

Lieutenant Jacob 'Shorty' Manch: Well feed me corn and watch me grow! How did all this scum get in here?


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


[repeated lines]
Lt. Ted Lawson: Tell me, Honey, how come you're so cute?
Ellen Lawson: I had to be if I was going to get such a good-looking fella.


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Facts about

The real Ted Lawson showed-up the day the scenes of Van Johnson's character (Ted Lawson) was having his leg amputated. The mood around the set was quiet and tense.
The MGM composer Herbert Stothart quotes the catchy title song from the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical "Oklahoma" a number of times in his background score for this 1944 film. As none of the fliers came from that state, no one has ever determined whether it was a bit of unconscious plagiarism on his part, or a subliminal tribute to Americana.
When Lawson's plane arrives in "Tokyo" and sees the fire and smoke from the previous bomber, Davy Jones, we are not looking at a special effect. During the making of the film, there was a fuel-oil fire in Oakland, near the filming location. The quick-thinking filmmakers scrambled to fly their camera plane and B-25 through the area, capturing some very real footage for the movie.
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