Go for Broke! (1951)

Director:

Robert Pirosh

Writer:

Robert Pirosh (writer)

Release Date:

22 September 1951 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

The story of Japanese-American soldiers who fought in Europe during World War II.

Plot Keywords:

100th Infantry Battalion | Imperative In Title | Japanese American | U.S. Army | Lost Battalion

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Van Johnson	...	Lt. Michael Grayson
Lane Nakano	...	Sam
George Miki	...	Chick
Akira Fukunaga	...	Frank
Ken K. Okamoto	...	Kaz
Henry Oyasato	...	Takashi Ohhara
Harry Hamada	...	Masami
Henry Nakamura	...	Tommy Kamakura
Warner Anderson	...	Col. Charles W. Pence
Don Haggerty	...	Sgt. Wilson I. Culley
Gianna Maria Canale	...	Rosina (as Gianna Canale)
Dan Riss	...	Capt. Solari

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Idyllwild, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This is one of a handful of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions of the 1950-1951 period whose original copyrights were never renewed and are now apparently in Public Domain; for this reason this title is now offered, often in very inferior copies, at bargain prices, by numerous VHS and DVD distributors who do not normally handle copyrighted or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer material.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Japanese-American Soldier: Kanakas. The ones from Hawaii. You know what they call us mainlanders? Kotonks. The way they tell it if you rap on our heads it's like hitting a coconut. Hollow heads, you know? Kotonk, kotonk, kotonk.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Poltergeist (1982)

Soundtrack:

The Meaning of Love

Go For Broke, means Shoot the Works

Van Johnson who was MGM's all American GI in many a World War II film, co-stars with a bunch of veterans from 442 Division which was a regiment made up of Japanese-Americans who chose this over internment in the various camps set up for them. The most distinguished member of this regiment is current United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye who lost an arm in Italy during that campaign.

After training the 442nd was assigned to Italy after the Salerno landings, took part in the campaign for Rome, and then was part of the invasion force into Southern France that occurred in August of 1944.

Johnson delivers a fine performance of an officer who is reluctant to soldier and train with this new outfit. His prejudices, honed to a fine edge by Pearl Harbor, weren't exactly atypical of a lot of Americans back then. Over time, he grows to appreciate his troops as men and as fighters.

Having all of those Nisei veterans lends a real ring of authenticity to this film. A few non-veterans were in this as well. Henry Nakamura played Tommy who adopted a pet pig in Italy and bought him to France and he was the comic relief. He made quite a hit and then was in the Robert Taylor western, Westward the Women. I guess he had limited typecasting potential because he disappeared after that.

This is a story of World War II that bears constant retelling and MGM made a fine film to do it with.