1941 (1979)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Robert Zemeckis (story) &
Bob Gale (story) ...

Release Date:

14 December 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Tagline:

A Comedy Spectacular!

Plot:

Hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.

Plot Keywords:

California | Pearl Harbor | Captain | Submarine | Upskirt

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Dan Aykroyd	...	Sgt. Frank Tree
Ned Beatty	...	Ward Douglas
John Belushi	...	Capt. Wild Bill Kelso
Lorraine Gary	...	Joan Douglas
Bobby Di Cicco	...	Wally Stephens
Murray Hamilton	...	Claude Crumn
Christopher Lee	...	Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt
Tim Matheson	...	Capt. Loomis Birkhead
Toshirô Mifune	...	Cmdr. Akiro Mitamura
Warren Oates	...	Col. 'Madman' Maddox
Robert Stack	...	Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell
Treat Williams	...	Cpl. Chuck 'Stretch' Sitarski
Nancy Allen	...	Donna Stratton
Lucille Benson	...	Gas Mama (Eloise) (as Lucille Bensen)
Jordan Brian	...	Macey Douglas

Also Known As:

The Night the Japs Attacked (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

118 min | USA:146 min (director's cut) | West Germany:111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | German

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Norway:12 (original rating) | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #25726) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The names of David Landers' and Michael McKean's characters, Willie and Joe, represent a nod to cartoonist and WWII veteran Bill Mauldin's creations for the Army newspaper, "Stars and Stripes". Mauldin's Willie and Joe represented average American GIs, their viewpoint, and their daily lives (outside of combat).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Wally is dancing on the table the real dancer's feet are seen jumping up as Wally is jumping down.

Quotes:

Donna Stratton: [smiling mischievously, Donna takes off her hat and lets her hair down, staring at Loomis intently, who is transfixed on flying the plane] This thing handles pretty well, even if it's not a B-17. But...
[moves over to him, unbuckles his front belt]
Donna Stratton: does it have much *range*, Loomis?
Captain Loomis Birkhead: [too tightly focused on flying the plane] Huh?
Donna Stratton: [caressing his face] I mean, do you think it'll stay *up* for a long time?
[starts sucking on his ear, feels up his chest]
Captain Loomis Birkhead: [still too tightly focused on flying the plane] Sure. Hell, we've used less than a quarter of a tank of gas already.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)

Soundtrack:

In the Mood

Watch it

Any movie that features the following....:

1. The Geek from "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" torturing The Mayor from "Jaws" 2. A bunch of Japanese soldiers disguised as walking Christmas Trees 3. A hilarious USO dance sequence that boils over into an inter-service street fight 4. the film debut of Mickey Rourke and the big film debut of John Candy

and last but not least

5. Tough guy Robert Stack crying and singing along to songs from the Disney classic "Dumbo".....

CANNOT BE ALL BAD!!!!!