1941 (1979)

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

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

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
Murray Hamilton	...	Claude Crumn
Christopher Lee	...	Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt
Tim Matheson	...	Capt. Loomis Birkhead
Toshirô Mifune	...	Cmdr. Akiro Mitamura (as Toshiro Mifune)
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
John Candy	...	Pvt. Foley

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:

This was the first U.S. production to use the French-made Louma crane. It was going to be used for shooting the miniatures. The Louma proved to be so flexible that it was frequently used for the "A" camera.

Goofs:

Continuity: On the Ferris wheel, the position of the blanket between the two men changes just before the ventriloquist dummy appears.

Quotes:

Captain Loomis Birkhead: [Donna has his uniform open and is trying to tear off his T-shirt; he is *still* too focused on actually flying the plane] Donna - Donna would you lay off? I'm trying to steer!
Donna Stratton: [upset and frustrated] What's wrong, Loomis? You're not airborne yet!
Captain Loomis Birkhead: What are you talking about? Look out the window, of course we're airborne!
Donna Stratton: We are, but -
[looks down at his pants then straight in the eye]
Donna Stratton: but you're not.
[kisses him passionately]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of '1941' (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

Down By The Ohio

It's gonna be a long war....

You can't have lofty aspirations all the time.

Even the director of such powerful films as "Jaws", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "ET" and "Schindler's List" has to take a break from all the serious issues in his films and play dumb at least once.

Just look at "1941".

With a plotline straight out of The Three Stooges and special effects befitting a WWII epic, "1941" abandons all pretense by parodying the opening of "Jaws" right off the bat and hitting every slapstick point from there on in. Spielberg knew that even if this turned out be a flop, it would be a good-natured one.

Just look at this cast! Not only are Aykroyd and Belushi at the helm, but there's talent like Matheson, Allen, Oates, Williams, Beatty, Gary (Roy Scheider's wife from the "Jaws" films), Candy, Flaherty, Stack (in his first comedic turn before "Airplane!"), Lee, Pickens, Deezen (a comic genius if ever there was one), Sperber and a whole herd of other I probably missed. All of them in the midst of the hugest battlefield of comic carnage ever seen.

And no wonder. "1941" was co-written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, Spielberg protogees who went on to further success with the "Back to the Future" films, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", "Used Cars", (all with climaxes as wild as the entire running time of "1941") and the vastly under-appreciated "Death Becomes Her". Even John Milius (director/co-writer of "Conan the Barbarian") lends his pen hand.

In the end, you'll be dazzled, breathless, stunned and amazed, but by no means bored. And, with any luck, amused.

"1941" - it was a very good year.

Nine stars. And don't worry: it's all for the good of the war effort.