Destination Tokyo (1943)

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  • DESTINATION TOKYO


    DIRECTED BY DELMER DAVIS
    PRODUCED BY JERRY WALD/ JACK L. WARNER
    WARNER BROTHERS- FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE



    Information from IMDb


    Plot Summary
    Made during World War II, this chronicles a voyage of a U.S. submarine
    on a secret mission to the very shores of Japan.
    Much of the film is spent developing the cast of characters that populate the sub.
    Written by John Vogel


    Full Cast
    Cary Grant ... Capt. Cassidy
    John Garfield ... Wolf
    Alan Hale ... 'Cookie' Wainwright
    John Ridgely ... Reserve Officer Raymond
    Dane Clark ... Tin Can
    Warner Anderson ... Andy - Executive Officer
    William Prince ... Pills
    Robert Hutton ... Tommy Adams
    Tom Tully ... Mike Conners
    Faye Emerson ... Mrs. Cassidy
    Peter Whitney ... Dakota
    Warren Douglas ... Larry - Diving Officer
    John Forsythe ... Sparks - Sailor
    John Alvin ... Sound Man
    Bill Kennedy ... Torpedo Gunnery Officer
    George Anderson ... Officer (uncredited)
    Warren Ashe ... Major (uncredited)
    Joy Barlow ... Wolf's Girl (uncredited)
    Harry Bartell ... Crewman (uncredited)
    Whit Bissell ... Yo Yo (uncredited)
    Carlyle Blackwell Jr. ... Man on Phone (uncredited)
    Danny Borzage ... Crewman (uncredited)
    William Challee ... Rocky the Quartermaster (uncredited)
    Cliff Clark ... Hornet's Admiral (uncredited)
    Bob Creasman ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Warren Cross ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Angelo Cruz ... Second Japanese Float Pilot (uncredited)
    Deborah Daves ... Debby Cassidy (uncredited)
    Michael Daves ... Michael Cassidy (uncredited)
    Jimmy Evans ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Benson Fong ... Japanese (uncredited)
    Wing Foo ... Japanese at Listening Post (uncredited)
    John Forrest ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Roland Got ... Japanese Officer (uncredited)
    Kirby Grant ... Hornet's Captain (uncredited)
    Herbert Gunn ... Pete - Lieutenant (uncredited)
    Eddie Hall ... B-25 Crewman (uncredited)
    William Hudson ... 'Copperfin' Intercom Man (uncredited)
    Charles Anthony Hughes ... Naval Air Officer (uncredited)
    Bill Hunter ... Market Street 'Commando' (uncredited)
    Ted Jacques ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Mary Landa ... Tin Can's Girl in Photo (uncredited)
    Paul Langton ... 'Copperfin' Crewman-Barber (uncredited)
    Eddie Lee ... Japanese at Listening Post (uncredited)
    George Lee ... Japanese on Beach (uncredited)
    James B. Leong ... Japanese (uncredited)
    George Lloyd ... 'Copperfin' Chief Petty Officer (uncredited)
    Bob Lowell ... Radio Operator (uncredited)
    Cy Malis ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Lou Marcelle ... Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
    Ralph McColm ... Ensign (uncredited)
    Jack Mower ... Admiral's Aide (uncredited)
    Maurice Murphy ... Toscanini (uncredited)
    William J. O'Brien ... Chief of Naval Operations (uncredited)
    Frank O'Connor ... Navy Officer in Conference (uncredited)
    Eleanor Parker ... Mike's Wife on Record (voice) (uncredited)
    Paul Parry ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Hugh Prosser ... PBY Seaplane Pilot (uncredited)
    George Robotham ... Crewman (uncredited)
    Dorothy Schoemer ... Saleslady (uncredited)
    Bernard Sell ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Charles Sherlock ... 'Copperfin' Helmsman (uncredited)
    Larry Steers ... Army Officer in Conference (uncredited)
    Mark Stevens ... Admiral's Aide (uncredited)
    Charles Sullivan ... 'Copperfin' Ballast Operator (uncredited)
    Ya Sing Sung ... Japanese on Beach (uncredited)
    John Sylvester ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Frank Tang ... First Japanese Float Pilot (uncredited)
    Charles S. Thompson ... Rear Admiral (uncredited)
    Sailor Vincent ... Crewman (uncredited)
    Wally Walker ... Crewman (uncredited)
    Jay Ward ... Crewman (uncredited)
    Russ Whiteman ... Yeoman 1st Class (uncredited)
    John Whitney ... Communications Officer (uncredited)
    Alan Wilson ... Sailor (uncredited)
    Bruce Wong ... Japanese Antenna Man (uncredited)
    Duke York ... Duke - 'Copperfin' Crewman (uncredited)


    Writing Credits
    Steve Fisher (original story)
    Delmer Daves (screen play) and
    Albert Maltz (screen play)


    Original Music
    Franz Waxman


    Cinematography
    Bert Glennon


    Trivia
    The operation of the submarine as shown in this movie was so accurate that the Navy used it as a training film during World War II.
    Share this
    Raymond's call to the USS Hornet in Japanese is "Tenki hokuku." The pronunciation is poor but it has been identified as meaning: "weather report".


    The appendectomy done in this film actually happened. It was performed on the USS Silversides SS236. Pharmacist's mate Thomas Mooere removed George Platter's appendix 150 feet below the ocean's surface. Photographs of the surgery are on display where this submarine is docked, in Muskegon, Michigan, at the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum.


    The appendectomy operation conducted by the character Pills (William Prince) was inspired by an actual appendix operation performed aboard the submarine "Seadragon" in 1942. The real-life appendectomy was performed by 22-year-old pharmacist's mate Wheeler B. Lipes with the help of an assistant. The two were able to extract the appendix of Seaman Darrell Dean Rector under very trying conditions with limited resources and skills. They used kitchen utensils and equipment including a strainer and bent spoons as retractors; alcohol taken from torpedoes, and sterilized pajamas as surgical gowns. The sub's crew had believed that Lipes was the most qualified person to perform such a life-or-death operation, as he had apparently observed appendectomies before. Lipes was persuaded to do the operation by his fellow crewmen. The operation took place 120 feet below the surface of the South China Sea. Afterwards, Lipes' actions were criticized by US Navy doctors and the US Surgeon General even considered court-martialling him. Over 60 years later, in April 2005, Lipes finally received the US Navy Commendation Medal, two months before his death. According to the 19 April 2005 Los Angeles Times obituary of Lipes, this operation was the first ever performed in a submerged submarine.


    Film debut of Whit Bissell.


    Tom Tully and Warner Anderson who appear in this movie would also appear together in The Caine Mutiny and the police drama series The Lineup (a.k.a. San Francisco Beat).


    Before disarming the bomb, Tommy (Robert Hutton) tells the captain that his nickname back home was "Slim". Hutton was also nicknamed "Slim" in the movie Hollywood Canteen.


    Tony Curtis, in an interview aired on TCM, recounted the day when he went into a theater and watched this film and saw Cary Grant peer through a periscope at Tokyo Bay. That moment "took his breath away" and inspired him to become an actor. Other reports state that Grant inspired Curtis to join the navy. Both Grant and Curtis would later star together in the World War II submarine comedy Operation Petticoat.


    Posters incorrectly advertised the film as "Destination Tokio" despite Tokyo's proper spelling appearing in the film's on-screen title. Upon the film's release on DVD, a variation of the poster using the corrected spelling was used for the cover.


    This film represents one of four movies made by Hollywood during the 1940s which were about or related to the US military's Dolittle Raid on Tokyo, Japan during World War II. The four movies (the first three considered "fictionalized") are this one, The Purple Heart; Bombardier and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, the latter being the most accurate and least fictionalized of the four.


    The call by John Ridgely to the USS Hornet in Japanese saying "Dinki hokuku" actually translates as "electronic communications".


    Principal cast members were familiarized with submarines and submarine operations at the Mare Island Navy Yard in San Francisco Bay, California.


    Columbia Pictures loaned Cary Grant to Warner Brothers to make this movie.


    This movie and Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious are the only dramatic / serious World War II movies that feature Cary Grant. All the others are comedies, see I Was a Male War Bride; Operation Petticoat Father Goose, and You're in the Navy Now.


    Apparently, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt mandated that this movie make no explicit reference to either military electronics or radar.


    The 'Hollywood Reporter' of 3 December 1943 announced that this movie's World Premiere in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was a Charity Benefit to aid crippled children.


    A press release for this movie announced that "Cassidy's Children" (i.e. the children of Captain Cassidy played by Cary Grant) were portrayed by the children of this movie's director, Delmer Daves. Daughter Debby Cassidy was played by daughter Deborah Daves whilst son Michael Cassidy was played by son Michael Daves. Both children's character's first names were the same as their real first names (i.e. Debby/Deborah and Michael) and both cameo performances were uncredited.


    According to 'Hollywood Reporter' of 26 July 1943, some filming for this movie was shot on location at Portuguese Bend which is near Redondo Beach, California.


    The Copperfin submarine seen in this movie was an exact scale model of a real US Navy submarine. However, for reasons of military security, equipment and operating mechanisms were of varying kinds and varieties so the enemy could not identify accurate explicit interior details of US Navy submarines. As this movie was made during the Second World War, this filmic subterfuge was done in order to confuse America's World War II wartime enemies.


    Two members of the real-life US Navy submarine the 'Wahoo' were consultants and technical advisers on this film, according to a story in the ' New York Herald Tribune '. They were crew member Andrew Lennox and Lt. Cmdt. Dudley Walker Morton.


    The role of Capt. Cassidy, played by Cary Grant, was originally offered to Gary Cooper, who turned it down.


    Pierre Watkin (Admiral) and Lane Chandler (Chief Petty Officer) are in studio records/casting call lists (with their character names) for this movie, but they did not appear or were not identifiable.


    Goofs
    Anachronisms: On Christmas morning, one of the crew mentions Christmas 1941 in the past tense, meaning that this is Christmas 1942 or later. After that, the boat supports Doolittle's Raid, which occurred 18 April 1942.


    Factual errors: Japanese soldiers board a truck to seek source of radio transmissions by a U.S. Navy shore party in Tokyo Bay. The truck has a left hand drive whereas Japanese vehicles have the steering wheel on the right hand side. Japanese drive on the left side of the road.


    Continuity: Just prior to the operation, the chief comes through a door and hands Pills the instruments. The handle of the door is open (straight up and down). As Pills gets up we see the handle open but as the camera angle changes to show Pills we can see that the handle is now locked (handle is at an angle).


    Factual errors: When the infiltration team is in the cave, they are carrying lever action Winchester 30-30 rifles. This rifle was never issued to the Army, Navy or Marines.


    Factual errors: The B-25 takeoff sequence taking place on the Hornet goes back and forth between studio shots and actual footage. The problem with the studio shots is the fact that the planes pictured were Lockheed Hudsons, not B-25 Mitchells. The Hudsons used were originally built by Lockheed for export to Britain and bear no resemblance whatsoever to a Mitchell. The Hudson was a taildragger and the Mitchell used a tricycle landing gear. Warner's was very close to the Lockheed plant in Burbank and leftover Hudsons popped up in all sorts of Warner's films throughout the war.


    Factual errors: The submarine "Copperfin" is essentially a "Gato" class boat, yet through the evolution of that class the superstructure changed as well as the armament. In the film you see everything from a 20MM gun to a 40MM as well as numerous .30 and .50cal machine guns, not to mention a 3" deck gun. The footage of the sub changes numerous times during the film, including the armament as well as the superstructure, obviously due to the extensive use of stock footage.


    Continuity: The deck gun shifts from the foredeck to the afterdeck.


    Crew or equipment visible: In several underwater shots, wires can be seen attached to mock-up of miniature sub.


    Factual errors: In the beginning of the film, Cmdr Cassidy (Cary Grant) trades in his kepi with the braids (scrambled eggs) on the brim for his plain brim kepi used by lower ranking officers. In the final scene when he returns to SF in full uniform, he is still wearing the unbraided brimmed kepi. All officers of the rank of commander or above should be wearing the braided kepi. He therefore would be considered out of uniform.


    Factual errors: When the submarine first dives, the diving alarm incorrectly sounds three times with the announcement of "dive, dive, dive." The correct procedure for diving is two sounds with the announcement of "dive, dive," and surfacing is three sounds followed by "surface, surface, surface."


    Memorable Quotes


    Filming Location
    Portuguese Bend, California, USA

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Destination Tokyo was directed by Delmer Daves.
    and written by Daves, Steve Fisher and Albert Maltz,
    and stars Cary Grant and John Garfield
    with featured performances by Dane Clark, Robert Hutton
    and Warner Anderson.
    Production began on June 21, 1943 and continued through September 4, 1943,
    and the film premiered in Pittsburgh on December 15, 1943.
    It was released generally in the U.S. on December 31, 1943.



    User Review


    I fought World War Two at the Rodeo Theater
    13 July 2002 | by kclark3 (Norman, OK)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited once, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Destination Tokyo w/ Cary Grant:
    The Captain and the------



    "Cookie"


    The Cat: as in: John Garfield the Cat:


    The Captain and the Cat:

    An American version of: Das Boot:

    Das Boot strikes:

    Watching his handy work:

    A bit of relaxation:

    Saying bye to some of the USS Sea Tiger's losses:

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • Was just watching this and noticed a continuity error. Near the end of the film, when the sub is being bombed with depth charges, Cary Grant is shown in a nice neat uniform, all buttoned up. Next scene, he's all wet and his shirt is open. Then it goes back to his neat and clean appearance, then back gain to his wet appearance.