December 7th (1943)

“If that’s Americanism, it’s very hyphenated. ” – Mr. “C.”

Number of Times Seen – 1 (7 Dec 2021)

Brief Synopsis – War propaganda film that explains the history of Pearl Harbor, the deadly attack on the ships there and what was done to salvage the fleet following the attack.

My Take on it – This is a movie that I’ve been interested in seeing for a few years ever since I heard that John Ford was involved in making it.

Apparently, it’s a very controversial movie due to the way that they used it as a propaganda film against the Japanese.

The film does a nice job showing the history of the people of Hawaii and how there were so many loyal Americans living there for generations that were looked at in a different way due to their cultural connection to the Japanese.

The pseudo-debate that they have two characters involved in comes across as seeming a bit silly because of the way it is presneted

They also have deceased characters having conversations with others in order to prop up the very patriotic feel of the movie.

The fact that this was made a mere 2 years after the Attack on Pearl Harbor sided wit the fact that the war was still raging in, the filmmakers went to great lengths to make things come across as being very anti-Japanese in order to try and demonize the enemy.

The footage shown here is quite gripping, but the special effects used in some scenes depicting ships in water are very laughable to watch.

It’s too bad that they couldn’t make something more genuine and inspiring about these events, even with having Ford attached to things.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The attack scenes were a mix of re-creations, models and some real footage. Some of the re-creations are of such quality that they have been included in subsequent documentaries ever since, often mistaken for actual footage of the attack. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)