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December 7th - The Pearl Harbor Story

starring: Walter Huston, Harry Davenport, Dana Andrews, Paul Hurst, George O'Brien
directed by: John Ford, Gregg Toland

: December 7th - The Pearl Harbor Story
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0089859050725
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Vci Video
Manufacturer: Vci Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Vci Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 24, 2001
Running Time: 82 minutes
Sales Rank: 67160
Studio: Vci Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2001



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Editorial Review:

Description:
John Ford's 'DECEMBER 7th: THE PEARL HARBOR STORY,' was banned by the U.S. Government for nearly fifty years. This special edition is now available; presenting the fully restored 84-minute version, with subtitles added to the controversial Japanese language sequences and a special 'behind the scene' introduction. (A completely censored 34-minute version of the film was released and earned John Ford his fourth Academy Award.) This full-length version stars Walter Huston as Uncle Sam and is set in Honolulu on the day before the Japanese attack. Uncle Sam vacations complacently in Hawaii, concerned with the on-going war in Europe. On Sunday morning, December 7th, air squadrons appear, 'swooping down like flights of tiny locust'. The attack on Pearl Harbor, America's first battle of World War II, is vividly illustrated as only Hollywood can do. Bonus Features: Universal Newsreel: Pearl Harbor first films| Movietone News Extra! - First actual battle films. Includes comments by Al Brick- the Movietone cameraman who filmed the footage| Japan's Reaction! - When this 'uncensored' version was first shown in Japan in 1995 it was treated as a major news story. See the actual newscast| Commentary by 4 actual Pearl Harbor survivors| Compare the 'cut' and 'uncut' versions| Frank Capra's infamous 'Know Your Enemy' (1945) 62-minute documentary| Scene Selection. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 104 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 2001; SRP - $9.99.

Amazon.com:
In 1943 John Ford gave the great cinematographer Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane, The Grapes of Wrath) an opportunity to direct his first film. What was intended to be a short documentary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor grew into a veritable epic, framed by a debate between Walter Huston's Uncle Sam and Harry Davenport's Mr. C on the true nature of the Pacific paradise. Hawaiian history, rah-rah patriotism, and arguments over the loyalty of the Japanese-American population are capped by a stunning re-creation of the battle so convincing that feature films borrowed footage from it for decades. Arch and dated, it's a fascinating slice of history that until a few years ago was never seen by the public. Toland's criticisms of the American Navy caused it to be withheld until Ford could cut the 82-minute feature into a half-hour short, removing the history and analysis and concentrating solely on the battle and the recovery.

VCI's release features Toland's original cut as well as Movietone News and Universal newsreels of the attack and an unusual Japanese TV newscast covering the 1995 debut of this restored version in Japan.

The DVD also features Ford's Oscar®-winning 34-minute version, audio commentary by four Pearl Harbor survivors, and Frank Capra's 60-minute 1945 documentary Know Your Enemy: Japan, a more traditionally jingoistic piece of wartime propaganda that was narrated by Walter Huston. --Sean Axmaker



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Interesting History
The extras on this product are great, especially the Know Your Enemy (The Eighth in Frank Capra's ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - it is a rare documentary
for generations who never live at that time through this documentary one should learn what the meaning ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Two Good Documentaries on One DVD
This DVD contains two documentaries. The first is John Ford's film about the attack on Pearl Harbor. I ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Good documentary
This movie is a good documentary about what happened in Pearl Harbor, Hawaï, on December 7, 1941. It is ... Read More


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - important? in it's own way...
I don't quite know what to say about this. John Ford is an important director. I suppose this is important ... Read More


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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.