Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageFirst Yank into Tokyo (1945)
Director: Gordon Douglas
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A wartime potboiler in which a Japanese-speaking US pilot (Neal), his features orientalised by plastic surgery, is smuggled into Japan to retrieve vital data from a scientist (Cramer) captured while testing a component for the A-Bomb. Desperate plotting ensures that the commandant (Loo) of the PoW camp was once Neal's college room-mate, while a US nurse (Hale) playing Florence Nightingale to the prisoners is his long-lost sweetheart. Will either penetrate his inscrutable disguise when he worms his way in as a guard? The mission is accomplished with the aid of more plot contrivances, and Neal - his plastic surgery irreversible - elects to die while killing innumerable Japs rather than force his new features on his beloved. Skilful direction and camerawork (Harry Wild) just about keep things going. The A-Bomb theme and a gloating commentary ('Hiroshima destroyed! Nagasaki devastated!') were added when the war's abrupt end caught up with the film's release.Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: Gordon Douglas
Producer: J Robert Bren
Cast: Tom Neal, Barbara Hale, Marc Cramer, Richard Loo, Keye Luke, Benson Fong, Leonard Strong full cast
Genre(s): War
Duration: 83 mins
Top Stories
Ridley Scott interview
Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback
Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report
Dave Calhoun reports on the hits, misses and a shocking new masterpiece from Michael Haneke
What do you think?
Post your review now