1941 (film)

1979 film by Steven Spielberg

Not to be confused with 1941 in film.

1941

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by|

* Robert Zemeckis
* Bob Gale

Story by|

* Robert Zemeckis
* Bob Gale
* John Milius

Produced by| Buzz Feitshans
Starring|

* Dan Aykroyd
* Ned Beatty
* John Belushi
* Lorraine Gary
* Murray Hamilton
* Christopher Lee
* Tim Matheson
* Toshirō Mifune
* Warren Oates
* Robert Stack
* Treat Williams
* Nancy Allen
* Eddie Deezen
* Bobby Di Cicco
* Dianne Kay
* Slim Pickens
* Wendie Jo Sperber
* Lionel Stander

Cinematography| William A. Fraker
Edited by| Michael Kahn
Music by| John Williams
Color process| Metrocolor

Production
company

A-Team Productions

Distributed by| Universal Pictures (North America)
Columbia Pictures (International)

Release dates

* December 13, 1979 (1979-12-13) (Cinerama Dome)
* December 14, 1979 (1979-12-14) (United States)

Running time

| 118 minutes
(theatrical cut)
146 minutes
(director's cut)
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $35 million[1]
Box office| $94.9 million[1]

1941 is a 1979 American war comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. The film stars an ensemble cast including Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Stack, Nancy Allen, and Mickey Rourke in his film debut. The story involves a panic in the Los Angeles area after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Co-writer Gale stated the plot is loosely based on what has come to be known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942, as well as the bombardment of the Ellwood oil refinery, near Santa Barbara, by a Japanese submarine. Many other events in the film were based on real incidents, including the Zoot Suit Riots and an incident in which the U.S. Army placed an anti-aircraft gun in a homeowner's yard on the Maine coast.[2]

1941 received mixed reviews and was not as financially successful as many of Spielberg's other films, but was still a moderate box office success. It received belated popularity after an expanded version aired on ABC in the 1980s, with subsequent television broadcasts and home video reissues, raising it to cult status.[3]

## Plot

[edit]

On Saturday, December 13, 1941, at 7:01 a.m. (six days after the attack on Pearl Harbor), an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine, commanded by Akiro Mitamura and carrying Kriegsmarine officer Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt, surfaces off the Californian coast. Wanting to destroy something "honorable", Mitamura decides to target Hollywood. Later that morning, a 10th Armored Division M3 Lee tank crew, consisting of Sergeant Frank Tree, Corporal Chuck Sitarski, and Privates Foley, Reese, and Henshaw, are having breakfast at Malcolmb's Café, where dishwasher Wally Stephens and his friend, fry cook Dennis DeSoto, work. Wally plans to enter a dance contest at the Crystal Ballroom that evening with his girlfriend, Betty Douglas. The extremely short-tempered Sitarski humiliatingly trips him, instigating a scuffle. Once the soldiers depart, the owner, Mr. Malcolmb, fires Wally and Dennis.

As United States Army Air Forces Captain Wild Bill Kelso chaotically searches for Japanese forces in his Curtiss P-40, Major General Joseph W. Stilwell holds a press conference at Daugherty Field in Long Beach, where his aide, Captain Loomis Birkhead, meets his old flame Donna Stratton, Stilwell's new secretary. Aware that she is sexually aroused by airplanes, Birkhead coaxes her into the cockpit of a B-17 bomber and unsuccessfully attempts to seduce her; he accidentally releases a bomb, which collides with the grandstand and explodes, though Stilwell and the crowd escape unhurt.

At the Santa Monica oceanside home of Ward and Joan Douglas, Betty and her friend Maxine Dexheimer, who have just become USO hostesses, tell Wally that servicemen are now the only male patrons allowed in the Ballroom. As Wally hides in the garage from Ward, Sgt. Tree arrives with his team and orders an anti-aircraft battery to be installed in the Douglas's front yard. Sitarski hits on Betty and Wally falls from the loft where he was hiding. Tree's crew, including Sitarski, eject Wally from the premises into a passing garbage truck.

Meanwhile, as the Japanese submarine has suffered from a malfunctioning compass, a landing party goes ashore and captures lumberjack and Christmas tree salesman Hollis "Holly" Wood. Back aboard the sub, the crew discovers a small toy compass in Wood's box of caramel-popcorn, which he swallows. After forced to drink prune juice in order to pass the compass, Wood manages to cause chaos on the sub and successfully escapes.

Ward's neighbor, Angelo Scioli of the Ground Observer Corps, installs his friends Claude Crumm and Herb Kaziminsky (and Herb's ventriloquist dummy) in the Ferris wheel at the Ocean Front Amusement Park to scout for enemy aircraft. While General Stilwell attends a screening of Dumbo at a theater in Hollywood, Birkhead determinedly drives Donna to the 501st Bomb Disbursement Unit in Barstow, where the mentally unstable Colonel "Mad Man" Maddox lends them a plane. Finally aroused, Donna begins to ravish Birkhead during the flight.

At the Crystal Ballroom, Sitarski drags Betty into the USO dance, but a disguised Wally sneaks in and reunites with her and they win the Jitterbug contest. An enraged Sitarski punches him out, igniting a brawl between soldiers, sailors and zoot suiters. Tree and his team breakup the melee, just before anti-aircraft batteries open fire on the unarmed plane carrying Birkhead and Donna. Kelso pursues and downs it, causing it to crash into the La Brea Tar Pits. Claude and Herb then mistake Kelso's passing P-40 Tomahawk for a Japanese Zero and shoot it down; crashlanding on Hollywood Boulevard, Kelso informs Stilwell about the Japanese submarine he spotted off the pier near the amusement park. Wally assumes command of the tank once Tree is accidentally incapacitated, and rescues Betty from Sitarski before heading for the pier with Dennis and the tankers, followed by Kelso, Sitarski and Maxine, on a motorcycle.

In Santa Monica, Ward locates and begins firing at the surfaced submarine, consequently wrecking his whole house. The submarine retaliatorily strikes the Ferris wheel, which rolls off the pier and into the ocean. When Kleinschmidt attempts a forced early retreat, Mitamura throws him overboard. The tank arrives and then sinks when the submarine torpedoes the pier. Kelso jumps off and swims to the submarine, where he is captured by the Japanese. Deeming the mission an honorable success, Mitamura departs. The next morning, Stilwell arrives with soldiers at the damaged Douglas residence, where the other protagonists have gathered. Ward symbolically nails a Christmas wreath to his front door, causing the remains of his unstable house to collapse down the hillside. Stilwell, observing the disheveled crowd arguing and fighting, informs Sgt. Tree, "It's going to be a long war."

## Cast

[edit]

* Dan Aykroyd as Motor Sergeant Frank Tree
* Ned Beatty as Ward Douglas
* John Belushi as Captain Wild Bill Kelso
* Lorraine Gary as Joan Douglas
* Murray Hamilton as Claude Crumn
* Christopher Lee as Captain Wolfgang Von Kleinschmidt
* Tim Matheson as Captain Loomis Birkhead
* Toshiro Mifune as Commander Akiro Mitamura
* Warren Oates as Colonel "Madman" Maddox
* Robert Stack as Major General Joseph W. Stilwell
* Treat Williams as Corporal Chuck Sitarski
* Nancy Allen as Donna Stratton
* Bobby Di Cicco as Wally Stephens
* Eddie Deezen as Herbie Kazlminsky
* Walter Olkewicz as Private Hinshaw
* Dianne Kay as Betty Douglas
* Slim Pickens as Hollis P. Wood
* Kerry Sherman as USO Girl
* Wendie Jo Sperber as Maxine Dexheimer
* John Candy as Private First Class Foley
* John Voldstad as USO Nerd
* Perry Lang as Dennis DeSoto
* Geno Silva as Martinez
* Patti LuPone as Lydia Hedberg
* Whitney Rydbeck as Daffy
* Penny Marshall as Miss Fitzroy
* Lucinda Dooling as Lucinda
* Frank McRae as Private Ogden Johnson Jones
* Steven Mond as Gus Douglas
* Dub Taylor as Mr. Malcomb
* Luis Contreras as Zoot Suiter
* Lionel Stander as Angelo Scioli
* Michael McKean as Willy
* Susan Backlinie as Polar Bear Woman
* David Lander as Joe
* Joe Flaherty as Sal Stewart / Raoul Lipschitz
* Don Calfa as Telephone Operator
* Ignatius Wolfington as Meyer Mishkin
* Lucille Benson as Gas Mama
* Elisha Cook Jr. as The Patron
* Hiroshi Shimizu as Lieutenant Ito
* Rita Taggart as Reporter
* Maureen Teefy as USO Girl
* Akio Mitamura as Ashimoto
* Mickey Rourke as Private Reese
* Samuel Fuller as Commander Hawkins
* Audrey Landers as USO Girl
* John Landis as Mizeraney
* Dick Miller as Officer Miller
* Donovan Scott as Kid Sailor
* Andy Tennant as Babyface
* Jack Thibeau as Lieutenant Reiner
* Jerry Hardin as Map Man
* Robert Houston as Corporal Taylor
* James Caan as Fighting Sailor (Uncredited)
* Sydney Lassick as Salesman (Uncredited)
* Debbie Rothstein as USO Girl, Jitterbugger (Uncredited)

## Production

[edit]

According to Steven Spielberg's appearance in the documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, Kubrick suggested that 1941 should have been marketed as a drama rather than a comedy. The chaos of the events following the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 is summarized by Dan Aykroyd's character, Sgt. Tree, who repeatedly states, 'If there's one thing I can't stand seeing, it's Americans fighting Americans."[2]

Robert Zemeckis originally pitched the concept to John Milius as a serious depiction of the real-life 1942 Japanese bombardment of Ellwood, California; the subsequent false alarm of a Japanese air raid on Los Angeles; and the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots, titled The Night the Japs Attacked. After development of the film transferred from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) to Universal Pictures, executives insisted that the title be changed to Rising Sun to avoid the use of the derogatory term "Jap." The story became a comedy after Steven Spielberg became involved as director, and the script was rewritten during the production of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977. The characters of Claude Crumm and Herb Kaziminsky were originally written with The Honeymooners co-stars Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in mind. Hollis P. "Holly" Wood and "Wild Bill" Kelso were originally minor characters before Belushi and Pickens were cast.[4][5]

1941 is also notable as one of the few American films featuring popular Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. It is also the only American film in which Mifune used his own voice in speaking Japanese and English. In his previous movies, Mifune's lines were dubbed in English by Paul Frees.[2]

John Wayne, Charlton Heston, and James Stewart were originally offered the role of Major General Joseph Stilwell, with Wayne still considered for a cameo in the film.[4] After reading the script, Wayne decided not to participate due to ill health, but also urged Spielberg not to pursue the project, as both he and Heston felt the film was unpatriotic. Spielberg recalled, "[Wayne] was really curious and so I sent him the script. He called me the next day and said he felt it was a very un-American movie, and I shouldn't waste my time making it. He said, 'You know, that was an important war, and you're making fun of a war that cost thousands of lives at Pearl Harbor. Don't joke about World War II'."[6] Initially Spielberg wanted Hollywood agent Meyer Mishkin to portray himself, but had to cast Iggie Wolfington because of Screen Actors Guild regulations barring film agents from working as actors.[4]

Susan Backlinie, the first victim in Spielberg's Jaws, appeared as the woman seen swimming nude at the beginning of the film.[2] The gas station that Wild Bill Kelso accidentally blows up early in the film is the same one seen in Spielberg's 1971 television film, Duel, with Lucille Benson appearing as the proprietor in both films. Inadvertent comedic effects ensued when John Belushi, in character as Captain Wild Bill Kelso, unintentionally fell off the wing of his airplane and landed on his head in the scene where Kelso encounters Col. Maddox and his men. It was a real accident and Belushi was hospitalized for several days, but Spielberg left the shot in the movie as it fit Kelso's eccentric character.[7]

During the USO riot scene, when a military police officer is tossed into the window of a restaurant from the ladder of a fire engine, Belushi is seen eating spaghetti, in makeup to resemble Marlon Brando in The Godfather, whom he famously parodied in a sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi told Spielberg he wanted to appear as a second character and the idea struck Spielberg as humorous.[2] At the beginning of the USO riot, one of the uncredited "extras" dressed as a sailor is actor James Caan. Mickey Rourke makes his first screen appearance in the film as Private First Class Reese of Sgt. Tree's tank group.[8]

The M3 tank Lulu Belle (named after a race horse) and fashioned from a mocked-up tractor, paid homage to its forebear in Humphrey Bogart's 1943 movie Sahara where an authentic M3 named Lulubelle was prominently featured.[9]

Renowned modelmaker Greg Jein (best known for his work in the Star Trek franchise) received his second Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nomination for his work on the film; he would later use the hull number "NCC-1941" for the starship USS Bozeman in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Cause and Effect".[10] Paul De Rolf choreographed the film.[11]

1941 is dedicated to the memory of Charlsie Bryant, a longtime script supervisor at Universal Studios. She had worked on both Jaws and Close Encounters, and would have reprised those duties with this film had she not unexpectedly died.[12]

### Special effects

[edit]

The Oscar-winning team of L. B. Abbott and A. D. Flowers were in charge of the special effects on 1941. The film is widely recognized for its Academy Award-nominated special-effects laden progressive action and camera sequences.[13][N 1]

### Trailer

[edit]

The advance teaser trailer for 1941, directed by the film's executive producer/co-story writer John Milius, featured narration by Aykroyd as Belushi's character Kelso (here erroneously named "Wild Wayne" and not "Wild Bill"), after landing his plane, gives the viewers a pep-talk encouraging them to join the United States Armed Forces, lest they find one morning that the country has been taken over (for instance, "the street signs will be written in Japanese!").[15]

## Music

[edit]

The musical score for 1941 was composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. The titular march is used throughout the film and is perhaps the most memorable piece written for it. (Spielberg has said it is his favorite Williams march.) The score also includes a swing composition titled "Swing, Swing, Swing" composed by Williams. In addition, the score includes a sound-alike version of Glenn Miller's "In the Mood", and two original 1940s recordings by The Andrews Sisters, "Daddy" and "Down by the Ohio". The Irish tune "The Rakes of Mallow", is heard during the riot at the USO.

The LaserDisc and DVD versions of the film have isolated music channels with additional cues not heard on the first soundtrack album.

The 1941 soundtrack album was originally released in 1979 by Arista Records. In 2011, La-La Land Records, in conjunction with Sony Music and NBCUniversal, issued an expanded 2-CD soundtrack of the complete John Williams score as recorded for the film, plus never-before-heard alternative cues, source music, and a remastered version of the original album. Disc One, containing the film score, presents the music as Williams originally conceived based on early cuts of the movie.[16][17][18]

## Release

[edit]

The film was previewed at approximately two and a half hours, but Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures, which both had a major financial investment, felt it was too long to be a blockbuster. The initial theatrical release was edited down to just under two hours, against Spielberg's wishes.[19] Additionally, after a preview screening to investors in Dallas received negative reviews, the release of the film was delayed by a month to allow Spielberg to reedit the first 45 minutes of the film.

The film premiered at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood on December 13, 1979, before opening to the public the following day.[20]

### Home media

[edit]

After the success of his 1980 "Special Edition" of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg was given permission to create his own "extended cut" of 1941 to represent his original director's cut. This was done for network television (it was only shown on ABC once, but it was seen years later on The Disney Channel). It was first released on VHS and Betamax in 1980 from MCA Videocassette Inc. and from MCA Home Video in 1986 and 1990. A similar extended version (with additional footage and a few subtle changes) was released on LaserDisc in 1995. It included a 101-minute documentary featuring interviews with Spielberg, executive producer John Milius, writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, editor Michael Kahn, composer John Williams and others involved. This set also included an isolated music score, three theatrical trailers, deleted scenes, photo galleries, and reviews of the movie.

This cut was later released on VHS in 1998, and later on DVD in 1999 and was rereleased on DVD again in May 2002.[21][22] The DVD includes all features from the 1995 Laserdisc Set. It was released again on DVD in 2000 in a John Belushi box set along with the collector's editions of Animal House and The Blues Brothers.

On October 14, 2014, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released 1941 on Blu-ray as part of their Steven Spielberg's Director's Collection box set. The disc features both the theatrical (118 minutes) and extended version (146 minutes) of the film, a documentary of the making of the film, production photographs (carried over from the LaserDisc collector's edition), and theatrical trailers, although the isolated score that was included on the Laserdisc and DVD releases is not present on the Blu-ray. The standalone Blu-ray version was released on May 5, 2015.

### Comics adaptation

[edit]

Heavy Metal and Arrow Books produced a magazine-sized comics tie-in to the film, by Allen Asherman, Stephen R. Bissette, and Rick Veitch, which rather than being a straight adaptation, varies wildly and humorously from the film. Spielberg wrote the book's introduction.[23]

## Reception

[edit]

### Box office

[edit]

> "It is down in the history books as a big flop, but it wasn't a flop. The movie didn't make the kind of money that Steven's other movies, Steven's most successful movies have made, obviously. But the movie was by no means a flop. And both Universal and Columbia have come out of it just fine."

—Bob Gale[2]

During its theatrical run, 1941 earned $23.4 million in theatrical rentals from the United States and Canada.[24] Because 1941 grossed significantly less than Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the film has been erroneously thought to be a box office disaster, but in actuality, 1941 grossed $90 million worldwide and returned a profit, making it a success.[25]

### Critical reaction

[edit]

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two and a half out of four stars and applauded the film's visual effects, but stated "[T]here is so much flab here, including endless fistfights and huge dance production numbers that become meaningless after a few minutes."[26] In his review for The New York Times, Vincent Canby wrote "There are too many characters who aren't immediately comic. There are too many simultaneous actions that necessitate a lot of cross-cutting, and cross-cutting between unrelated anecdotes can kill a laugh faster than a yawn. Everything is too big...The slapstick gags, obviously choreographed with extreme care, do not build to boffs; they simply go on too long. I'm not sure if it's the fault of the director or of the editor, but I've seldom seen a comedy more ineptly timed."[27] Similarly, Variety labeled the movie as "long on spectacle, but short on comedy," further stating that "1941 suffers from Spielberg's infatuation with physical comedy, even when the gags involve tanks, planes and submarines, rather than the usual stuff of screen hijinks. Pic is so overstuffed with visual humor of a rather monstrous nature that feeling emerges, once you've seen 10 explosions, you've seen them all."[28]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one and a half stars out of four, writing that the film "feels forced together chaotically, as if the editors wanted to keep the material moving at any cost. The movie finally reduces itself to an assault on our eyes and ears, a nonstop series of climaxes, screams, explosions, double-takes, sight gags, and ethnic jokes that's finally just not very funny." He labeled the film's central problem as having been "never thought through on a basic level of character and story."[29] Charles Champlin, reviewing for the Los Angeles Times, commented "If 1941 is angering (and you may well suspect that it is), it is because the film seems merely an expensive indulgence, begat by those who know how to say it, if only they had something to say."[30] Dave Kehr of The Chicago Reader called it "a chattering wind-up toy of a movie [that] blows its spring early on. The characters are so crudely drawn that the film seems to have no human base whatsoever...the people in it are unremittingly foolish, and the physical comedy quickly degenerates into childish destructiveness."[31]

Years later, the film would be re-appraised by critics like Richard Brody of The New Yorker, who claimed it was "the movie in which [Spielberg] came nearest to cutting loose"[32] and "the only movie where he tried to go past where he knew he could...its failure, combined with his need for success, inhibited him maybe definitively."[33] Jonathan Rosenbaum of The Chicago Reader would hail 1941 as Spielberg's best film until 2001's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, writing that he was impressed by the virtuosity of 1941 and argued that its "honest mean-spiritedness and teenage irreverence" struck him as "closer to Spielberg's soul" than more popular and celebrated works like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and The Color Purple.[34]

According to Jack Nicholson, director Stanley Kubrick allegedly told Spielberg that 1941 was "great, but not funny."[35] Spielberg joked at one point that he considered converting 1941 into a musical halfway into production and mused that "in retrospect, that might have helped."[36] In a 1990 interview with British film pundit Barry Norman, Spielberg admitted that the mixed reception to 1941 was one of the biggest lessons of his career, citing personal arrogance that had gotten in the way after the runaway success of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He also regretted not ceding control of 1941's action and miniature sequences (such as the Ferris wheel collapse in the film's finale) to second unit directors and model units, something which he would do in his next film, Raiders of the Lost Ark.[37] He also said "Some people think that was an out-of-control production, but it wasn't. What happened on the screen was pretty out of control, but the production was pretty much in control. I don't dislike the movie at all. I'm not embarrassed by it — I just think that it wasn't funny enough."[38]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 39%, based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The critical consensus reads, "Steven Spielberg's attempt at screwball comedy collapses under a glut of ideas, confusing an unwieldy scope for a commensurate amount of guffaws."[39] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[40] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[41]

### Accolades

[edit]

The film received three nominations at the 1980 Academy Awards.[42]

Award  | Category  | Nominee(s)  | Result

|
|
|

Academy Awards[42] | Best Cinematography | William A. Fraker | Nominated
Best Sound | Robert Knudson, Robert Glass, Don MacDougall and Gene S. Cantamessa
Best Visual Effects | William A. Fraker, A. D. Flowers and Gregory Jein

American Film Institute nominated the film in AFI's 100 Years...Laughs.[43]

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Quote: "The special effects are beautifully done."[14]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ a b "1941". The Numbers. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
2. ^ a b c d e f The Making of 1941. Universal Studios Home Entertainment. 1996. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020 - via YouTube.
3. ^ "What is Cult Film?". for68.com Beijing ICP. January 13, 2006. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2009.
4. ^ a b c "1941". AFI Catalog. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
5. ^ "The Story of 1941". October 2, 2014.
6. ^ "John Wayne - John Wayne Urged Steven Spielberg Not To Make War Comedy." contactmusic.com.  2 December 2011. Retrieved: December 2, 2011.
7. ^ Erickson, Glenn. "1941 - A giant comedy, only with guns!" DVD Savant, 1999\. Retrieved: December 16, 2012.
8. ^ Heard 2006, p. 22.
9. ^ Nelson, Erik. "The Perfect Double Bill:'The Hurt Locker' and Bogart's 1943 'Sahara'." Salon, January 12, 2010.
10. ^ "First Person: Greg Jein." CBS Entertainment. Retrieved: October 19, 2011.
11. ^ Washington, Arlene (June 26, 2017). "Paul De Rolf, Choreographer for 'Petticoat Junction' and Spielberg's '1941,' Dies at 74". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
12. ^ "Review of 1941 (1979)." Time Out, New York.
13. ^ Culhane 1981, pp. 126–129.
14. ^ Dolan 1985, pp. 98–99.
15. ^ "Trailer for 1941" on YouTube. Retrieved: October 10, 2012.
16. ^ "La-La Land Records, 1941." Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine La-La Land Records, September 27, 2011. Retrieved: October 8, 2011.
17. ^ 1941: Complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Liner notes by Mike Matessino, La-La Land Records/Sony Music/NBCUniversal, 2011.
18. ^ "JWFan Exclusive – Interview with Producer Mike Matessino about '1941'." JWFan.com, September 26, 2011. Retrieved: October 8, 2011.
19. ^ McBride 2011, p. 298.
20. ^ "'1941' Gets Its Delayed Preem Dec. 13 At Dome". Daily Variety. November 30, 1979. p. 2.
21. ^ Liebenson, David (February 12, 1998). "Spielberg's Disaster Movie". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
22. ^ Hunt, Bill (March 23, 1999). "1941 (Collector's Edition)". DigitalBits. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
23. ^ 1941: The Illustrated Story. Heavy Metal/Arrow Books. December 1979. ISBN 0930834089.
24. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1980". Variety. January 14, 1981. p. 29.
25. ^ McBride 2011, p. 309.
26. ^ Siskel, Gene (December 14, 1979). "Special effects win the battle, but ill effects lose the war for '1941'". Chicago Tribune. Section 4, pp. 1, 4 – via Newspapers.com.
27. ^ Canby, Vincent (December 14, 1979). "Film: California Goes To War in '1941'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
28. ^ "Film Reviews: 1941". Variety. December 19, 1979.
29. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 14, 1979). "1941 (1979) movie review & film summary". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 18, 2020 - via RogerEbert.com.
30. ^ Champlin, Charles (December 23, 1979). "Spielberg's Pearl Harbor". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
31. ^ Kehr, Dave. "1941 (1979) capsule review". Chicago Reader. Retrieved March 27, 2021 - via chicagoreader.com.
32. ^ Ehrlich, David (December 11, 2017). "Film Critics Pick Steven Spielberg's Best Movies — IndieWire Critics Survey". IndieWire. Retrieved March 27, 2021 - via indiewire.com.
33. ^ @tnyfrontrow (March 19, 2019). "1941 is the only movie where he tried to go past where he knew he could; its failure, combined with his need for success, inhibited him maybe definitively" (Tweet). Retrieved March 27, 2021 - via Twitter.
34. ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan (December 16, 1993). "Gentle Persuasion". Chicago Reader. Retrieved March 27, 2021 - via chicagoreader.com.
35. ^ Ciment, Michel; Adair, Gilbert; Bononno, Robert, eds. (2003). "Interview: Jack Nicholson". Kubrick: The Definitive Edition. New York: Faber & Faber. p. 297\. ISBN 978-0-571-21108-1.
36. ^ Bonham and Kay 1979
37. ^ Schickel, Richard (Director) (July 9, 2007). Spielberg on Spielberg (Documentary).
38. ^ Breznican, Anthony (December 2, 2011). "Steven Spielberg: The EW interview". Entertainment Weekly.
39. ^ "1941 (1979)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
40. ^ "1941 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
41. ^ "CinemaScore". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. March 21, 1980. p. 2C. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
42. ^ a b "The 52nd Academy Awards (1980) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org. March 2022.
43. ^ "AFI's 100 Years..Laughs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 11, 2019.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Bonham, Joseph; Kay, Joe, eds. (1979). "Bombs Awaayyy!!! The Official 1941 Magazine". New York: Starlog Press. `{{cite magazine}}`: Cite magazine requires `|magazine=` (help)
* Bonham, Joseph; Kay, Joe, eds. (1979). "1941: The Poster Book". New York: Starlog Press. `{{cite magazine}}`: Cite magazine requires `|magazine=` (help)
* Clarke, James (2004). Steven Spielberg. London: Pocket Essentials. ISBN 1-904048-29-3.
* Culhane, John (1981). Special Effects in the Movies: How They Do it. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-28606-5.
* Crawley, Tony (1983). The Steven Spielberg Story. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-688-02510-2.
* Dolan Jr., Edward F. (1985). Hollywood Goes to War. London: Bison Books. ISBN 0-86124-229-7.
* Erickson, Glenn; Trainor, Mary Ellen (1980). The Making of 1941. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-28924-2.
* Freer, Ian (2001). The Complete Spielberg. New York: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0556-8.
* Heard, Christopher (2006). Mickey Rourke: High and Low. Medford, New Jersey: Plexus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85965-386-2.
* McBride, Joseph (2011). Steven Spielberg: A Biography (2nd ed.). Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-60473-836-0.
* Sinyard, Neil (1986). The Films of Steven Spielberg. London: Bison Books. ISBN 0-86124-352-8.
* "Steven Spielberg: The Collector's Edition". Empire. 2004.

## Further reading

[edit]

* "Review of 1941". Time Out New York. 1979. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2008.

## External links

[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to 1941 (film).

* 1941 at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
* 1941 at Box Office Mojo
* 1941 at IMDb
* 1941 at the TCM Movie Database
* 1941 at Letterboxd
* 1941 at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Steven Spielberg

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Films directed|

* Firelight (1964)
* Slipstream (1967)
* Amblin' (1968)
* Night Gallery (1969; segment "Eyes")
* Duel (1971)
* Something Evil (1972)
* Savage (1973)
* The Sugarland Express (1974)
* Jaws (1975)
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
* 1941 (1979)
* Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
* E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
* Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
* Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
* The Color Purple (1985)
* Empire of the Sun (1987)
* Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
* Always (1989)
* Hook (1991)
* Jurassic Park (1993)
* Schindler's List (1993)
* The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
* Amistad (1997)
* Saving Private Ryan (1998)
* A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
* Minority Report (2002)
* Catch Me If You Can (2002)
* The Terminal (2004)
* War of the Worlds (2005)
* Munich (2005)
* Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
* The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
* War Horse (2011)
* Lincoln (2012)
* Bridge of Spies (2015)
* The BFG (2016)
* The Post (2017)
* Ready Player One (2018)
* West Side Story (2021)
* The Fabelmans (2022)
* Untitled film (2026)

Films written only|

* Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973)
* Poltergeist (1982)
* The Goonies (1985)

Films produced only|

* Three O'Clock High; (uncredited) (1987)
* An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
* Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
* Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
* Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
* Super 8 (2011)
* The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
* Maestro (2023)
* The Color Purple (2023)
* Music by John Williams (2024)
* The Thursday Murder Club; (uncredited) (2025)
* Hamnet (2025)

Television|

* "L.A. 2017" (1971)
* Amazing Stories (1985–1987)
* High Incident (1996–1997)
* Invasion America (1998)

Video games|

* The Dig (1995)
* Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair (1996)
* Medal of Honor (1999)
* Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002)
* Boom Blox (2008)
* Boom Blox Bash Party (2009)

Family|

* Amy Irving (first wife)
* Kate Capshaw (second wife)
* Destry Spielberg (daughter)
* Sasha Spielberg (daughter)
* Arnold Spielberg (father)
* Anne Spielberg (sister)

Related|

* Amblin Partners
* Amblin Entertainment
* Amblin Television
* DreamWorks Television
* Amblimation
* DreamWorks Pictures
* DreamWorks Animation
* USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education
* Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
* Sammy Fabelman
* Spielberg (2017)
* "Cannibal" (2022)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Robert Zemeckis

* I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)
* Used Cars (1980)
* Romancing the Stone (1984)
* Back to the Future (1985)
* Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
* Back to the Future Part II (1989)
* Back to the Future Part III (1990)
* Two-Fisted Tales (1992)
* Death Becomes Her (1992)
* Forrest Gump (1994)
* Contact (1997)
* What Lies Beneath (2000)
* Cast Away (2000)
* The Polar Express (2004)
* Beowulf (2007)
* A Christmas Carol (2009)
* Flight (2012)
* The Walk (2015)
* Doc Brown Saves the World (2015)
* Allied (2016)
* Welcome to Marwen (2018)
* The Witches (2020)
* Pinocchio (2022)
* Here (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Films by John Milius

Written and directed|

* Marcello, I'm So Bored (1966)
* Dillinger (1973)
* The Wind and the Lion (1975)
* Big Wednesday (1978)
* Conan the Barbarian (1982)
* Red Dawn (1984)
* Farewell to the King (1989)
* Flight of the Intruder (1991)
* Motorcycle Gang (1994)
* Rough Riders (1997)

Written only|

* The Emperor (1967)
* The Devil's 8 (1969)
* Evel Knievel (1971)
* The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
* Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
* Magnum Force (1973)
* Apocalypse Now (1979)
* 1941 (1979)
* Extreme Prejudice (1987)
* Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)
* Clear and Present Danger (1994)
* Texas Rangers (2001)

* v
* t
* e

Pearl Harbor attack

Attack|

* Prelude to the attack
* Order of battle
* Present US ships
* Battleship Row
* Niihau incident

Japanese
carriers
involved|

* Akagi
* Kaga
* Sōryū
* Hiryū
* Shōkaku
* Zuikaku

United States
ships sunk|

* Arizona
* salvaged artifacts
* California
* Oglala
* Oklahoma
* Shaw
* Sotoyomo
* Utah
* West Virginia
* YFD-2

Aftermath|

* Consequences
* Sleeping giant quote
* Day of Infamy speech
* U.S. declaration of war
* U.K. declaration of war
* Roberts Commissions
* Pearl Harbor Committee
* Medal of Honor recipients

Remembrance|

* Remembrance Day
* USS Arizona Memorial
* Survivors Association
* Commemorative Medal

Books|

* Crisis: The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor and Southeast Asia (1992)
* Days of Infamy series (2004–05)
* Pacific War series (2007–08)

Films|

* Secret Agent of Japan (1942)
* The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya (1942)
* Air Force (1943)
* This Is the Army (1943)
* December 7th (1943)
* Task Force (1949)
* From Here to Eternity (1953)
* The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956)
* Storm Over the Pacific (1960)
* In Harm's Way (1965)
* Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
* 1941 (1979)
* The Final Countdown (1980)
* Pearl Harbor (2001)
* Midway (2019)

Other|

* Vulnerability of Pearl Harbor
* Advance-knowledge conspiracy theory
* In popular culture

Portals:

* Film
* United States
* Comedy

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Spain

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