Tora! Tora! Tora! () is a 1970 Japanese-American war film that dramatizes the events leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, from both American and Japanese positions. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasaku. It features an ensemble cast, including Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, So Yamamura, E.G. Marshall, James Whitmore, Tatsuya Mihashi, Takahiro Tamura, Wesley Addy, and Jason Robards. It was both Masuda's and Fukasaku's first English-language film and first international co-production.
The tora of the title, although literally meaning "tiger", is actually a two-syllable codeword that abbreviated the longer phrase totsugeki raigeki 突撃雷撃 ("lightning attack"), used by the invaders to indicate that complete surprise had been achieved.
The film was released in the United States by 20th Century-Fox on September 23, 1970, and in Japan by the Toei Company on September 25. It received mixed reviews from American critics, but was praised for its historical accuracy and attention to detail, its visual effects, and its action sequences.
Tora! Tora! Tora! was nominated for five Oscars at the 43rd Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, winning Best Visual Effects (L.B. Abbott and A.D. Flowers). The National Board of Review ranked it in its Top Ten Films of 1971. A 1994 survey at the USS Arizona Memorial determined that for Americans the film was the most common source of popular knowledge about the Pearl Harbor attack.
Plot
In September 1940, following a severe trade embargo imposed on belligerent Japan by the United States a year earlier, influential Japanese army figures and politicians push through an alliance with Germany and Italy, despite opposition from the Japanese navy, and prepare for war. Newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto reluctantly plans a pre-emptive strike, believing Japan's best chance of controlling the Pacific Ocean is to quickly destroy the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda is chosen to mastermind the operation, while his old Naval Academy classmate Mitsuo Fuchida is selected to lead the attack.
In Washington, U.S. military intelligence has broken the Japanese Purple Code, allowing it to intercept secret radio transmissions indicating increased Japanese naval activity. U.S. Army Colonel Rufus S. Bratton and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Alwin Kramer monitor the transmissions. At Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel increases defensive naval and air patrols around Hawaii. General Walter Short orders aircraft concentrated on the airfield runways to prevent sabotage, while some planes are dispersed to other airfields on Oahu.
Diplomatic tensions escalate as the Japanese ambassador to Washington continues negotiations to stall for time. Bratton and Kramer learn from intercepted messages that Japan plans to send 14 messages from Tokyo to its embassy in Washington, with orders to destroy its code machines after the final message. Deducing that the messages signal an impending surprise attack, Bratton tries to warn his superiors. However, Chief of Naval Operations Harold R. Stark hesitates to alert Hawaii without first notifying President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Meanwhile, Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall orders Pearl Harbor warned, but poor atmospheric conditions prevent radio transmission, and the warning telegram is not marked urgent.
The Japanese fleet launches its aircraft at dawn on December 7, 1941. Two radar operators detect the approaching planes, but duty officer Lieutenant Kermit Tyler dismisses their concerns. The destroyer likewise reports sinking a Japanese miniature submarine near the entrance to Pearl Harbor, but the report is dismissed. The Japanese achieve complete surprise, signaled by Commander Fuchida's code phrase, "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
The attack inflicts catastrophic damage and severe casualties. Several battleships are sunk or heavily damaged, while General Short's anti-sabotage measures leave American aircraft vulnerable on the ground. In Washington, a stunned Secretary of State Cordell Hull receives the Japanese ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura. Japan's 14-part message, including a declaration that peace negotiations have ended, was intended to reach the Americans thirty minutes before the attack, but the Japanese embassy fails to decode and transcribe it in time. The attack therefore begins while the two nations are technically still at peace. Distraught and unaware of the ongoing assault, Nomura is unable to explain the delay, and Hull rebuffs him.
Vice-Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, commander of the Japanese fleet, refuses to launch a scheduled third wave of aircraft, fearing that doing so would expose his fleet to U.S. submarines. Hours after the attack ends, General Short and Admiral Kimmel finally receive Marshall's warning. Aboard his flagship, Yamamoto learns that the primary targets—the American aircraft carriers—were absent from Pearl Harbor, having departed days earlier. Lamenting that the declaration of war arrived only after the attack began, Yamamoto concludes that the assault will provoke a powerful American response: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Cast
Americans
ActorRoleNotesJoseph CottenSecretary Henry StimsonSecretary of WarGeorge MacreadySecretary Cordell HullSecretary of StateLeon AmesSecretary Frank KnoxSecretary of the NavyMeredith WeatherbyAmbassador Joseph GrewUS Ambassador to JapanHarold ConwayEugene DoomanUS Embassy counselor, TokyoMartin BalsamAdmiral Husband E. KimmelCommander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific FleetEdward AndrewsAdmiral Harold Rainsford StarkChief of Naval OperationsBill ZuckertAdmiral James O. RichardsonCommander, United States FleetKeith AndesGeneral George C. MarshallChief of Staff of the U.S. ArmyJames WhitmoreVice Admiral William F. HalseyCommander, Aircraft Battle Force, U.S. Pacific FleetWalter ReedVice Admiral William S. PyeInterim Commander, Aircraft Battle Force, U.S. Pacific FleetEdmon RyanRear Admiral Patrick BellingerCommander, Patrol Wing TwoKen LynchRear Admiral John H. NewtonCommander, Jason RobardsMajor General Walter ShortCommander-in-Chief, U.S. Army Forces HawaiiLarry ThorMajor General Frederick L. MartinCommander, Hawaiian Air ForceHarlan WardeBrigadier General Leonard T. GerowCommander, 29th Infantry DivisionEdward SheehanBrigadier General Howard C. DavidsonCommander, 14th Pursuit WingRichard ErdmanColonel Edward F. FrenchChief, War Department Signal CenterBill EdwardsColonel Kendall J. FielderAssistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Hawaiian DepartmentRichard AndersonCaptain John EarleChief of Staff, 14th Naval DistrictWalter BrookeCaptain Theodore WilkinsonDirector of Naval IntelligenceKarl LukasCaptain Harold C. TrainChief of Staff, Battle Force, U.S. Pacific FleetFrancis De SalesCaptain Arthur H. McCollumNaval Intelligence officerG.D. SpradlinCommander Maurice E. CurtsCommunications Officer, U.S. Pacific FleetRobert ShayneCommander William H. BurackerOperations Officer, Aircraft Battle Force, U.S. Pacific FleetE.G. MarshallLieutenant Colonel Rufus S. BrattonChief, Far Eastern Section, Military Intelligence Division, War DepartmentDick FairLieutenant Colonel Carrol A. PowellRadar officerWesley AddyLieutenant Commander Alwin KramerCryptographer, OP-20-GFrank AletterLieutenant Commander Francis ThomasCommand Duty Officer, Jerry FogelLieutenant Commander William W. OuterbridgeCommanding Officer, Dick CookLieutenant Commander Logan C. RamseyOperations Officer, Patrol Wing TwoNorman AldenMajor Truman LandonCommanding Officer, 38th Reconnaissance SquadronDave DonnellyMajor Gordon BlakeHickam Field Operations OfficerRobert KarnesMajor John H. DillonKnox's aideNeville BrandLieutenant Harold KaminskiDuty Officer, 14th Naval DistrictRon MasakLieutenant Lawrence E. RuffCommunications Officer, USS NevadaJerry Cox1st Lieutenant Kermit TylerPilot, 78th Pursuit SquadronRick Cooper2nd Lieutenant George WelchPilot, 47th Pursuit SquadronCarl Reindel2nd Lt. Kenneth TaylorPilot, 47th Pursuit SquadronDavid WestbergEnsign Edgar M. FairOfficer, Elven HavardMessman 3rd Class Doris MillerCrew member, Bruce WilsonPrivate Joseph LockardRadarman at Opana Point
Japanese
ActorRoleNotesKoreya SendaFumimaro KonoePrime Minister of JapanHiroshi AkutagawaMarquis Koichi KidoLord Keeper of the Privy SealKazuo KitamuraShigenori TōgōForeign MinisterSō YamamuraAdmiral Isoroku YamamotoCommander-in-Chief, Combined FleetBontaro MiyakeAdmiral Koshirō OikawaMinister of the NavyAsao UchidaGeneral Hideki TojoMinister of WarEijirō TōnoVice Admiral Chūichi NagumoCommander-in-Chief, 1st Air FleetJunya UsamiVice Admiral Zengo YoshidaMinister of the NavySusumu FujitaRear Admiral Tamon YamaguchiCommander, Second Carrier DivisionIchiro ReuzakiRear Admiral Ryūnosuke KusakaChief of Staff, 1st Air FleetKan NihonyanagiRear Admiral Chūichi HaraCommander, 5th Carrier DivisionTōru AbeRear Admiral Takijirō ŌnishiChief of Staff, 11th Air FleetShunichi NakamuraCaptain Kameto "Gandhi" KuroshimaSenior Staff Officer, Combined FleetTatsuya MihashiCommander Minoru GendaAir Staff, 1st Air FleetTakahiro TamuraLieutenant Commander Mitsuo FuchidaCommander, Air Group, Toshio HosokawaLieutenant Commander Shigeharu MurataCommander, 1st Torpedo Attack Unit, AkagiHisashi IgawaLieutenant Mitsuo MatsuzakiFuchida's pilotHideo MurotaLieutenant Zenji AbePilot, Air Group, AkagiShōgo ShimadaAmbassador Kichisaburo NomuraJapanese Ambassador to the United StatesHisao ToakeSaburō KurusuDiplomat
Civilians
ActorRoleNotesLeora DanaIleana KramerLt. Cdr. Kramer's wifeJune DaytonRay CaveSecretaryAkira KumeKatsuzo OkumuraJapanese embassy secretaryJeff DonnellCornelia FortCivilian flying instructorHank JonesDaveyCivilian student pilotAndrew HughesMinister Joachim von RibbentropGerman Minister for Foreign AffairsKiyoshi AtsumiJapanese messman
Production
Veteran 20th Century-Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck, who had earlier produced The Longest Day (1962), wanted to create an epic that depicted what "really happened on December 7, 1941", with a "revisionist's approach". He believed that the commanders in Hawaii, General Walter Short and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, though scapegoated for decades, provided adequate defensive measures for the apparent threats, including relocation of the fighter aircraft at Pearl Harbor to the middle of the base, in response to fears of sabotage from local Japanese. Despite a breakthrough in intelligence, they had received limited warning of the increasing risk of aerial attack. Recognizing that a balanced and objective recounting was necessary, Zanuck developed an American-Japanese co-production, allowing for "a point of view from both nations". He was helped out by his son, Richard D. Zanuck, who was chief executive at Fox during this time.
Production on Tora! Tora! Tora! took three years to plan and prepare for the eight months of principal photography.Orriss 1984, pp. 194–195. The film was created in two separate productions, one based in the United States, directed by Richard Fleischer, and one based in Japan. The Japanese side was initially to be directed by Akira Kurosawa, who worked on script development and pre-production for two years. However, after two weeks of shooting, he was replaced by Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasaku, who directed the Japanese sections.Galbraith 2002, p. 156. Toshiro Mifune reportedly had been scheduled to play Isoroku Yamamoto but withdrew when Kurosawa left the project.
Richard Fleischer said of Akira Kurosawa's role in the project: