Midway (released in the United Kingdom as Battle of Midway) is a 1976 American war film that chronicles the Battle of Midway, a turning point in the Pacific War of World War II. It was directed by Jack Smight from a screenplay by Donald S. Sanford, and produced by Walter Mirisch.Variety film review; June 16, 1976, page 18.
Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, and Toshiro Mifune lead a large ensemble cast, which also features Edward Albert, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Ed Nelson, Hal Holbrook, Robert Webber, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, James Shigeta, Pat Morita, Dabney Coleman, Erik Estrada, and Tom Selleck in an early role. The film was made using Technicolor, and its soundtrack used Sensurround to augment the physical sensation of engine noise, explosions, crashes and gunfire.
Midway was released by Universal Pictures on June 18, 1976. Despite mixed reviews, particularly involving the use of stock footage and an unnecessary romance subplot, the music score by John Williams and the cinematography by Harry Stradling Jr. were highly regarded; as evidenced when Midway became the 10th-most popular movie at the box office in 1976.
Plot On April 18, 1942, a daring and unexpected bomb raid on Tokyo stuns the Japanese. The commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Admiral Yamamoto, uses the threat posed to the Japanese home islands by the American Pacific Fleet to have his plan to invade Midway Island approved. At Pearl Harbor, Captain Matt Garth is tasked to gauge the progress of American intelligence gathering. Commander Joseph Rochefort's staff, partially able to read Japanese Navy communications, learn their next target is code-named "AF". Yamamoto plans the Midway attack, with Admirals Nagumo and Yamaguchi leading the Japanese carrier forces and Admiral Kondo the amphibious invasion force.
In a sub-plot Garth is asked by his son, naval aviator Ensign Tom Garth, to help free his American-born girlfriend Haruko Sakura from internment. Garth calls in favors to accomplish it, but damages his relationship with his son by talking to Tom's commander, who transfers him out of his squadron.
After the inconclusive Battle of the Coral Sea, Rochefort uses a simple ruse to confirm that "AF" is Midway. Admiral Nimitz orders the carriers and , augmented by , hastily repaired after being damaged at Coral Sea, to a point north of Midway code-named "Point Luck" and lie in wait.
On June 4, the American carriers launch their planes when scouts detect the enemy fleet. Nagumo's carrier planes, unaware of the presence of US carriers, attack Midway Island, damaging installations but leaving the airstrip usable. Nagumo orders his planes rearmed with bombs to attack the airfield again, but when a scout reports the presence of Yorktown he orders the bombs changed for anti-ship torpedoes. American torpedo bombers desperately attack without fighter protection and are destroyed by the Japanese Combat Air Patrol, leaving only a single survivor, George H. Gay Jr. When American escort fighters cover another wave of torpedo bombers, Tom is wounded and severely burned. The Japanese fighters have been drawn down to low altitude by the torpedo planes when American dive-bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown find the Japanese fleet following the lucky hunch of a squadron commander. As the Japanese prepare to launch their second wave, the American bombers, unopposed by Japanese fighters far below them, reduce three of the Japanese carriers —, , and —to burning wrecks.
Aircraft from the remaining Japanese carrier follow the returning American bombers and severely damage Yorktown. Below decks, Matt reconciles with the wounded Tom. Due to a shortage of pilots, Matt joins the counterstrike against Hiryū but its planes have already launched. Yorktown is crippled and abandoned and Hiryū reduced to a burning wreck. Yamamoto orders a withdrawal. Matt is killed crashing his badly damaged plane on Enterprise. At Pearl Harbor, Haruko watches Tom carried off the ship and Nimitz and Rochefort reflect on the battle. Nimitz suggests Matt would have concluded Yamamoto "had everything going for him", and asked "were we better than the Japanese, or just luckier?". Spruance and Browning appear, Nimitz gives a firm salute to them.
Cast Characters listed in descending order by rank.
American ActorRoleNotesHenry FondaAdmiral Chester W. NimitzCommander, U.S. Pacific Fleet and of the Allied Pacific Ocean Areas*Henry Fonda was one of the narrators of the 1942 John Ford documentary The Battle of Midway, some footage from which was used in the 1976 film, and had played an unnamed admiral (based on Admiral Nimitz) in the 1965 film In Harm's Way. Robert MitchumVice Admiral William F. Halsey Halsey was the hospitalized commander of Task Force 16, with Spruance assigned command during the battleGlenn FordRear Admiral Raymond A. SpruanceCommander of Task Force 16, aboard as his flagship Robert WebberRear Admiral Frank J. FletcherFletcher was commander of Task Force 17, aboard as his flagship Ed NelsonCommodore Harry PearsonA fictional composite character.Charlton HestonCaptain Matthew GarthGarth is a composite character largely absorbing the historical roles of Nimitz's staff officer Lieutenant Commander Edwin Layton as well as the less well known CAG of Lieutenant Commander Oscar Pederson. James CoburnCaptain Vinton MaddoxA fictional composite character.Biff McGuireCaptain Miles BrowningChief of Staff to Spruance aboard , flagship of Spruance's Task Force 16Gregory WalcottCaptain Elliott BuckmasterCommanding officer of , flagship of Fletcher's Task Force 17Larry PennellCaptain Cyril SimardCommander of Naval Air Facility Midway Island.Hal HolbrookCommander Joseph RochefortCommander of the cryptographic intelligence unit Station HYPO at Pearl HarborCliff RobertsonCommander Carl JessopA fictional composite character.Dabney ColemanCommander Murray ArnoldA fictional composite character.Kurt GraysonMajor Floyd "Red" Parks Commander of Marine Fighting Squadron 221 on NAS Midway IslandsRobert WagnerLieutenant Commander Ernest L. BlakeA fictional composite character.Monte MarkhamLieutenant Commander Max Leslie Commander of Bomber Squadron 3 aboard Christopher GeorgeLieutenant Commander C. Wade McCluskyOverall commander of the Enterprise Air Group aboard , and flew as commander of its Bomber Squadron 6 during the battleGlenn CorbettLieutenant Commander John C. WaldronCommander of Torpedo Squadron 8 aboard Clint RitchieLieutenant Commander Charles R. FentonUncreditedCommander of Squadron 42, USS YorktownPhillip R. AllenLieutenant Commander John S. "Jimmy" Thach Commander of Fighting Squadron 3 aboard Steve KanalyLieutenant Commander Lance E. MasseyMassey was commander of Torpedo Squadron 3 aboard Kip NivenLieutenant Howard P. AdyPBY pilotKevin DobsonEnsign George H. Gay Jr. Naval aviator and sole survivor of the 30 men of Torpedo Squadron 8 during the battleEdward AlbertEnsign Thomas GarthCapt. Matthew Garth's son, a pilot aboard the USS Yorktown. Likewise a fictional character.Erik EstradaEnsign Ramos "Chili Bean"A fictional composite character.Alfie WiseChief Radioman Horace F. DobbsBeeson CarrollRadioman William E. GallagherJohn Bennett PerryRadioman Walter G. ChochalousekRedmond GleesonPvt. DombrowskiUncreditedRadio operator, Naval Air Facility Midway Island.Tom SelleckAide to Capt. Simard
Japanese ActorRoleNotesToshiro MifuneAdmiral Isoroku Yamamoto Voiced by uncredited actor Paul FreesOverall commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, and the 1st Fleet Main Group, enhanced as the Main Force, aboard Yamato as his flagshipJames ShigetaVice Admiral Chūichi NagumoCommander of the 1st Air Fleet, enhanced as the First Carrier Striking Force, and the 1st Carrier Division, aboard Akagi as his flagshipDale IshimotoVice Admiral Boshirō HosogayaCommander of the 5th Fleet, enhanced as the Northern Area Force, aboard Nachi as his flagship, strategically launching the invasion of the Aleutian Islands coincident with the Battle of MidwayConrad YamaVice Admiral Nobutake Kondō Commander of the 2nd Fleet, enhanced as the (intended) Midway Occupation Force and Covering Group, aboard Atago as his flagshipPat MoritaRear Admiral Ryūnosuke KusakaChief of Staff to Nagumo aboard Akagi, flagship of Nagumo's 1st Air Fleet and 1st Carrier DivisionJohn FujiokaRear Admiral Tamon YamaguchiCommander of the 2nd Carrier Division, aboard Hiryū as his flagshipLloyd KinoCaptain Takijirō Aoki UncreditedCommander of Akagi, Nagumo's flagshipYuki ShimodaCaptain Tomeo Kaku UncreditedCommander of Hiryū, Yamaguchi's flagshipSeth SakaiCaptain Kameto KuroshimaYamamoto's staff officer.Robert ItoCommander Minoru Genda Genda was a staff officer of the 1st Air Fleet, reporting to Nagumo aboard AkagiClyde KusatsuCommander Yasuji WatanabeYamamoto's staff officer.Richard NaritaLieutenant Hashimoto UncreditedStaff officer of the 1st Air Fleet, reporting to Nagumo aboard AkagiSab ShimonoLieutenant Jōichi Tomonaga Staff officer of the 1st Air Fleet, reporting to Yamaguchi aboard Hiryū
Civilians ActorRoleNotesChristina KokuboHaruko Sakura
Production Development John Guillermin was reportedly hired to direct but was replaced by Jack Smight before filming began.John Guillermin Pollock, David. The Scotsman; Edinburgh (UK) [Edinburgh (UK)]03 Oct 2015: 34. Naval aviator Lieutenant Richard "Dick" Best and Joseph Rochefort served as consultants; George Gay, the only survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8, visited during filming. Toshiro Mifune sent his script to Minoru Genda and to Yamamoto's son, so that they could attest to its historical accuracy. Reportedly, Mifune had been scheduled to play Yamamoto in Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), but withdrew when director Akira Kurosawa left the project. The filmmakers wanted to portray the Japanese in a fair light and to portray them and the Americans as equals. Principal photography was scheduled to end around 20 July 1975. Filming at sea took three weeks, which included shooting on the , the last World War II ship in service. Robert Mitchum settled on filming his scenes in bed. Modern crew members of the Lexington were persuaded to have their hair cut and to shave to conform to World War II Navy regulations after watching the filming. Fonda was astonished to learn that Yamamoto and Nimitz were missing fingers from accidents. Fonda consciously folded back his finger throughout his performance and Mifune had his uniforms and gloves made to be accurate as possible. In the original script, Garth survived.The Making of Midway : Original Featurette (w/edits) Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Youtube.com
Filming
Midway was shot at the Terminal Island Naval Base, Los Angeles, California, the U.S. Naval Station, Long Beach, California, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida and San Diego, California.(1983-12-01). Spotlight on filming in SD County. Daily Times-Advocate, 52, 56-57. The on-board scenes were filmed in the Gulf of Mexico aboard , an that had been under construction during the battle and was the last World War II-era carrier still in service at the time of filming. She is now a museum ship at Corpus Christi, Texas. Scenes depicting Midway Island were filmed at Point Mugu, California. "Point Mugu has sand dunes, just like Midway. We built an airstrip, a tower, some barricades, things like that," said Jack Smight. "We did a lot of strafing and bombing there."Newspaper Enterprise Association, "Filming of 'Midway': Making War for the Movies", Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Wednesday 8 October 1975, Volume 30, Number 209, page 5B. A Consolidated PBY-6A Catalina BuNo 63998, N16KL, of the Commemorative Air Force, was used in depicting all the search and rescue mission scenes.
Sound