Editing Destination Tokyo

{{short description|1943 film directed by Delmer Daves}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Destination Tokyo
| image          = Destination Tokyo poster.jpg
| caption        = theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Delmer Daves]]
| producer       = [[Jerry Wald]]<br/>[[Jack L. Warner]]
| screenplay     = [[Delmer Daves]]<br/>[[Albert Maltz]]{{efn|Maltz was later brought before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee|House Committee on Un-American Activities]] on the grounds that some of the dialogue in ''Destination Tokyo'' reflected Communist sympathies.<ref>Eliot 2005, p. 226.</ref>}}
| story          = [[Steve Fisher (writer)|Steve Fisher]]
| starring       = [[Cary Grant]]<br/>[[John Garfield]]
| music          = [[Franz Waxman]]<br/>[[William Lava]]
| cinematography = [[Bert Glennon]]
| editing        = [[Christian Nyby]]<br/>Vladimir Barjansky
| studio         = [[Warner Bros.]]
| distributor    = Warner Bros.
| released       = {{Film date|1943|12|15|[[Pittsburgh]], premiere}}
| runtime        = 131 or 135 minutes<ref name=afi>{{AFI film|392}}</ref>
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $1,516,000<ref name="warners">Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1–31 p. 24 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551</ref>
| gross          = $4,544,000<ref name="warners"/>
}}

'''''Destination Tokyo''''' is a 1943 [[black and white film|black and white]] American [[submarine films|submarine]] [[war film]].<ref>Halliwell 1989, p. 267.</ref> The film was directed by [[Delmer Daves]] in his directorial debut,<ref name=tcmart>McGee, Scott. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/72905/destination-tokyo#articles-reviews "Articles: 'Destination Tokyo' (1944)."] ''[[TCM.com]]'', 2019. Retrieved: August 15, 2019.</ref> and the screenplay was written by Daves and [[Albert Maltz]], based on an original story by former submariner [[Steve Fisher (writer)|Steve Fisher]].<ref>Evans 2000, p. 56.</ref> The film stars [[Cary Grant]] and [[John Garfield]] and features [[Dane Clark]], [[Robert Hutton (actor)|Robert Hutton]], and [[Warner Anderson]], along with [[John Ridgely]], [[Alan Hale Sr.]] and [[William Prince (actor)|William Prince]].

''Destination Tokyo'' has been called "the granddaddy of submarine films like ''[[Run Silent, Run Deep (film)|Run Silent, Run Deep]]'' (1958), ''[[Das Boot]]'' (1981), and ''[[U-571 (film)|U-571]]'' (2000)".<ref name=tcmart />

Produced during the height of World War II, the film was used as propaganda to boost morale back home and to entice young men to join the Submarine Service of the [[U.S. Navy]].

== Plot ==
On Christmas Eve, the submarine USS ''Copperfin'', under the command of Captain Cassidy, departs [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] on a secret mission. At sea, Cassidy opens his sealed orders, which direct him to proceed first to the [[Aleutian Islands]] to rendezvous with a [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|PBY Catalina]] and take meteorologist Lt. Raymond aboard. He is then to proceed to [[Tokyo Bay]] to obtain vital weather intelligence for the upcoming [[Doolittle Raid]].

After picking up Raymond, the ''Copperfin'' is attacked by two Japanese [[floatplane|floatplanes]]. Both are shot down, but one pilot manages to parachute into the water. When Mike, a ''Copperfin'' crewman, goes down the hull to pull the Japanese aboard, he is stabbed to death by the downed pilot. New recruit Tommy Adams shoots the Japanese, but because he was slow to react, Tommy blames himself for Mike's death. At least partly to expiate his mistake, Tommy volunteers to defuse an unexploded bomb stuck under the deck under the direction of Captain Cassidy.

When Mike is buried at sea, Greek-American "Tin Can" does not attend the service. This angers the other men until he explains that every Allied death causes him great pain. Meanwhile, Raymond, who lived in Japan, discusses how the Japanese people were led into the war by the military faction.

As the submarine nears Tokyo Bay, the ''Copperfin'' has to negotiate defensive [[Naval mine|minefield]]s and anti-torpedo nets. When a Japanese ship enters the bay, Cassidy seizes the opportunity and follows in its wake. That night, a three-man party, including resourceful womanizer "Wolf", goes ashore to make weather observations.

Meanwhile, Tommy is diagnosed with [[appendicitis]]. "Pills", the [[pharmacist's mate]], has to operate following instructions from a book, using improvised instruments and without sufficient [[diethyl ether|ether]] to last throughout the procedure. The operation is successful, and "Cookie" Wainwright begins to prepare the pumpkin pie he had promised to bake for Tommy.

Raymond broadcasts the information the shore party has collected in Japanese in an attempt to avoid detection, but the Japanese are not fooled and search the bay. The ''Copperfin'' remains undetected, allowing the men to watch part of the Doolittle Raid through the [[periscope]]. After recovering Raymond and his team, the submarine then slips out of the bay, following an exiting ship when the anti-submarine nets are opened to let it through.

Later, the ''Copperfin'' sinks a Japanese [[aircraft carrier]] and is badly damaged by its escorts. In desperation, after long hours and barrages of [[depth charge]]s, Cassidy attacks, sending a [[destroyer]] to the bottom and enabling the crew to return safely home.

== Cast ==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Cary Grant]] as Captain Cassidy
* [[John Garfield]] as "Wolf"
* [[Alan Hale, Sr.]] as "Cookie" Wainwright
* [[John Ridgely]] as meteorologist Lt. Raymond
* [[Dane Clark]] as "Tin Can" (Leos Theofilos Karafias Jr)
* [[Warner Anderson]] as Executive Officer
* [[William Prince (actor)|William Prince]] as "Pills"
* [[Robert Hutton (actor)|Robert Hutton]] as Tommy Adams (first credited screen role<ref name=tcmart />)
* [[Tom Tully]] as Mike
* [[Faye Emerson]] as Mrs. Cassidy
* [[Peter Whitney]] as Dakota
* [[Eleanor Parker]] as Mike's wife on record (voice only)
* [[Warren Douglas]] as Diving officer
* [[John Forsythe]] as "Sparks" Reynolds
* [[John Alvin (actor)|John Alvin]] as Sonar Operator
* [[Bill Kennedy (actor)|Bill Kennedy]] as Gunnery Officer
* Ralph McColm as Ensign
* [[William Challee]] as Quartermaster
* [[Whit Bissell]] as Yoyo
* [[Mark Stevens (actor)|Mark Stevens]] as Admirals's aide
* [[Jack Mower]] as Admiral's aide
* John Whitney as Communication Officer
* [[George Lloyd (actor)|George Lloyd]] as Chief of the Boat
* [[Maurice Murphy (actor)|Maurice Murphy]] as Toscanini
}}

== Production ==
Production on ''Destination Tokyo'' began on June 21, 1943 and continued through September 4 of that year. Members of the cast spent time at the U.S. Navy's [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] in [[Vallejo, California]], to familiarize themselves with submarine procedures and operations. Technical advisors to the film included the captain of the {{USS|Wahoo|SS-238|6}}, [[Dudley Walker Morton]], and crewmember Andy Lennox.<ref>[https://catalog.afi.com/Film/392-DESTINATION-TOKYO?sid=2de7e6cc-5f55-4f73-a123-17caa8f7efb1&sr=13.450619&cp=1&pos=0 "History: 'Destination Tokyo'."] ''AFI'', 2019. Retrieved: August 15, 2109.</ref> The ''Wahoo'' was reported as missing in action after production on ''Destination Tokyo'' completed, sunk by Japanese aircraft in October 1943 while returning home from a patrol in the Sea of Japan. Commander Morton and all aboard were lost. Thanks to the efforts of the Wahoo Project Group, the wreckage was identified in 2006.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The existence of a submarine in Tokyo Bay relaying information to the [[Doolittle Raid]] is mentioned in the film ''[[Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo]]'' (1944), based on pilot [[Ted W. Lawson|Ted Lawson]]'s memoir. There is a scene on the USS ''Hornet'' where Lawson ([[Van Johnson]]), fresh from a briefing on the latest positions of the [[barrage balloon]]s over Tokyo, tells his friend Bob Gray ([[Robert Mitchum]]): "You know, the changes in those balloons threw me. Just think, a bunch of guys sweating all day in a sub down in Tokyo Bay, guys just like us, sneaking up at night to radio balloon positions..." The existence of such a submarine is not part of the participants' or historians' accounts of the raid. The Doolittle Raiders<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.doolittleraider.com/first_joint_action.htm#_Toc510516195 |title=The First Joint Action: A Historical Account of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid&nbsp;– April 18, 1942 |last=Greening |first=Charles R. |date=November 4, 2013 |website=Doolittle Tokyo Raiders |publisher=Joyce, Todd |access-date=May 29, 2020}}</ref> detailed description of the raid states that the barrage balloons seen on the raid were a negligible threat. There were many other possible intelligence sources for information given out at the briefings.

The model of the ''Copperfin'' used for filming was based on actual American submarines, except that, to confuse the Japanese, it was given equipment and apparatus that were used on numerous different types of subs.<ref name="tcmnotes" /> The film was accurate enough to be used by the Navy as a training tool for submariners.<ref name="tcmart" />

The incident in ''Destination Tokyo'' in which the pharmacist's mate performs an [[appendectomy]] was based on an actual event which took place on the submarine {{USS|Seadragon|SS-194|6}}.<ref name=tcmnotes /> The real-life appendectomy was performed by [[Wheeler Bryson Lipes]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-post-star-destination-tokyo-inspir/167993512/ |title='Destination Tokyo' inspiration dies at 84 |first=Adam |last=Bernstein |agency=[[The Washington Post]] |newspaper=[[The Post-Star]] |location=[[Glens Falls, New York]] |page=B4 |date=April 19, 2005 |accessdate=March 14, 2025 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

Some filming of ''Destination Tokyo'' took place at Portuguese Bend on the [[Palos Verdes Peninsula]].<ref name=tcmnotes>Staff (ndg). [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/72905/destination-tokyo#notes "Notes: 'Destination Tokyo'."] ''TCM'', 2019. Retrieved: August 15, 2109." [[TCM.com]]</ref>

For ''Destination Tokyo'', Warner Bros. borrowed Cary Grant from [[Columbia Pictures]] in a swap which sent [[Humphrey Bogart]] to Columbia to make ''[[Sahara (1943 American film)|Sahara]]''.<ref>Mankiewicz, Ben. "Outro" to Turner Classic Movies' presentation of 'Destination Tokyo'. ''Turner Classic Movies'', May 29, 2017.</ref> Grant had turned down the role that Bogart eventually played, and [[Gary Cooper]] had turned down the role of the captain of the ''Copperfin'' that Grant played.<ref name=tcmart />
[[File:1944 - Colonial Theater Ad - 8 Jan MC - Allentown PA.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Ad for a showing of ''Destination Tokyo'' in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]]]]

== Reception ==
''Destination Tokyo'' premiered in [[Pittsburgh]] on December 15, 1943 as a benefit for crippled children.<ref name=tcmnotes /> According to Warner Bros. records, it earned $3,237,000 domestically and $1,307,000 internationally.<ref name="warners"/>

''[[The New York Times]]'' reviewer [[Bosley Crowther]] wrote: 
<blockquote>
It has a lot of exciting incident in it; some slick, manly performances are turned in by Cary Grant (as the commander), John Garfield, Alan Hale and Dane Clark. But an essential rule of visual drama, which is to put within a frame only so much explicit action as can be realistically accepted in a space of time, is here completely violated. The Warners have a big but too extravagant action film.<ref>{{cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/09/archives/catching-up-some-late-afterthoughts-on-madame-curie-and-two-other.html |title=Catching Up. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 9, 1944}}</ref>
</blockquote>

In contrast, the review in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine, was effusive in its praise: 
<blockquote>
'Destination Tokyo' runs two hours and 15 minutes, and that's a lot of film. But none of it is wasted. In its unspooling is crammed enough excitement for possibly a couple of pictures. Here is a film whose hero is the Stars and Stripes; the performers are merely symbols of that heroism. Here is a film of superbly pooled talents.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/1942/film/reviews/destination-tokyo-1200414139/ |title=Review: 'Destination Tokyo'. |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=December 31, 1942}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Critic and writer [[James Agee]] writing in ''[[The Nation (magazine)| The Nation]]'' in 1944 stated that it "combines a good deal of fairly exciting submarine warfare with at least as much human interest, which I found neither very human nor at all interesting."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Agee |first1=James |title=Agee on Film Volume 1 |date=1969 |publisher=The Universal Library}}</ref> [[Leslie Halliwell]] gave it one of four stars: "Solid, well acted war suspenser, but overlong."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Halliwell |first1=Leslie |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |date=1989 |publisher=Grafton Books |isbn=0-06-016322-4 |edition=7th}}</ref>

A later release of ''Destination Tokyo'' was [[Film colorization|colorized]].<ref>Maltin 2012, p. 348.</ref>

== Nominations ==
Screenwriter [[Steve Fisher (writer)|Steve Fisher]] received an [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Academy Award]] nomination for his original story for ''Destination Tokyo''.<ref name=tcmnotes />

== Influence ==
Inspired by Grant's role, a 17-year-old [[Tony Curtis]] forged his mother's signature to enlist in the [[United States Navy]] in 1943.<ref>[http://www.tonycurtis.com/my-service.html "My service,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328055136/http://www.tonycurtis.com/my-service.html |date=March 28, 2019 }} ''TonyCurtis.com'', 2019. Retrieved: August 15, 2016.</ref> Requesting submarine duty, he instead served aboard a [[submarine tender]], {{USS|Proteus|AS-19|6}}. Later, as a top Hollywood talent, he co-starred with Grant as submariners in the 1959 World War II comedy ''[[Operation Petticoat]]'', with Grant commanding the fictional USS ''Sea Tiger''.

When the crew of a World War II-submarine in the 1951 movie ''[[Operation Pacific]]'' is given the treat of watching a movie, ''Destination Tokyo'' is screened. Footage from this film was reused in the 1959 film ''[[Submarine Seahawk]]''.

According to his autobiography, ''Destination Tokyo'' influenced [[Ronald Reagan]] in his decision to accept the lead role of a World War II submarine captain in the 1957 movie ''[[Hellcats of the Navy]]''.<ref>Skinner et al., 2004, p. 44.</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Sources==
* Eliot, Marc.''Cary Grant: A Biography''. New York: Aurum Press, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-30755-497-0}}.
* Evans, Alun. ''Brassey's Guide to War Films''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-57488-263-6}}.
* Halliwell, Leslie. ''Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide''. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-06016-322-8}}.
* Maltin, Leonard. ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2013''. New York: New American Library, 2012 (originally published as ''TV Movies'', then ''Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide''), First edition 1969, published annually since 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-451-23774-3}}.
* Skinner, Kiron K. and Annelise and Martin Anderson. ''Reagan: A Life In Letters''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-74321-967-9}}.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Destination Tokyo}}

* {{IMDb title}}
* {{TCMDb title}}
* {{AFI film}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* {{Mojo title}}
* [http://www.carygrant.net/reviews/destination.html Historic reviews, photo gallery at CaryGrant.net]

{{Delmer Daves}}

[[Category:1943 war films]]
[[Category:1943 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:1943 films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American war films]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:English-language war films]]
[[Category:Films about the Doolittle Raid]]
[[Category:Films directed by Delmer Daves]]
[[Category:Films scored by Franz Waxman]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:World War II films made in wartime]]
[[Category:World War II submarine films]]
[[Category:Pacific War films]]