Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 film based on a 1943 book by Ted W. Lawson. In both the book and film Lawson gives an eyewitness account of the assignment that he and 85 volunteer airmen—the "Tokyo Raiders"—executed in April 1942. Lawson shared his firsthand experience as the pilot of the seventh of sixteen B-25's (named 'The Ruptured Duck') to take off from the USS Hornet.
The film stars Van Johnson as Lawson, Phyllis Thaxter as Ellen Lawson and Spencer Tracy as Gen. James Doolittle, the man who planned the operation.
The film is based on the 1942 Dolittle Raid, the first American attack on the Japanese capital following Pearl Harbor. It includes actual footage of B-25 Mitchell medium bombers launching from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet at the start of the mission.
The crew of the "Ruptured Duck" were: 1st Lt. Ted W. Lawson, 2nd Lt. Dean Davenport, 2nd Lt. Charles McClure, 2nd. Lt. Robert Cleaver, Cpl. David Thatcher.
Experimental Rock band Pere Ubu's 1975 debut single is named after the movie.
External link
- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037366/) at the Internet Movie Database
