Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

John T. Ryan IN THE EARLY days of the official U.S. involvement in world War II, things looked very bleak in all Theatres of War, if you were one of the Allied Nations. In Europe, North Africa, China-Burma-India as well as the Pacific the Axis Powers appeared to have the upper hand.AS A MEANS OF lifting the sagging spirits of the Allies, the plan to bomb Tokyo via a massive air raid was formulated. Usually referred to as "The Doolittle Raid", it was done as a coordinated effort between Army Air Corps and Navy Aircraft Carriers.ADMITTEDLY ITS DEVASTATION wreaked upon Imperial Japan was not so very extensive; but it had a great effect on morale, as we said before. As an afterthought, and a also a brilliant propaganda move, we can think of three major motion pictures that told the story; albeit from very different points of view.FIRST OF ALL, there was DESTINATION TOKYO (Warner Brothers,) which portrayed reconnaissance work done by the Navy's "Silent Service", the Submarine. Next, THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (MGM,) told the story of General Doolittle and the men who flew the mission.THAT LEAVES US with today's honored & reviewed film, THE PURPLE HEART (20th Century-Fox,).RATHER THAN TELLING the story of the raid on the Japanese mainland, the story instead gives us a look at a trial foisted on a downed and captured crew of a B 19 who participated in the surprise attack. Dana Andrews heads up a cast including Richard Conte, Farley Granger, Sam Levine, Trudy Marshall, Don "Red" Barry and Richard Loo.THIS VERY TENSE court room drama exposes us to what the World is dealing with in its war with Fascist ruled nations, wherever they be, whoever they are. The arrogance and self-superior attitudes and authoritarian personalities of the elite, military ruling class is caricatured in bold relief. Whereas the story is fictionalized, the representations portrayed do ring true.ONE BY ONE, various witnesses are brought ion to testify about the hurt and damage that was inflicted upon Japan due to the massive air raid. Among our favorites is a Chinese collaborator/traitor; who is introduced as an official of Manchuko, the name given to the Japanese Puppet State set up in Manchuria & Inner Mongolia. (He is eventually killed by his own son!) ONE PARTICULAR BONE of contention exists between the Imperial Navy and the Japanese Army as to where the planes of the raid took off from. The General of the Army (Richard Loo) insists that it was from a U.S. Aircraft Carrier; ergo, it's the fault and responsibility of the Navy . An Admiral Yamamoto-type contends that it could not be, because a "Flat Top"could.t carry that many planes.THIS COURT NEVER does successfully conclude just whose onus the raid was.AS THE FILM ends, the American crew is marched out of the court to; well, you have to draw your own conclusion. All the while, each and every man marches tall and proud; reminding all that this WAr is definitely Hell, but it is also most necessary.IF YOU HAVEN'T seen it, see it soon. If you have, screen it again!

Bill Smith When "The Purple Heart" was shown in my hometown theater during the heat of World War II, it served as a reminder of what being a captive of the Japanese during this time frame was all about.Although some who were not around during this war may tag the picture as being "a little overdone", many who were placed in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps ... and lived to tell it ... will refer to this Twentieth-Century Fox release as "reels-of-authenticity; chilling realism."The decision to make the film in black-and-white, hinting at shadows of horror, adds to the impact of the terrible subject. Director Lewis Milestone was excellent, as always, and the acting by the cast, from Fox's stable of available war-time male stars, was exceptional.Incidentally, Don "Red" Barry was loaned to Fox by Republic Pictures for this movie. It was his dream that he would be contracted to the bigger, more important Twentieth-Century Fox after "The Purple Heart" was released. However, Republic's owner ... Herbert J. Yates ... considered the movie to be an important boost to Barry's marquee-value as a star from the studio's barn of "Saturday-Westerns". Don "Red" Barry would remain under contract to Republic ... making those good old "B" westerns ... for the rest of his professional career.

tom sawyer The Purple Heart is one of those movies that stays with you. Yes, there is some sentimental and patriotic themese and stereotypes in it. But, considering that it was made during wartime when, while the war may have no longer been in doubt by 1944, it was far from over. The performances by Dana Andrews, and others as the basically doomed American flyers was very good. They managed to not only evoke sympathy and sorrow for their predicament, but strength, bravery and loyalty. If anybody thinks the Japanese portrayals were over the top or unrealistic, then go read the Rape of Nanking and about the Bataan Death March and the real building of the Bridge on the River Kwai. Putting it bluntly, I know a number of veterans who wished we dropped at least six more atomic bombs on the Japanese to pay them back for their cruelties and war crimes. For its time, the movie was pretty accurate and dead on historically. The performances are riveting.All in all it is a pretty good portrayal of how the Japanese actually were. As for the knucklehead who said that we started the war, go read a book meathead. The Japanese actually attacked us before Pearl Harbor near Nanking and the U.S.S. Panay incident where they bombed our gunboat that was a neutral country. This led to the boycotting of materials to the Japanese mainland.

rss2 Worth seeing for WWII and film history fans, this occasionally sappy film buys into the Hollywood anti-Japanese jingo-ism of the war while throwing in a few interesting curve balls.The story hangs on a show-trial of a captured American bomber crew for the charge of murder for killing civilians during the bombing of Tokyo in 1942. Anticipating the Nuremburg trials, the plot is a daring concept for a time (1943) when the U.S. still had no clear idea how the war would end!While the main characters adhere to the standard PR depiction of the Japanese as evil, cruel and hate-filled, there are interesting exceptions in the margins, particularly a kameo by Key Luke as a sailor who survives a shipwreck. He has to provide testimony that will either embarrass the army General prosecuting the case or his own Navy superiors. Tangential to be sure, but even this much sympathy for the Yellow Devil is almost unique for the period.It also goes to great pains to show that not all orientals are evil, with an extended subplot involving a Chinese soldier who dies a hero's death.Certainly, all the characters are highly emblematic - the Chinese soldier and his collaborationist father represent the divided China of the war, the foreign diplomats for whose benefit the show-trial is being conducted are all straight from central casting (note the conflicted Russian, not yet at war with Japan, who is driven finally to reject his own government!), and the crew are the typical rah-rah war movie accumulation of types and accents. But there are several extremely intelligent debates on war and responsibility to duty scattered through the film, along with a grudging admiration for the Japanese people as strong-willed and able to suffer deprivation for the sake of their ideals.Ultimately, the movie is carried mostly by the charm of the American crew, who manage to get through the most appallingly sentimental parts of the film with their dignity intact.