Awakening A Sleeping Giant: The Pearl Harbor Attack on Film

Donald | Awakening a Sleeping Giant: The Pearl harbor Attack on Film Ralph R. Donald Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Awakening A Sleeping Giant: The Pearl Harbor Attack on Film The Purple Heart(1944): Actor Richard Loo explainsThe Great Design. Considering the success of the surprise Japanese attackfailed. Although his battle plan was nearly flawlessly exon Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Admiral Isorokuecuted, Yamamoto had not achieved success in two imporYamamoto should have been happier. But the supreme com-tant (and eventually critical) aspects. The admiral knew that mander of the Japanese Navy would not allow himself to be-the only way Japan could succeed in a war with the United come too elated: two vital aspects of this operation hadStates was if the conflict were a short one, won by a swift, 40 I Film & History World War II in Film | Special In-Depth Section decisive crippling ofAmerica's pacific fleet, followed by immediate American capitulation. Although the Pearl Harbor attack killed 2,403 people, destroyed or damaged 18 U.S. battleships, cruisers and destroyers and 188 airplanes, the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers were not in port at the time, and thus were spared. This Japanese "bad luck" caused not only the cancellation of the second phase of their attack, the invasion and occupation ofHawaii, but also led to their subsequent defeat in the battle of Midway, a turning point in the war in the Pacific.1 But ofequal consequence was the fatefully bad timing of the Pearl Harbor attack. Although Japanese military history clearly demonstrates that they had always favored a swift, decisive blow that counted heavily on the element ofsurprise, the Pearl Harbor attack had to be handled a bit more delicately. This was because Yamamoto had lived and studied in the United States, and understood American culture well: he knew that the people of the U.S. despised deceit , and already thought of the Japanese as a sneaky and crafty lot. Thus, Yamamoto decided that thirty minutes prior to the attack, Japanese emissaries would inform American Secretary ofState Cordell Hull that further negotiations between the two countries would be fruitless, and that thereafter a state of war would exist between the U.S. and the Empire of Japan. Then, the admiral reasoned, no matter how great an element ofsurprise achieved in the raid on Pearl Harbor, no one could call it a sneak attack conducted while peace negotiations were still underway in Washington. But the Japanese miscalulated the amount of time needed by their Washington embassy required to decode and type' the ultimatum transmited from Tokyo; as a result, the message was not ready in time for their meeting with the American secretary of state. Later, when the Japanese delegation finally presented itself and its ultimatum, the Pearl Harbor "sneak attack" had already begun. Disgusted and outraged, Hull quickly read the tardy transmission, and—with a hail of profane insults—dismissed the emissaries before they could explain or apologize. Most Americans responded the same as Hull: isolationist and unwilling to involve themselves in the war up to then, they were changed by the events on this "day of infamy."2 This background helps explain why, as Yamamoto received the warm congratulations ofhis staff, he appeared openly depressed. When asked why he was not more elated by such a one-sided victory, he replied, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant, and fill him with a terrible resolve." American feature-length war films released from 1941 to 1945 such as Across the Pacific (1942), Air Force (1943), Black Dragons (1942), Blood On The Sun (1945), Bombardier! (1941), China (1943), China Girl (1942), Destination Tokyo (1944), Eagle Squadron (1942), The Fighting Seabees (1944), Flying Tigers (1942), God Is My Co-Pilot (1945), Gung Ho! (1943), Purple Heart (1944), They Were Expendable (1945), and Wake Island (1942) were characteristic of the hundreds of American films that have dramatized events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor. By the time the American public saw films such as these, the basic facts of the attack were well known. But through Hollywood's lens, the character and emotions of this angry, awakening American giant are portrayed and...