1941

Since, I've previously reviewed Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the next film is the World War II screwball comedy 1941. This film is often thought of as the big Spielberg bomb, which I think is perhaps a bit unfair. It's certainly unlike any other film he's made in that it's a big screwball comedy. When I say big, I mean it too. Epic in scope, and in the case of the director's cut, length. But, at the same time it has it's share of charms and if you can get into the zany insanity of it, it can be a lot of fun too. 

The film's plot, what there is of one, concerns several intersecting plot lines of various characters around Los Angeles, CA gripped in panic in the week following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. Off the coast of California is a Japanese submarine captained by Commander Akiro Mitamura (played by Toshiro Mifune) and overseen by Nazi Captain Wolfgang Von Kleinschmidt (played by Christopher Lee). Their mission is to make a precision strike on Industrial section of Los Angeles, or Hollywood as they refer to it specifically. Meanwhile, the U.S Army has determined the coastal home of Ward Douglas (played by Ned Beatty) to be an advantageous place to place an anti-aircraft cannon, as delivered by Sgt. Tree (played by Dan Aykroyd). Meanwhile, lecherous Corporal Sitarski  (played by Treat Williams) has his eyes on Ward's daughter Betty (played by Dianne Kay), to the horror of both Betty and her boyfriend Wally (played by Bobby Di Cicco) a local short order cook who's determined to win the local jitterbug dance contest with Betty only to find out the dance hall has been taken over by USO and only servicemen will now be admitted. Meanwhile, over the skies looking for Japanese bombers is pilot Wild Bill Kelso (played by John Belushi), who more than lives up to his name. Taking the post of coastal lookout in the Ferris Wheel at the Santa Monica Pier are Claude Crumin (played by Murray Hamilton), who is afraid of heights, and the obnoxious Herbie Kazlminsky (played by Eddie Deezen), who was thoughtful enough to pack a vetriloquist dummy of himself along to their lookout operation. Meanwhile, General Stilwell (played by Robert Stack) is in town and after making a speech as the local air base is looking forward to a quiet evening of Dumbo, while his assistant, Captain Loomis Birkhead (played by Tim Matheson) has his eye on the General's secretary, Donna Stratton (played by Nancy Allen), who has a thing for airplanes. All of these assorted characters will cross paths with one another over the course of one very crazy night.

Steven Spielberg elected to direct the film upon reading the script written by future Back to the Future filmmakers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale and since he didn't have anything else on his plate at the moment decided to make the film. Up until this point, Spielberg had never made a straight comedy before. His films always had some humor to them, but they were never out and out comedies before. He saw this as a challenge to see if he could pull it off. From a narrative standpoint, Spielberg does a good job juggling the different plotlines that run throughout the film, of which there are many. He also manages to set up some good gags, including an opening that directly spoofs the opening of Jaws, complete with the same actress Susan Backlinie. The humor of the film leans heavily on screwball and slapstick comedy and I imagine one's enjoyment of the film will depend on how much they enjoy that sort of humor. While I've never found the film as hysterically funny as it seems to think it is, I do find it to be a great deal of fun nonetheless. The film is epic in scope as it moves from big set piece to big set piece, from Kelso accidentally blowing up a rural gas station (previously featured in Duel no less) to an all out riot in the dance hall between all the different factions of the U.S Military to an aerial battle over Hollywood Boulevard or a runaway Ferris Wheel rolling down the Santa Monica pier among assorted other shenanigans. The film spares no expense in pulling off these sequences, with some of the best miniature work I've ever seen in this film. The whole film is then tied together with one of my absolute favorite John Williams scores that helps give the film it's energy and drive as it speeds through it's 2-2 and 1/2 hour run time, depending on which cut you watch.      

The film does manage to assemble an impressive cast for the film. We have both John Belushi and Tim Matheson fresh off National Lampoon's Animal House, and admittingly pretty much still playing the same characters. Ned Beatty has a fun turn as the patriotic Walt who is honored to have the anti-aircraft gun stationed in his yard, even if his wife (played by Lorraine Gary) is mortified and hates guns of any kind. In addition to Dan Aykroyd, who is clearly having fun playing a character who becomes increasingly unhinged as the film goes on, his unit also includes early roles for both John Candy and Mickey Rourke. Toshiro Mifune makes a rare English Language film appearance here are the Commander of the Japanese Sub and like Robert Stack's General Stilwell, is one of the few sane people in the film. Christopher Lee has a fun turn as the Nazi Captain assigned to oversee the mission, but constantly has to take a back seat to the Japanese Commander. Murray Hamilton and Eddie Deezen pair surprisingly well as an odd couple of lookouts stuck on a Ferris Wheel as Hamilton's character is terrified of heights and to make matters worse has to be up there with Deezen, whom he finds both insane and incredibly annoying. Robert Stack is amusing as General Stilwell, who just wants a night of peace and quiet watching Dumbo at the local theater but instead has to deal with a bunch of lunatics losing their damn minds. Treat Williams makes for a decent smarmy baddie and is mainly an antagonist to Bobby Di Cicco's Wally and the two actors have some decent face offs during the course of the film. Nancy Allen has a nice turn as Donna Stratton, a young woman who has a love for Military Aircraft, and moreso wants more than anything to make love in one while flying, something that gets her and Matheson's Birkhead into a lot of trouble when he tries to make that ambition come true. The film has assorted other cameos such as Miss Fitzroy, who is overseeing the USO Dance or Slim Pickens as a tree farmer named Hollis Wood (who some scouting Japanese sub crew members mistake for the Hollywood they're supposed to be looking for, of course). 

While even I will concede that 1941 is far from Spielberg's best, it does have a certain crazy energy to it that I've always found entertaining. The film does establish certain themes that would re-occur throughout Spielberg's career, including World War II and a love for aviation, the latter most memorably in the young protagonist of Empire of the Sun. There are two cuts of the film, as I mentioned before. The theatrical cut is the leaner of the two and comes in right at two hours, but I really do feel the longer director's cut, clocking in at two and a half hours (which is an insane runtime for a comedy) is the stronger cut as each storyline is more fleshed out and the movie approaches something that possibly makes sense. Whether or not that really helps in the end in another question. Maybe you just need to be as crazy as I am to really be able to appreciate this one.