THE MAKING OF TORA! TORA! TORA!
Behind the Scenes of a Cinematic Epic
THE MAKING OF TORA! TORA! TORA!
The historic film Tora! Tora! Tora!, which portrays the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, was released in September of 1970, having started filming in 1968. In the title, “Tora,” which means “tiger,” is short for a two-syllable codeword meaning “lightning attack,” used to signify that complete surprise had been achieved.
Produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda, and Kinji Fukasaku, the film features a notable ensemble cast, including Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, So Yamamura, E.G. Marshall, James Whitmore, Tatsuya Mihashi, Takahiro Tamura, Wesley Addy, and Jason Robards. This film marked Masuda and Fukasaku’s English-language debut and first international co-production.
Elmo Williams
Richard Fleischer
Toshio Masuda
Kinji Fukasaku
Production on Tora! Tora! Tora! took three years to plan and prepare for the eight months of principal photography. The film was created in two productions, one based in the United States, directed by Richard Fleischer, and one based in Japan. The budget for the film was $25 million and it brought in just $29.5 million. It is not an especially successful film by today’s standards, but it has been critically acclaimed – nominated for Cinematography, Editing, and Visual Effects awards.
This article will give you a taste of the overall effort that went into this motion picture and the incredible production efforts involved. Not the least of these are onset accidents used in the final cut!
A Quick Look At The History
Let’s first revisit a few facts about the actual attack on Pearl Harbor: The United States had been providing material support to the Allies but had not directly entered the war against the Axis powers. However, tensions between the US and Japan were mounting in 1941, leading to a state of near war between the two nations.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the USS Ward, under the command of LCDR William W. Outerbridge, was on a precautionary patrol near the entrance to Pearl Harbor. At 03:57, the coastal minesweeper Condor signaled Ward about a periscope sighting. Ward began searching for the contact, and at approximately 06:37, they spotted a periscope trailing the cargo ship USS Antares.
A Japanese Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarine attempted to enter Pearl Harbor by following the Antares through the harbor entrance’s antisubmarine nets. As the submarine had not signaled any intent to stop and was entering the territorial waters of a neutral country without permission, it was not entitled to “innocent passage” protections. The Ward fired several rounds from its main guns, hitting the submarine’s conning tower, and dropped several depth charges during the attack. This engagement marked the first American-caused casualty in the Pacific Theater of World War II, occurring just hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
December 7, 1941 – Morning at Pearl Harbor
A Personal Perspective
The event with the USS Ward is portrayed in the movie, using real US Navy destroyers from my father’s squadron, DESRON 5. The squadron was present at Pearl Harbor when the movie was being filmed. Three ships of DESRON 5, all with the same hull number painted on the bow, were stand-ins for the USS Ward. My brother, Carl, who was 14 then, was invited out when they were filming the scenes for the Ward shooting at the prop mini-sub and then depth charging it. As my brother tells it, he “had to wear a long sleeve chambray shirt and dixie cup (sailor) hat to go out on deck.” In fact, he still has the green wax prop shell that they used to load the forward deck gun. He was back on the stern when the special effects person explained to my father the precautions being taken to control the explosions, simulating the charges going off. Dad was understandably concerned that the blast might damage the ship if it went off too close.
Model of the USS Ward
I was ten at the time of filming, and we lived in Navy housing at McGrew Point. The Point sticks out into Pearl Harbor, so we were tied to the filming in more ways than one. My brother and I remember going to school with B-17s and “Japanese Zeros” flying overhead. I had a few friends who would get together and run to the beach whenever possible to catch the action. We would wave at the planes as they flew above us, hoping to get some sort of response. After a few times doing this, I recall somebody on one of the planes using a megaphone to shout at us to get off the beach. I can picture the film editors shaking their heads as these little kids added to their already difficult tasks. Somewhere, my movie debut is on the cutting-room floor.
How The Idea Was Born
Richard Zanuck, son of the legendary chairman of Fox, Darryl Zanuck, turned to the formula used in “The Longest Day” (1962) for the project. Zanuck and his colleague, producer Elmo Williams, decided to tackle the story of Pearl Harbor. Williams, a seasoned studio veteran and former editor known for his work on “High Noon”, had previously conceived and directed the battle sequences in “The Longest Day”. This time, he faced the challenge of a lifetime.
Williams proposed a new approach: telling the story of Pearl Harbor from American and Japanese perspectives, with filmmakers from their respective countries creating each side’s sequences. American filmmakers would handle the American scenes, while Japanese filmmakers would handle the Japanese scenes. The two halves would then be seamlessly edited to create a cohesive whole.
The producers aimed to present both the American and Japanese viewpoints in the film and did not want it to overly glorify the American forces. They also sought to avoid using big-name actors who might distract from the story. Neville Brand, who portrayed Lieutenant Kaminski in the film, was an exception. Brand, a well-known actor, was also the third most decorated serviceman in the US Armed Forces.
The Quest for Accuracy
Hideo Oguni, Larry Forrester, and Ryuzo Kikushima wrote the screenplay, which was based on information from the books of military historian Ladislas Farago. Gordon Prange from the University of Maryland served as a consultant. The production team went to great lengths to ensure film accuracy.
Many technical advisors, both American and Japanese, who participated in various stages of the Pearl Harbor action were crucial for maintaining accuracy. One of these advisors, Minoru Genda, actually assisted in planning the attack in 1941. Despite his significant contribution, he is uncredited in the film.
The US Navy allowed its personnel to participate in the attack scenes, which sparked criticism from some US citizens who felt that the filming glorified the strength of the Japanese and portrayed Americans as weak. To address these concerns, the Navy ordered that servicemen and women could only work on the set while off-duty and that they had to be paid as extras.
Creating the Fleet
Assembling a ‘fleet’ and aircraft to reenact the events of the attack was a monumental task. The carrier seen entering the harbor toward the film’s end is an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship, the USS Tripoli.
The anti-submarine carrier USS Yorktown was modified to resemble a Japanese aircraft carrier for the film.
Similarly, many aircraft used in the film were modified for their roles. Lynn Garrison assembled the Japanese air fleet, and some of his modified aircraft were also used in other movies.
The Japanese aircraft, including AGM Zero fighters, torpedo bombers, and dive bombers, were actually modified RCAF Harvard (T-6 Texan) training or BT-13 Valiant training aircraft.
Model of the Nevada Battleship
Model of the Kirishima Battleship
Vultee BT-13 Valiant
Model of the Abukuma Ship
The USS Yorktown transported the aircraft and maintenance crew from San Diego to Hawaii. The Japanese aircraft launches were filmed in Yorktown when she was a few miles west of San Diego.
Since these planes were not real Japanese aircraft, they did not have the necessary equipment to land back in Yorktown. Instead, they returned to the port of North Island in San Diego. Yorktown then sailed after them and reloaded them before taking them to Hawaii for the Pearl Harbor attack scenes.
The battleship shown in the film’s opening scenes was a complete replica. It was built on a Japanese beach alongside a replica of another carrier, the Akagi.
USS Yorktown
USS Yorktown
On-Set Accidents and a Few Inaccuracies
During filming, several planes were staged to crash. However, one Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress experienced an actual accident. The pilot informed the film crew that the plane’s landing gear was jammed, and it touched down on only one wheel, sustaining minor damage to the starboard wing. The production team decided to use the footage of the actual crash, but for the moments leading up to the crash, they substituted footage of another Flying Fortress with its landing gear manually retracted, resulting in a noticeable difference in the final production.
Five B-17s and other US aircraft, such as the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Consolidated PBY Catalinas, were acquired for filming. Some US planes shown in the film, like the P-40 fighters, were fiberglass props. One of these models crashed in the wrong place among a line of other P-40s, and the individuals seen running for their lives in the film were actually running for their lives!
Some of the markings on the Zeros are incorrectly displayed, as is a scene where a damaged Japanese Zero fighter deliberately crashes into a hangar. In reality, there were three Zero crashes, but none were into a hangar.
Those who have spent time on Oahu would certainly have noticed one rather obvious error: A white cross can be seen on the mountainside in several scenes of attack squadrons flying over Oahu. However, this cross was placed there after the Japanese attack as a memorial to the victims of Pearl Harbor.
Nonetheless, A Film Classic
Tora! Tora! Tora! was released in the United States by Twentieth Century Fox on September 23, 1970, and in Japan by the Toei Company on September 25. While it received mixed reviews from American critics, the film was praised for its historical accuracy, attention to detail, visual effects, and action sequences. A 1994 survey at the USS Arizona Memorial found that the film was the most common source of popular knowledge about the Pearl Harbor attack among Americans.
The film was nominated for five Oscars at the 43rd Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, winning Best Visual Effects for L.B. Abbott and A.D. Flowers. The National Board of Review ranked it in its Top Ten Films of 1971.
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