Evening star., 1944-03-25
Tokyo Take-Off
Is Top Thrill
In New Film
BY HAROLD HEFFERNAN.
HGIJ.YWCOD

ny IIhnoLD 1lEE Il EhENAlNs
HOLLYWOOD.
One Of the really great stories
of the Pacific side OF this war was
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" a de-
scription Of the Doolittle adventure
as set down in best-seller style by
one of the pilots, Capt. Ted Law
son. Perhaps its most gripping
single episode was that tense mo-
ment on the Hornet when those big
BPS bombers made ready to take
of from the short flight deck-an
unprecedented experiment.
And that sequence, according to
Director Meryyn LIE Roy, who is max
ing the picture version, will be the
top breath-taker in the movie. To
get it down pat. lie Roy took a troupe
to Florida, where, with the Coop
Grafton of the United States Army
Air Forces, most of the aerial Sc
quences were filmed.
I'VE have one of the most grip
ping tales of the war as background
to work FROM" said LIE Roy, but
the written word won't compare
with actually seeing on the screen
how carefully and daringly the
Tokyo raid was conceived and ex-
ecuted. I think that 500-foot take
off will be one of the most thrilling
things the screen has ever pre-
sented.
ITO give you an idea of what a
mighty feat that was, a BIS has a
normal take-off of 1900 feet at 80
miles an hour. To get the fully
loaded B-25s off the deck Of the
Hornet, they had to take off in 500
feet at so miles an hour. At the
field where we worked, the runway
was marked off with white lines to
duplicate the limits of the Har-
nets flight deck, just as Doolittle
laid it out originally. Before his
flyers turned the trick, no one had
ever tried taking a 25,000- pound
bomber off in such short distance.
"In the picture. we will show ex-
actly how 1t was done. First, blocks
are placed under the wheels of the
bomber. Then the motors are given
full throttle until the plane seems
ready to jump into the air. The
flaps are let down all the way. Att
the precise moment when the mo-
tors are functioning at full power,
the blocks are pulled away from the
wheels, the plane darts down the
runway and the pilot seems to lit
orally pull it into the air.
Many officers came to watch the
take-offs, which to them were more
interesting than any other phase of
our filming. AS one of them re-
marked to me. Now that I've seen it.
I believe it-but, brother, I hope I
never have to try it."
LIE Roy took a company OF SO to
Florida, including % members of
the cast, headed by Van johnson as
1t. (now captain) Ted w. Law
son, Phyllis Thaxter as his wife,
Ellen, and Bob Walker as Corpl.
(now staff sergeanD David Thatch-
er. AL the flight sequences were
photographed at a field not far
from where the Tokyo flyers actually
trained
I'VE had pretty tough luck with
the weather, but expected it," LIE
Roy said. The last four days were
perfect, which made 1t possible to
get every shot we went after. The
terrain and cloud effects are typi-
cally Florida and will give the pic
ture an authentic atmosphere.
THE location was valuable, too.
in giving the company an idea of
how the air forces operate and the
type of men who fly our planes. II
tested and interviewed $50 boys to
complete the cast, because I wanted
new faces, and notably those of boys
who looked like flyers"
Although the picture can't pos
sibly be completed and released
before next October, lie Roy is con-
fldent 1t will still carry public in
terest, regardless of whether war
movies are at that time hot or cold
In the fans taste. He points out
that this issthe first authentic pic
ture of the war to be made. Others
have been based on more or less
flctional events. He plans this
simple foreword: This is a true
story"
Studios are doing all right by the
returned war heroes. More and
more vets are being signed daily
for screen roles-not mere bit parts,
but good substantial jobs where they
can get in front of the cameras and
strut ther stuff.
There are three promising vets
in 10th CenturyFox Wing and q
Prayer" Jerry Shane, 10. who plays
an elisted gunner in Dana An
Andrews torpedo-bomber, wears the
Southwest Pacific medal with two
studs, also the presidential citation
ribbon with star for the service he
saw on Guadalcanal. Malaria
counted him out of service.
John Miles, a f1ier in the pic
ture, was II months in the Air
Corps before he was washed out
because of injuries.
Third veteran is John Hardin. a
Texas boy who was an RAF pilot.
Slugs in his back sustained in a
fight with a Messerschmitt brought
him back home-and to the movies.
(Released by North American Newspaper
Alliance, Inc)