Evening star., 1944-12-25

dience sense of actually sitting ia
the nose OF Lawson's BIS bomber
Almost as nerve-stretching Is the
passage which reproduces the take-
OF OF the huge, heavily laden plane
from the deck of the carrier Hornet,
an incomparably sdificult feat OF
plotting.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a
long Aim but 1t never is wasteful of
the excitement packed into the adj
venture, and it never quite loses the
flavor Of a documentary. It is the
total account of one of the most
amazing fighting teams ever as
sembled. 1t takes you with the group
through every aspect of their dar-
ing mission, from those suspense
filled weeks during which the high
ly specialized and secret training
was In process to their mad flight
to escape capture by the Japanese
and finally their return to this
country.
Lawson, played by johnson, is the
character upon whom the story is
always focused. Doolittle, imper-
sonated rather grimly by Tracy. was
a busy man but his business in those
days was private and secret and he
pops into the story very largely only
in passing. 1t is Lawson the camera
follows, the boy who married his
campus sweetheart, who wanted to
be an aeronautical engineer and
enlisted in the Air Force to get a
proper background. the chap who
took Off the deck of the Hornet for
getful of one of his most important
instructions, and who was most se-
verely hurt of his crew In their
crash-landing off the coast of China.
His dimensions are always human
rather than heroic and that is dis
tlnctly to the advantage of Thirty
Seconds Over Tokyo" 1t Is easily
the most engaging role that has
fallen to Johnson, one of the
cinema's busiest young men, and he
makes the character unfailingly in
teresting
1t Is one of the impressive assets
OF the Palace picture that it never
falters In suspense after passing such
thrilling climax as that repre-
sented in the actual bombing run.
Thereafter it becomes a race with
death, of pitifully wounded men in
flight across the wastelands of
China, unable to find proper med
ical supplies or attention, and ,ln-
able to pause long enough to profit
by them had they been available.
Whatever digressions are to be
found in the picture are in its
earlier sequences, those which show
the young airmen and their wives
and sweethearts trying to find mo-
ments IN which to be happy in a
careening universe. 1t might have
been possible to shorten the film
by deleting or telescoping some of
these but 1t is doubtful that any,
one will find occasion to complain
OF their presence or length.
There is some excellent character
portraituTe to 60 with the superb
photography of Thirty Seconds
ofCl 4OhyO aloS 4tIdhIET Is UuI-
standing in her impersonation of
gentle, courageous Ellen Lawson,
the wife who never doubted her
Ted would return to her and their
baby. Fine, too, is gangling young
Walker as Sergt. Thatcher, the kid
in the tail gunner's turret: Horace
McNally as Doc White. Tim Muir
dpck oe ncap Haueppcrt upd fxor
don Mcdonald as Bob Clever.
The Palace, beyond question,
should be on your calling list for
the holidays.
THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO an
MGM Picture with Spencer Tracy and Van
produced by Sam Zambalist. di-
rected by Mervyn Leroy, screenplay by
Dalton Trunabo, based on the book by Cap
tai Ted Lawson and Robert Considine.
At the Palace.
- II