Post by ZolotoyRetriever on Jun 3, 2018 18:47:42 GMT
Zolotoy--
I DVR'd this too, but haven't had a chance to see it from beginning to end yet--I still have it.
I think this is considered a John Ford movie even though Ford gave it over to Gregg Toland (who could get some good video shots). Right?
I enjoy seeing movies before they were edited.
Why did they edit it again?
Was it to correct things implied about Japanese-Americans?
I DVR'd this too, but haven't had a chance to see it from beginning to end yet--I still have it.
I think this is considered a John Ford movie even though Ford gave it over to Gregg Toland (who could get some good video shots). Right?
I enjoy seeing movies before they were edited.
Why did they edit it again?
Was it to correct things implied about Japanese-Americans?
kijii: Yes, apparently Ford was busy with several other projects at the time, and turned much of this over to Gregg Toland, even though Ford got most of the credit for the finished product.
As to the censorship/suppression of the finished product, I think the Navy didn't like the way the documentary "hit too close to home" so to speak, in that it cast a critical eye on the various blunders the military made in not being better prepared for such an attack. As I mentioned, it showed how careless chatter from servicemen and their family members could've fed vital bits of info to Japanese intelligence operatives. It also questioned the inadequate (or even complete lack of) long-range air and sea patrols that could've detected the Japanese invasion fleet well in advance; it noted the incorrect interpretation of a radar signal that showed the attacking planes on their way in, and commented unfavorably on the placement of planes on runways wing-tip to wing-tip which made them easy to destroy en masse, etc. In short, the military didn't like things that made the military look bad - I guess that was deemed bad for morale.
As to the depiction of the Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii - which, as I said, was ultimately sympathetic - that might've played a part in the suppression, too, because by the time the film was ready to be shown to the public, FDR had already implemented the Japanese-American relocation program (i.e., internment camps), so any favorable attitude towards Japanese-Americans, which this documentary seemed to imply, would've cast doubts on FDR's relocation program.
BTW, interesting tidbit here, but I noticed that YouTube has both the "long" as well as the "short" (or "censored") versions of this documentary. I haven't had a chance to compare the two, but will do so soon. I'll watch the short version to see just what the military left in and what they left out. That should be an interesting watch!