Destination Tokyo

Destination Tokyo – In order to provide information for the 1st air raid over Tokyo, a U.S. submarine sneaks into Tokyo Bay & places a spy team ashore.

Destination Tokyo (1943) starring Cary Grant, John Garfield

Synopsis of Destination Tokyo

 It’s a daring and dangerous underwater adventure with Oscar-winner Cary Grant (The Awful Truth, Suspicion, North by Northwest) as the captain of a U.S. submarine bound for a search and destroy mission in Tokyo harbor during WWII. Co-starring Oscar-nominee John Garfield (Gentleman’s Agreement, The Postman Always Rings Twice). Look for the screen debut of young John Forsythe (TV’s Dynasty  and the voice of Charlie on Charlie’s Angels). Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay.

Editorial review of  Destination Tokyo courtesy of Amazon.com

The offbeat casting of Cary Grant as a submarine captain pays off in this tense WWII underwater picture; he ably trades in his sophistication for the sweaty close quarters of an action movie. The mission? Infiltrate the mined harbor of Tokyo itself, a feat bookended by a brief confrontation in the Aleutians and a depth-charge chase through the open sea. Skipper Grant is supported by the usual stock crew of Navy melting-pot types, with John Garfield drawing duty as the resident dame-crazy fantasist. (Somebody forgot to put the saltpeter in his chow, apparently.) The solid action alternates with dialogue that tends toward the schmaltzy or jingoistic (the movie’s become somewhat notorious for its unusually nasty propagandistic jabs at the Japanese enemy). Destination Tokyo was the directing debut of Delmer Daves, who would later excel in smart Westerns such as 3:10 to Yuma. —Robert Horton

Cast of characters

• Cary Grant (Holiday) … Capt. Cassidy
• John Garfield (Between Two Worlds) … Wolf
• Alan Hale (The Adventures of Mark Twain) … ‘Cookie’ Wainwright
• John Ridgely (Arsenic and Old Lace) … Reserve Officer Raymond
• Dane Clark (God is my Co-Pilot) … Tin Can
• Warner Anderson (Destination Moon) … Andy
• William Prince (Pillow to Post) … Pills
• Robert Hutton (Cinderfella) … Tommy Adams
• Tom Tully (Killer McCoy) … Mike Conners
• Faye Emerson (Hotel Berlin) … Mrs. Cassidy
• Peter Whitney … Dakota
• Warren Douglas (In the Heat of the Night) … Larry
• John Forsythe (Bachelor Father, Dynasty) … Sparks
• John Alvin (Somewhere in Time, The Beast with Five Fingers) … Sound Man
• Bill Kennedy (Adventures of Superman TV series) … Torpedo Gunnery Officer

Movie quotes

Reserve Officer Raymond: [Just having come aboard the ‘Copperfin’] Uh… How do I get below, sir? I… I’ve never been aboard a submarine before.
Capt. Cassidy: [Slightly bemused, as he points to the only obvious entry into the submarine] There’s the hatch. It goes ‘down.’

Reserve Officer Raymond: [during a depth charge attack] Captain, I’m no good.
Capt. Cassidy: Why’s that?
Reserve Officer Raymond: I’m scared stiff.
Capt. Cassidy: How do you think the rest of us feel?
Reserve Officer Raymond: You’re not scared. I’ve looked at your faces.
Capt. Cassidy: I’ve looked at yours, too. It’s the same as the others.
Reserve Officer Raymond: You’re scared?
Capt. Cassidy: I’ll say I am. And so is everybody else.

Mike Conners: [Tommy Adams is starting look-out duty] Keep your eyes peeled Kid… we’re nobody’s friend! Even our own ships’ll shoot first and ask questions later!

Tin Can: Congratulations, Wolf.
Wolf: On what?
Tin Can: It’s been an hour since anything reminded you of a dame.

Tommy Adams: You ever want to be a real doctor, Pills?
Pills: Yeah… I was one of those college wise-guys who didn’t know where he was going. Funny place to find out, on submarines.
Tommy Adams: What college did you go to?
Pills: California. Only a year. Then I signed up. I had an “A” in chemistry… so they made me a Pharmacists Mate.