Showing posts with label 1941 at the Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1941 at the Movies. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Sunday, November 30, 1941. War Warnings

On this day in 1941 Sunday newspaper readers in Hawaii woke up to read that war with Japan was imminent.  Indeed, headlines in the Hilo Tribune and Honolulu Advertiser read that Japan might strike that next weekend, the weekend of December 6/7.  In fact, the Emperor had issued permission to Tojo to proceed to war.

The Germans retreated near the Mius after the Soviets successfully took back Rostov.  Gerd von Rundstedt issued the order and then continued the retreat in spite of having received direct orders from Hitler to stop it.  On the same day, the commander of the German Army Group Center, Fedor von Bock, directly quested German intelligence estimates of the forces opposing him, which he correctly guessed to be inaccurate.

Also, on the same day they commenced mass murder in Rumbula, Latvia, of the area's Jewish population.  Ultimately, 25,000 people would die.

Two Faced Woman was released. The movie would be Greta Garbo's last appearance.  The film was a bomb, featuring Garbo as a woman posing as her own, fictitious, twin engaged in an effort to recapture the affections of her ex-husband.  The movie met with poor reviews and with the condemnation of the Legion of Decency.  Given the latter, the film was withdrawn and recut, but still bombed.

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Friday November 14, 1941. The Ark Royal Sinks, the Marines Leave, and Suspicion.

Suspicion, the film, not the feeling, premiered on this day in 1941. 

The Ark Royal, hit yesterday by a torpedo, sank.

Remarkably, only one life was lost due to the sinking.

The movie is also mentioned on Sarah Sundin's excellent blog, along with the item that the United States ordered the withdrawal of Marines from China to the Philippines along with the river gunboats of the U.S. Navy.

Today in World War II History—November 14, 1941

The Marine Corps had a presence in China that dated back to the 19th Century, as indeed did the U.S. Army (the 6th Cavalry had once patrolled in northern China).  In context however, the Marines in China in 1941 were there, as were the Navy's gunboats, as part of a military mission in the country to protect American lives and property in the context of the Chinese Civil War. They'd been placed there with that mission in 1927.

Their withdrawal came at this point as it war with Japan was regarded as nearly inevitable and the Navy and Marine Corps mission in the country placed those assigned to it at the mercy of the Japanese, given their location.  The Marine Corps returned to China following the war's end, but were withdrawn again in 1948 as the Nationalist began to slide towards defeat.

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Tuesday, October 28, 1941. Lend Lease gets an office, How Green Was My Valley gets a film.

P-39L-1BE 44-4673 on its way to the Soviet Union. The P39 was a favorite of the Soviet Air Force, but never really well liked by the U.S.

The Office of Lend Lease Administration was established on this day in 1941 to oversee that effort, something I only am aware of due to the link below:

Today in World War II History—October 28, 1941

Lend Lease was a massive effort, suffice it to say, and was one of the primary ways in which the US helped bring about the Allied victory.

In the US, the classic film How Green Was My Valley, about Welsh miners, was released. The John Ford epic is highly regarded, as is the semi biographical book it is taken from, but I've not read the book nor seen the film myself.


The Germans reached Tula south of Moscow, but were stopped there. They would not take the city.

The troops that reached the border of the city were under Guderian's command.  While I can't find it offhand, I think that Tula is the city which Guderian made the really odd comment about "Tula, long drive, blond girl".

I have no idea what that means.

Lavrentiy Beria, Soviet Georgian, rapist, murderer and head of the Soviet NKVD had twenty former Soviet military officers and politicians executed in Kuybyshev.

In his capacity as an official murderer (rape was his hobby, being the bloody head of the NKVD his occupation) he was responsible for the deaths of thousands, but would go on to be executed following the death of his murderous patron, fellow Georgian Stalin, by natural. . . maybe, causes.

Australia opened its first diplomatic mission to China, opening it in Chunking due to wartime conditions in the country.

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Thursday October 23, 1941. Dumbo released

On this day in 1941 the Walt Disney animated film Dumbo was released.  I've never seen it.

Free French leader Charles De Gaulle asked the French Resistance to halt assassinating Nazi figures in order to end German reprisals.

Both of these are noted here:

Today in World War II History—October 23, 1941

The German government banned the emigration of Jews from territory held by Germany, now that its mass murder campaign was in full swing.

The Germans killed all the males age 16 to 69 in Mesouvouno Greece.

Congress voted to add $5.96B to the Lend Lease bill,

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Movies In History: The Maltese Falcon

The other day, I ran this really long item on the 80 years ago theme:

Lex Anteinternet: Friday October 3, 1941. The Maltese Falcon

Friday October 3, 1941. The Maltese Falcon

Humphrey Bogart appeared as Sam Spade in the classic, The Maltese Falcon, which was released on this day in 1941.

Today in World War II History—October 3, 1941


In spite of the movie poster, I don't recall a lot of "blazing automatics" in the film, but it is a great film.

Not generally recognized today, the film is a remake of a film by the same name, from a decade prior.  The two films are actually reportedly very close in plot, with both very closely following the Dashiell Hammett book, but the 31 variant was a pre Production Code film and contained elements that were omitted from the 41 film, including some fairly open references to homosexuality and hints at nudity. This is interesting for a variety of reasons, including that while the movies track each other in all other respects, the 1941 version which omits this material is the one that is remembered, suggesting that the degree to which material is really necessary in movies is overstated.

The film was directed by John Huston, a great director and legendary Hollywood figures, and Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, both of whom had appeared in the recently released Casablanca, which some also regard as a film noir, appeared again with Bogart in this film.  Indeed, it's a surprise to me that The Maltese Falcon was released after Casablanca, as it has the feel of an older film. 

The 31 film came just a year after the novel was released.  The 41 film overshadows the novel and the 31 film, which is a credit to it.  Both film variants reported follow the dialog of the book very closely which is of note as the dialog in this film is so distinct that it's come to define film noir in many people's minds, even though many film noir feature nothing of the sort.  Having said that, they all have a certain gritty feel to them.  At any rate, the film's dialog is so well known that both serious noir efforts such as Pat Novak for Hire, the radio drama, and parodies, such as Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and Calvin & Hobbes detective base their dialog on it.

The Maltese Falcon famously concludes with the revelation that the falcon figurine is a fraud , with Spade then indentifying that "that's the stuff dreams are made of", one of the most famous movie lines of all time.


After that, I thought, should I add this to the "Movies In History" page?

Well, there's good reasons not to.  This is a movie made in 1941, it's not a movie looking back on 1941. When this film was made people were going to the movies, so they could have a couple of hours not to think about whether the US was going to enter the global catechism, whether Moscow was going to fall to the Germans, and whether they were going to be drafted.  

Still, we wrote quite a bit about it, and this is a really influential movie, so perhaps we ought to spend a little time looking at it.

The central plot here, and I'm going to really unfairly reduce it, is that everyone is looking for the jewel encrusted Maltese Falcon, a remnant of the Knights of Malta, which has been lost to the world but which now is nearly found, and which criminal elements are closing in on.  People are getting murdered. Femme fatales are really being fatal, and creepy criminals are lurking everywhere.  Standing against them and for the forces of justice are Sam Spade, super private eye, whose partner has just been gunned down in a murder made to look like a suicide.

Yikes, what a plot.

It's a very good movie.  Does it reflect its time.

Well, no, but it does act as sort of an interesting mirror in a way.

Now, what we can't take from that is that this is somehow a realistic image of what private detectives did in the 1930s and 40s. . . or ever.   Probably the portrayal of the Volkswagen driving PI in The Big Lebowski is more representative of that.  And while I have no doubt that the hard-boiled image portrayed by Bogart has been affected by PI's from time to time, it probably doesn't accurately reflect the profession either, other than that it probably can be a dicey way to make a living.  So we can toss that out for the most part.

But in terms of male clothing, it probably is reflective to a degree of the style of the time.  The suits are cheap and plain, which is a not inaccurate portrayal of day to day life in the 30s and 40s for men.  Bogart wears a fedora, but he preferred Borsolino's, which were a very expensive Italian fedora.  He usually wore his own hat in films as he preferred that brand.  He wears a trench coat in the movie, which became a movie prop, but at the time this was made that was an intentional reference to service in World War One, which gave us that coat in its original and best form. The firearms are mostly conventional and correct for the period, although his partner is murdered with a Webley Fosbery Automatic Revolver, which would be weird for any era. This is pointed out by Spade in the film, which shows I suppose about how acutely aware he is of every detail of a crime.

As for the women, Mary Astor is ridiculously well-dressed for the era, something that was common for movies of this era.  Films tended to dress leading ladies glamorously, not matter what.

So, not a documentary by any means, but some interesting reflections of the era in which it was made.  Part of that reflection, as we've noted, comes filtered through the Hayes Production Code, which was now in effect.  In spite of that, the 1941 version of the film is remembered and the 1931 version, which was more salacious, is not.  Anyway you look at it, Sam Spade is a guys' guy, with no doubts about his masculinity, and while the central female figure is an evil self acting woman, she's pretty clearly a woman, or maybe a gal, or a dame.

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Friday October 3, 1941. The Maltese Falcon

Humphrey Bogart appeared as Sam Spade in the classic, The Maltese Falcon, which was released on this day in 1941.

Today in World War II History—October 3, 1941


In spite of the movie poster, I don't recall a lot of "blazing automatics" in the film, but it is a great film.

Not generally recognized today, the film is a remake of a film by the same name, from a decade prior.  The two films are actually reportedly very close in plot, with both very closely following the Dashiell Hammett book, but the 31 variant was a pre Production Code film and contained elements that were omitted from the 41 film, including some fairly open references to homosexuality and hints at nudity. This is interesting for a variety of reasons, including that while the movies track each other in all other respects, the 1941 version which omits this material is the one that is remembered, suggesting that the degree to which material is really necessary in movies is overstated.

The film was directed by John Huston, a great director and legendary Hollywood figures, and Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, both of whom had appeared in the recently released Casablanca, which some also regard as a film noir, appeared again with Bogart in this film.  Indeed, it's a surprise to me that The Maltese Falcon was released after Casablanca, as it has the feel of an older film. 

The 31 film came just a year after the novel was released.  The 41 film overshadows the novel and the 31 film, which is a credit to it.  Both film variants reported follow the dialog of the book very closely which is of note as the dialog in this film is so distinct that it's come to define film noir in many people's minds, even though many film noir feature nothing of the sort.  Having said that, they all have a certain gritty feel to them.  At any rate, the film's dialog is so well known that both serious noir efforts such as Pat Novak for Hire, the radio drama, and parodies, such as Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and Calvin & Hobbes detective base their dialog on it.

The Maltese Falcon famously concludes with the revelation that the falcon figurine is a fraud , with Spade then indentifying that "that's the stuff dreams are made of", one of the most famous movie lines of all time.

On the same day Adolph Hitler delivered a public speech in Berlin's Sportspalast stating that the Soviet Union was almost defeated and that Germany could defeat any enemy, no matter how much they spent trying to take Germany on, a reference to American lend lease.

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Friday, September 5, 1941. Citizen Kane.

Citizen Kane, which many film buffs and film critics regard as the greatest movie ever made, or the greatest American movie ever made, was released.


Of course, whether it's the greatest is something that is too subjective to really determine, but it is a great film to be sure, and the widely held view that it is the greatest cannot be discounted.  It's certainly the greatest Orson Welles film, and Welles was a great actor and director.

The film is a fictionalized account of the life of William Randolph Hearst with Welles in the central role, as the fictionalized version, Charles Foster Kane.  The film goes from Kane's infancy in Colorado, where his ambitious mother sends him off in the care of a financial adviser after her boozy husband strikes it rich in Colorado from gold, through his early life, onto a publishing career, and into a miserable adulthood.  It's not a flattering portrayal of Kane/Hearst, although it is a sympathetic one.  Be that as it may, it was flattering in a "great guy" sort of way, but in a "destroyed soul" sort of way, and Hearst really hated it.  His papers took up attacking Welles as a result.

It was Welles first feature film, and by far his best.  It was Joseph Cotten's best film as well, although he'd show up very favorably in Twelve O'Clock High.

If you have not seen it, and you like movies, you really owe it to yourself to see it.

On the same day, the B-17E made its first flight.

The E variant of the B-17 was the first one that took on its familiar form.  It was a larger airplane than the prior variants and was designed for offensive, not defensive, warfare.  Earlier US thinking on heavy bombers was really geared towards coastal defense. The focus was now switching towards continental offensive strategic bombing.

B-17E on New Caledonia.

On the same day, perhaps illustrating the points noted above, Royal Air Force B-17s unsuccessully attacked the German ship Adrimal Speer.

Both of the times above are also discussed here:

Today in World War II History—September 5, 1941


The SS drove 1,500 Jewish residents of Pavoloch, Ukraine to the local Jewish cemetery, made them dig their own graves, and murdered them.

On the same day, as noted in the Today In World War II History item noted above, the Soviet government evacuated residents of 12 years of age and younger from the city.

Elsewhere, all over the US, troops were training for a coming war which was obviously coming for all who had eyes to see, although many still hoped it wouldn't come.

 Camp Blanding, Florida, September 5, 1941.

Monday, May 3, 2021

May 3, 1941. Meet John Doe

The famous Capra film, Meet John Doe, was released on this date in 1941, which I only know as its mentioned here:

Today in World War II History—May 3, 1941

The film is regarded as a classic, but its one that I haven't seen.

Australian troops at Tobruk launched a counterattack, but were repulsed by Italians, while at sea the Italians took a bruising from the British.

Italy annexed part of Slovenia and termed it the Province of Ljuljana.  The annexation caused an odd ethnic relocation of the Gottschee population, which was German speaking, to a different portion of Slovenia which Germany had annexed as Hitler didn't want ethnic Germans in territory annexed into Italy.

Saturday, May 1, 2021

May 1, 1941. An Historical May Day

May 1, 1941, was remarkable for a whole host of things, not only in the war, but even in popular culture.  You can read about those here:

Today in World War II History—May 1, 1941

Defense bonds, CheeriOs, Citizen Kane. . . wow.  

CheeriOs, or Cheerios, were apparently originally called CheeriOats.

It was the start of the worst week of the Liverpool Blitz as well, pretty grim news.  Also grim, Gross-Rosen became an independent concentration camp.  40,000 would die there.

The Germans attempted to breach the British defenses at Tobruk, and failed.

Sunday, January 31, 2021

January 31, 1941. Truce in Indochina, fighting in Libya, Movies, and Boxing

Japan, fearing the result of ongoing fighting between a client state, Thailand, and a near captive colonial entity, French Indochina, arranges for a negotiated truce between the two powers.

The Abbott and Costello movie Buck Privates was released.  I'm not really keen on Abbott and Costello, but if you like their vaudeville style of comedy, this film is one that remains fairly well regarded.  It received universal circulation at Army post theaters at the time, and oddly the Japanese picked it up for propaganda purposes to show the incompetence of the U.S. military.

The movie was a musical and also featured the Andrews Sisters.

The commencement of allied offensive action against Kufra in Italian Libya commenced.

Joe Louis KO'ed Red Burman to retain his heavyweight boxing title.

More on the days' events in the Second World War:

Day 520 February 1, 1941

Italian prisoners bombed by Germans

Today in World War II History—January 31, 1941