The Denver Gazette

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TCM Morning & Afternoon Movies: Pearl Harbor Day

— Je Pfeier

TCM, Beginning at 4 a.m.

Today marks the 80th anniversary of Dec. 7, 1941, the “date which will live in infamy,” when Japanese military forces struck a devastating surprise blow against U.S. bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, bringing America into World War II. Turner Classic Movies commemorates the day with a morning and afternoon of films about the fateful and historic event, or otherwise set during the Pacific War. The lineup starts with The Deep Six (pictured) (1958), starring Alan Ladd, who also coproduced the film, as a naval offiŽcer who finds his pacifism and the values instilled in him by his Quaker upbringing challenged with the outbreak of World War II. James Whitmore and Keenan Wynn also star. Next, the drama Wings for the Eagle (1942) tells the story of workers at a Lockheed aircraft assembly plant in the months preceding the Pearl Harbor attack. Ann Sheridan and Dennis Morgan star. After that, the war film Torpedo Run (1958) stars Glenn Ford as a submarine commander in the Pacific who is obsessed with sinking one of the Japanese aircraft carriers that led the assault on Pearl Harbor; unfortunately, the target is being escorted by a transport ship carrying American POWs, including the commander’s wife and child. Ernest Borgnine and Diane Brewster costar. Another war film, Hell to Eternity (1960), follows. It’s a biopic about the true experiences of Marine Pfc. Guy Gabaldon (Jeffrey Hunter), a young Hispanic man who was raised by a Japanese American foster family in Los Angeles, and his heroic actions during the Battle of Saipan. David Janssen, Vic Damone and Sessue Hayakawa also star. Up next is December 7th (1943), a propaganda documentary film about the Pearl Harbor attack produced by the U.S. Navy and codirected by John Ford and Gregg Toland. This is the original, 83-minute version of the film; a 20-minute version won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject. Next on the lineup is Howard Hawks’ Oscar-winning 1943 war film Air Force, which follows a bomber crew as they encounter combat action over the Pacific. John Garfield, John Ridgely and Gig Young lead the cast. Finally, John Ford is back in the director’s chair for the Oscar-nominated war film They Were Expendable (1945), starring John Wayne, Robert Montgomery and Donna Reed. It chronicles the exploits of a PT boat defending the Philippines against a Japanese invasion in 1941-42.

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2021-12-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.denvergazette.com/article/282303913426906

The Gazette, Colorado Springs