| Midway | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jack Smight |
| Written by | Donald S. Sanford |
| Produced by | Walter Mirisch |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling Jr. |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | John Williams |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 131 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4 million |
| Box office | $100 million |
Midway, released in the United Kingdom asBattle of Midway, is a 1976 Americanwar film that chronicles theBattle of Midway, a turning point in thePacific Theater of Operations ofWorld War II. Directed byJack Smight and produced byWalter Mirisch from a screenplay byDonald S. Sanford,[2][3] the film starredCharlton Heston andHenry Fonda, supported by a large international cast of guest stars includingJames Coburn,Glenn Ford,Ed Nelson,Hal Holbrook,Robert Webber,Toshiro Mifune,Robert Mitchum,Cliff Robertson,Robert Wagner,Pat Morita,Dabney Coleman,Erik Estrada andTom Selleck.
The film was made usingTechnicolor, and its soundtrack usedSensurround to augment the physical sensation of engine noise, explosions, crashes and gunfire. Despite mixed reviews, particularly involving the use of stock footage and an unnecessary romance subplot, themusic score byJohn Williams and the cinematography byHarry Stradling Jr. were highly regarded; as evidenced whenMidway became the tenth most popular movie at the box office in 1976.
On April 18, 1942, adaring and unexpected bomb raid on Tokyo stuns the Japanese. The commander of theImperial Japanese Navy,Admiral Yamamoto, uses the threat posed to theJapanese home islands by theAmerican Pacific Fleet to have his plan to invadeMidway Island approved. AtPearl Harbor, Captain Matt Garth is tasked to gauge the progress of American intelligence gathering. CommanderJoseph Rochefort's staff, partially able to read Japanese Navy communications, learn their next target is code-named "AF". Yamamoto plans the Midway attack, with AdmiralsNagumo andYamaguchi leading the Japanese carrier forces and AdmiralKondo the amphibious invasion force.
In a sub-plot Garth is asked by his son, naval aviator Ensign Tom Garth, to help free his American-born girlfriend Haruko Sakura frominternment. Garth calls in favors to accomplish it, but damages his relationship with his son by talking to Tom's commander, who transfers him out of his squadron.
After the inconclusiveBattle of the Coral Sea, Rochefort uses a simple ruse to confirm that "AF" is Midway.Admiral Nimitz orders the carriersUSS Enterprise andUSS Hornet, augmented byUSS Yorktown, hastily repaired after being damaged at Coral Sea, to a point north of Midway code-named "Point Luck" and lie in wait.
On June 4, the American carriers launch their planes when scouts detect the enemy fleet. Nagumo's carrier planes, unaware of the presence of US carriers, attack Midway Island damaging installations but leaving the airstrip usable. Nagumo orders his planes rearmed with bombs to attack the airfield again, but when a scout reports the presence ofYorktown he orders the bombs changed for anti-ship torpedoes. American torpedo bombers desperately attack without fighter protection and are destroyed by the JapaneseCombat Air Patrol, leaving only a single survivor,George H. Gay Jr. When American escort fighters cover another wave of torpedo bombers, Tom is wounded and severely burned. The Japanese fighters have been drawn down to low altitude by the torpedo planes when American dive-bombers fromEnterprise andYorktown find the Japanese fleet following the lucky hunch of a squadron commander. As the Japanese prepare to launch their second wave, the American bombers, unopposed by Japanese fighters far below them, reduce three of the Japanese carriers –Kaga,Sōryū andAkagi– to burning wrecks.
Aircraft from the remaining Japanese carrierHiryū follow the returning American bombers and severely damageYorktown. Below decks, Matt reconciles with the wounded Tom. Due to a shortage of pilots, Matt joins the counterstrike againstHiryū but its planes have already launched.Yorktown is crippled and abandoned andHiryū reduced to a burning wreck. Yamamoto orders a withdrawal. Matt is killed crashing his badly damaged plane onEnterprise. At Pearl Harbor, Haruko watches Tom carried off the ship and Nimitz and Rochefort reflect on the battle. Nimitz suggests Matt would have concluded Yamamoto "had everything going for him", and asked "were we better than the Japanese, or just luckier?". Spruance and Browning appear, Nimitz gives a firm salute to them.
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Charlton Heston | Captain Matthew Garth | Matt Garth is a composite character largely absorbing the historical roles of Nimitiz's staff officer Lieutenant CommanderEdwin Layton as well as the less well knownCAG ofUSS Yorktown Lieutenant Commander Oscar Pederson. |
| Henry Fonda | AdmiralChester W. Nimitz | Henry Fonda was one of the narrators of the 1942John Ford documentaryThe Battle of Midway, some footage from which was used in the 1976 film and had played an unnamed admiral (based on Admiral Nimitz) in the 1965 filmIn Harm's Way. |
| James Coburn | Captain Vinton Maddox | |
| Glenn Ford | Rear AdmiralRaymond A. Spruance | |
| Hal Holbrook | CommanderJoseph Rochefort | |
| Robert Mitchum | Vice AdmiralWilliam F. Halsey | |
| Cliff Robertson | Commander Carl Jessop | |
| Robert Wagner | Lieutenant Commander Ernest L. Blake | |
| Robert Webber | Rear AdmiralFrank J. Fletcher | |
| Ed Nelson | Rear Admiral Harry Pearson | |
| Monte Markham | CommanderMax Leslie | |
| Biff McGuire | CaptainMiles Browning | |
| Christopher George | Lieutenant CommanderC. Wade McClusky | |
| Kevin Dobson | EnsignGeorge H. Gay Jr. | |
| Glenn Corbett | Lieutenant CommanderJohn C. Waldron | |
| Gregory Walcott | CaptainElliott Buckmaster | |
| Edward Albert | Lieutenant Thomas Garth | |
| Dabney Coleman | Captain Murray Arnold | |
| Erik Estrada | Ensign Ramos "Chili Bean" | |
| Larry Pennell | Captain Cyril Simard | |
| Phillip R. Allen | Lieutenant CommanderJohn S. "Jimmy" Thach | |
| Tom Selleck | Aide to Capt. Cyril Simard | |
| Kurt Grayson | MajorFloyd "Red" Parks | |
| Steve Kanaly | Lieutenant CommanderLance E. Massey |
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Toshiro Mifune | AdmiralIsoroku Yamamoto | (voiced by uncredited actorPaul Frees) |
| Dale Ishimoto | Vice AdmiralBoshirō Hosogaya | |
| Conrad Yama | Vice AdmiralNobutake Kondō | |
| James Shigeta | Vice AdmiralChūichi Nagumo | |
| Pat Morita | Rear AdmiralRyūnosuke Kusaka | |
| John Fujioka | Rear AdmiralTamon Yamaguchi | |
| Lloyd Kino | CaptainTakijirō Aoki | (uncredited)[4] |
| Yuki Shimoda | Captain Tomeo Kaku | |
| Seth Sakai | Captain Kameto Kuroshima | |
| Robert Ito | CommanderMinoru Genda | |
| Clyde Kusatsu | Commander Yasuji Watanabe | |
| Richard Narita | Lieutenant Hashimoto | (uncredited)[5] |
| Sab Shimono | Lieutenant Jōichi Tomonaga |
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Christina Kokubo | Haruko Sakura |
John Guillermin was reportedly hired to direct but was replaced by Jack Smight before filming began.[6] Naval aviator LieutenantRichard "Dick" Best and Joseph Rochefort served as consultants; George Gay, the only survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8, visited during filming. Toshiro Mifune sent his script to Minoru Genda and to Yamamoto's son, so that they could attest to its historical accuracy. Reportedly, Mifune had been scheduled to play Yamamoto inTora! Tora! Tora! (1970), but withdrew when director Akira Kurosawa left the project. The filmmakers wanted to portray the Japanese in a fair light and to portray them and the Americans as equals. Principal photography was scheduled to end around 20 July 1975. Filming at sea took three weeks, which included shooting on the U.S.S. Lexington, the last World War II ship in service. Robert Mitchum settled on filming his scenes in bed. Modern crew members of the U.S.S. Lexington were persuaded to have their hair cut and to shave to conform to World War II Navy regulations after watching the filming. Fonda was astonished to learn that Yamamoto and Nimitz were missing fingers from accidents. Fonda consciously folded back his finger throughout his performance and Mifune had his uniforms and gloves made to be accurate as possible.[7][8] In the original script, Garth survived.[9]
Midway was shot at theTerminal Island Naval Base, Los Angeles, California, the U.S. Naval Station,Long Beach, California,Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida andSan Diego, California.[10] The on-board scenes were filmed in the Gulf of Mexico aboardUSS Lexington.Lexington, anEssex-classaircraft carrier, was the last World War II-era carrier left in service at that point, although the ship was completed after the battle. She is now a museum ship atCorpus Christi, Texas. Scenes depicting Midway Island were filmed atPoint Mugu, California. "Point Mugu has sand dunes, just like Midway. We built an airstrip, a tower, some barricades, things like that," said Jack Smight. "We did a lot of strafing and bombing there."[11] AConsolidated PBY-6A Catalina BuNo63998, N16KL, of theCommemorative Air Force, was used in depicting all the search and rescue mission scenes.
The film was the second of only four films released with aSensurround sound mix which required special speakers to be installed in movie theatres. The other Sensurround films wereEarthquake (1974),Rollercoaster (1977), andBattlestar Galactica (1978). The regular soundtrack (dialog, background and music) was monaural; a second optical track was devoted to low frequency rumble added to battle scenes and when characters were near unmuffled military engines.
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Many of the action sequences used footage from earlier films: most sequences of the Japanese air raids on Midway are stock shots from20th Century Fox'sTora! Tora! Tora! (1970). Some scenes are from the JapaneseToho filmHawai Middouei daikaikusen: Taiheiyo no arashi (1960) (which also stars Mifune). Several action scenes, including the one where aMitsubishi A6M Zero slams intoYorktown's bridge, were taken fromAway All Boats (1956); scenes of Doolittle's Tokyo raid at the beginning of the film are fromThirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). In addition, most dogfight sequences come from wartime gun camera footage or from the filmBattle of Britain (1969).
The US NavyEssex-class aircraft carrier USSLexington played the part of both American and Japanese flattops for shipboard scenes.
Shortly after its successful theatrical debut, additional material was assembled and shot in standard4:3 ratio for a TV version of the film, which aired onNBC.[12][13] The TV version was 45 minutes longer than the theatrical film and aired over two nights. In the TV version of the film,Susan Sullivan played Ann, the girlfriend of Captain Garth, to add depth to his reason for previously divorcing Ensign Garth's mother, and restored a cut scene from the theatrical release that clarifies that Garth suffered a hand injury in thePearl Harbor attack that has kept him out of flying, to bring further emotional impact to the fate of Captain Garth. Ann is seen in the final scene asHornet docks at Pearl Harbor.
The TV version also addedCoral Sea battle scenes to help the plot build up to the decisive engagement at Midway.[14]Mitchell Ryan played Rear AdmiralAubrey W. Fitch aboard the USSLexington andJim Ishida played Takeo Koda, a Japanese pilot and old friend of Nagumo. After theraid on Tokyo, Koda meets Nagumo to express his doubts that Japan might be able to win the war. Koda is killed in the Coral Sea battle, and Yamaguchi informs Nagumo about the defeat at Coral Sea. Prior to the Midway battle, the cautious Nagumo ruminates on Koda to Genda.
Jack Smight directed the additional scenes.[12] The end credits of the TV version use the song, "The Men of the Yorktown March" (which is more prominent in the film's underscore), instead of the "Midway March".[15]
In June 1992, a re-edit of the extended version, shortened to fill a three-hour time slot, aired on theCBS network to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Midway battle. This version brought in successful ratings.[12]
Later video versions dropped Sullivan to emphasize the virtually all-male cast and wartime action. The additional footage with Sullivan became available as a bonus feature on the Universal Pictures Home Entertainment DVD ofMidway. The full version was given a dual-format release by Powerhouse Films in 2021.[16]
Midway proved extremely popular with movie audiences, and opened at number one at the US box office with an opening weekend gross of $4,356,666 from 311 theatres.[17][18] It went on to gross over $43 million at the US box office, becoming the tenth most popular movie of 1976 withtheatrical rentals of $20,300,000.[19] Internationally, it grossed $57 million[20] for a worldwide gross of $100 million.
Critical response was unenthusiastic.
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "The movie can be experienced as pure spectacle, I suppose, if we give up all hopes of making sense of it. Bombs explode and planes crash and the theater shakes with the magic of Sensurround. But there's no real directorial intelligence at hand to weave the special effects into the story, to clarify the outlines of the battle and to convincingly account for the unexpected American victory."[21]Vincent Canby ofThe New York Times wrote that "the movie blows up harmlessly in a confusion of familiar old newsreel footage, idiotic fiction war movie clichés, and a series of wooden-faced performances by almost a dozen male stars, some of whom appear so briefly that it's like taking a World War II aircraft-identification test."[22] Arthur D. Murphy ofVariety thought that the film "emerges more as a passingly exciting theme-park extravaganza than a quality motion picture action-adventure story ... Donald S. Sanford's cluttered script, while striving for the long-ago personal element, gets overwhelmed by its action effects."[23]Gene Siskel of theChicago Tribune gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that "[t]he battle scenes run hot and cold." He praised Henry Fonda as "absolutely convincing" but stated that Sanford "deserves a year in the brig for inserting amid the battle scenes a stupid subplot involving a young American sailor in love with a Japanese-American girl."[24] Gary Arnold ofThe Washington Post called it a "tired combat epic" and wrote, "Hollywood may mean well, or imagine it does, but it's a little appalling to think that authentic acts of bravery and sacrifice have become the pretext for such feeble, inadequate dramatization. There is no serious attempt in 'Midway' to characterize the young men who fought on either side of this pivotal battle."[25]Charles Champlin of theLos Angeles Times was mixed, describing it as "adisaster film whose disaster is war," with its principal strength being that it "keeps the lines of battle both straight and suspenseful in the viewer's mind." He too faulted the romance subplot as "hokey even beyond the demands of the form."[26]Janet Maslin panned the film inNewsweek, stating that it "never quite decides whether war is hell, good clean fun, or merely another existential dilemma. This drab extravaganza toys with so many conflicting attitudes that it winds up reducing the pivotal World War II battle in the Pacific to utter nonsense."[27]
Robert Niemi, author ofHistory in the Media: Film and Television, stated thatMidway's "clichéd dialogue" and an overuse of stock footage led the film to have a "shopworn quality that signalled the end of the heroic era of American-made World War II epics." He described the film as a "final, anachronistic attempt to recapture World War II glories in a radically altered geopolitical era, when the old good-versus-evil dichotomies no longer made sense."[28]
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has a 39% score based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[29]
More flag officers took part at the decision making and planning before the battle, not just Nimitz, Fletcher and Spruance. In addition, the commanding officers' staff were generally bigger than the one or two men portrayed in the movie. AdmiralErnest King, commander-in-chief of the navy, approved the Midway battle plan propounded by Nimitz. The two commanders were regularly in contact, so there was no need to send fictional Capt. Vinton Maddox to consult Nimitz. The failure of Midway-based aircraft attacks on approaching Japanese fleets convinced Japanese commanders of their own invincibility and the incompetence of the US military.[30]
During the American torpedo attacks, Admiral Nagumo remarks, "They sacrifice themselves like samurai, these Americans." Similar toIsoroku Yamamoto's sleeping giant quote from the 1970 filmTora! Tora! Tora!, there is no evidence that Nagumo made this statement. When theAkagi is bombed, Nagumo suffers a concussion, and is tended to by Genda. In reality, according to witnesses, Nagumo stood near the ship's compass looking out at the destruction.[31]
The film omits that the Japanese destroyerArashi that inadvertently guided US dive bombers to the carriers had attacked U.S. submarineNautilus, which had tried to attack the battleshipKirishima.
Later studies by Japanese and American military historians call into question key scenes, such as the dive-bombing attack that crippled the first three Japanese carriers. In the movie, American pilots jubilantly report that there are no fighters and the carrier decks are loaded with ammunition. As Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully write inShattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway (2005), aerial photography from the battle showed nearly empty decks. Japanese carriers loaded armament onto planes below the flight deck, unlike American carriers (as depicted earlier in the film). The fact that a closed hangar full of armaments was hit by bombs made damage toAkagi more devastating than if planes, torpedoes and bombs were on an open deck.[32] During the attack on the Japanese carriers, an American pilot reports, "Scratch one flat top!" This is a famous radio transmission but it was made a month earlier during theBattle of the Coral Sea by Lieutenant CommanderRobert E. Dixon after his dive bomber squadron sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōhō.[33]
While most characters are based on real people, some are fictional but inspired by actual people. Captain Matt Garth and his son, Ensign Thomas Garth, are fictional.[34] Garth's contribution to planning the battle is based loosely on actual work of Lieutenant-CommanderEdwin Layton.[35] Layton served as Pacific fleet intelligence officer, spoke Japanese and was key to transposing raw outputs of cryptography analysis into meaningful intelligence for Nimitz and his staff.[citation needed] Layton was an old friend of Joseph Rochefort.[citation needed] Matt Garth's further exploits were pure fiction and resembled deeds of at least two more figures: first, an intelligence officer on Fletcher'sTask Force 17 staff, and then the leader of the last attack made by dive bombers from USSYorktown, by the VB-3 dive bomber squadron led by LCDR Maxwell Leslie.
There are numerous inaccuracies both in the use of historical combat footage and recreations. Most of the original footage portrays later and/or different events, and thus planes and ships that either were not operational during the battle or did not take part. Among the first aircraft shown taking off to defend Midway are two ArmyP-40 Warhawks: only MarineF4F Wildcats andF2A-3 Buffalos had been stationed there. In the second air attack onYorktown, the movie shows two Japanese "kamikazes" crashing into the aircraft carrier; there were no plane crashes into ships in this battle. In addition,Yorktown was damaged and sunk by torpedoes fired from a Japanese submarine which had penetrated the destroyer screen, rather than survived the air attack seen in the film. A nearby destroyer,USS Hammann, also was attacked, sending more than 100 men into the sea and sinking in just four minutes. One of the most flagrant misrepresentations is Garth's collision at the very end of the movie, which is followed by footage of aGrumman F9F Panther jet plane crash which actually occurred onUSS Midway in 1951.
Like the USSLexington used in filming, USSMidway is also preserved as a museum.