Review of Destination Tokyo (1943) by Christian P — 23 May 2014

Destination Tokyo was such a successful piece of wartime propaganda that it reportedly inspired Tony Curtis to volunteer for real-life submarine service. Despite the schmaltzy reminders of how wonderful Americans are (there are three pauses for prayer) and a few lectures on how evil the Japanese are (apparently their language has no word for romantic love), the film comes across as earnest and entertaining thanks to strong writing and direction from Delmer Davies and a great supporting cast filling out the usual mix of genial personalities in a wartime movie.

Particularly good are John Garfield as the skirt-chasing tough guy and Robert Hutton as the green kid.