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Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) begins in early 1942, when Lt. Col. James Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) calls for volunteers for a top-secret Army Air Force mission, following the surprise Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. One of the many men to offer his services is pilot Lt. Ted Lawson (Van Johnson), who is sent for training at Eglin Field in Florida, along with his B-25 Mitchell crew, including gunner Cpl. David Thatcher (Robert Walker) and navigator Lt. Charles McClure (Don DeFore). Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson as James Doolittle and Ted Lawson in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo .   During the first of many briefings, Doolittle informs the men that the mission they are about to undertake will be tough and dangerous, and encourages anyone with doubts to drop out. Ted's friend and fellow pilot, Lt. Bob Gray (Robert Mitchum), suggests that he withdraw from the mission, since he recently got married, but Ted remains determined to go thro...

For my second Oscar-related «Film Friday» I'm bringing you one of the five Best Picture nominees at the 28th Academy Awards ceremony in March 1956. This also serves to honour Jack Lemmon's 92th birthday, which was on Wednesday. Directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, Mister Roberts (1955) is set aboard the USS Reluctant , where executive officer Lieutenant Junior Grade Douglas A. «Doug» Roberts (Henry Fonda) tries to shield the dispirited crew from the harsh and unpopular captain, Lieutenant Commander Morton (James Cagney). World War II is winding down and Roberts fears he will miss his chance to get into the fighting. He repeatedly asks to be assigned to another ship, but Morton, anxious to use Roberts to expedite his own promotion, refuses to sign any of his transfer requests. Roberts shares his quarters with Ensign Frank Thurlowe Pulver (Jack Lemmon), the laundry and morale officer. Pulver spends most of his time idling in his bunk and avoids the captain at all costs, so mu...

In honour of Claudette Colbert's 112th birthday, which is on Sunday, this week on «Film Friday» I thought I would tell you a little bit about one of my personal favourite films of hers. Directed by Mark Sandrich, So Proudly We Hail! (1943) tells the story of a group of eight Army nurses who are evacuated to Australia in May 1942, after surviving the battles of Bataan and Corregidor. Their superior officer, Lt. Janet «Davey» Davidson (Claudette Colbert), is in a severe state of mental and physical collapse which has left her in complete silence. During the sea voyage back home, Major Harrison (John Litel), an Army doctor, asks the women to recount their war experiences so that he might discover the cause the Davey's detachment and help her overcome it. Lt. Sadie Schwartz (Mary Treen) then begins narrating their story, starting with the day they shipped out from San Francisco just before December 7, 1941. While the nurses are at sea, they witness an Army convoy being torpedoed...