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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...

Directed by John Cromwell, Since You Went Away (1944) is set in 1943 and tells the story of Anne Hilton (Claudette Colbert), an upper-middle-class housewife with two teenage daughters, Jane (Jennifer Jones) and Bridget «Brig» (Shirley Temple). After Anne's husband, Tim, enlists in the U.S. Army, the family must make sacrifices for the war effort, including food rationing, giving up the services of their maid, Fidelia (Hattie McDaniel), who is still willing to keep on working for free, and taking in a boarder, the retired Colonel William G. Smollett (Monty Woolley). In contrast, their cynical socialite neighbour, Emily Hawkins (Agnes Moorehead), complains about the inconveniences caused by the war and criticizes the Hiltons' efforts and patriotism. Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple in Since You Went Away .   In the meantime, an old friend of the Hiltons, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Tony Willett (Joseph Cotten), visits the family while awaiting his orders. Jane soon ...

To celebrate Robert Walker's 98th birthday, which was yesterday, this week on «Film Friday» I thought I would tell you a little bit about the picture that introduced me to him. This also marked his first significant screen assignment. Directed by Tay Garnett, Bataan (1943) centers on a combat unit in an isolated jungle outpost in the Bataan Peninsula, which is being overrun by invading Japanese troops. The unit of thirteen disenfranchised men includes: Sergeant Bill Dane (Robert Taylor) of the 31st Infantry; Corporal Jake Feingold (Thomas Mitchell) of the Chemical Corps; Lieutenant Steve Bentley (George Murphy) of the U.S. Army Air Corps; Captain Henry Lassiter (Lee Bowman) of the 26th Cavalry; Corporal Barney Todd (Lloyd Nolan) of the Provisional Signal Battalion; Musician 2nd Class Leonard Purckett (Robert Walker) of the U.S. Navy; Private Felix Ramirez (Desi Arnaz) of the California National Guard; Private Matthew Hardy (Phillip Terry) of the Medical Corps; and Corporal Juan...

My initial plan for today was to write about a Linda Darnell film, seeing that today is her 92th birthday, but then I felt like celebrating Robert Walker's birthday again. What can I say? I simply adore that boy.  So, this week on "Film Friday" I a m bringing you yet another Robert Walker film, which also happens to be one of my absolute favorite films of all time. Theatrical release poster Directed by Vincente Minnelli, The Clock (1945) follows Joe Allen (Robert Walker), a young soldier who arrives in New York on a 48-hour leave and meets the beautiful secretary Alice Mayberry (Judy Garland) when she trips over his foot in Pennsylvania Station. With no definite destination while in the city, Joe offers to go "a little ways" with Alice and she then takes him on a tour through Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After they bid farewell, Joe chases the bus she is riding down the street and she promises to meet him "under the clock at ...