Remembering The "Date Which Will Live In Infamy" and a Movie to Go With It

The View of the Attack for Japanese plane

It has been 71 years since U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed December 7, 1941 as "A Date Which Will Live In Infamy", when the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army Air Forces and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing a declaration of war upon Japan by the United States the following day on December 8, 1941.

U.S.S. Arizona

 Being "Pearl Harbor" has now become part of the vocabulary when anyone does a dirty sneak attack.

U.S.S. West Virginia

My Father was a big World War II history buff. He collected & read books, watched Movies & Documentaries on TV. Through him I learned about the events of Pearl Harbor. In school sadly I thought we didn't spend as much time learning about this important event. Reasoning being a Canadian school the main focus should be on Canada's efforts during the War (which Canada entered in 1939). Talking with kids nowadays I fear that such facts are totally ignored.

Interestingly, One of my favorite Movies uses the Attack on Pearl Harbor as the backdrop to it's story. The 1953 film adaptation of James Jones novel FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine, Deborah Kerr, & Donna Reed.

Sinatra and Monty Clift with author James Jones

The movie won 8 Academy Awards out of 13 nominations, including for Picture, Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra) and Supporting Actress (Donna Reed).

Monty as Prewitt

Although I still feel that actor Montgomery Clift should've won Best Actor for his part as Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt. But he lost out to William Holden in STALAG 17. Perhaps due to his reputation of being somewhat of a "Hollywood Rebel & Nonconformist".

A Hollywood Urban Legend had that actor George Reeves, who played the part of Sgt. Maylon Stark, had his role drastically edited after preview audiences recognized him as TV's Superman, thus killing his dramatic movie career. 

~ Raja Devilman74