This 1989 American Film and Video Blue Ribbon award winner is a wonderful portrait of a man, his country, and his lifelong love for aviation. James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle is best remembered for his legendary mission on Tokyo following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Eighty men, commandeering sixteen aircraft, were forced to take off from the carrier Hornet, some 400 miles away from their original launch point when they were detected by a Japanese spy ship. Completing the bombing mission, Doolittle's men had to land in China, where they were hidden by the Chinese. The story was immortalized by Hollywood in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo with Spencer Tracy playing the role of Doolittle. But Doolittle's story goes much further-as he recounts his boyhood attempts to build a glider from plans published in Popular Mechanics (and his subsequent dive from fifteen feet high which ended on his head), or his career as an aviation instructor (along with several others, Doolittle was made an instructor following six hours of instruction-the first six hours he'd ever flown), the 93-yearold "Jimmy" wryly smiles, twinkles his eyes, and shrugs. The smile disappears when he recalls the seven men lost on the Tokyo mission, and he says that at the time he felt "lower than a frog's posterior" -without the barest trace of humor. As is often the case with truly great men, Doolittle downplays his extraordinary career. Yet, one comes away from this film feeling privileged to spend an hour with a man who was honest, loyal, brave, and intelligent. Old-fashioned virtues, perhaps, from a world long gone, but-in these days when immoral robots like Oliver North are held up as heroes-very refreshing ones. Highly recommended. (See HOW HITLER LOST THE WAR for availability.)
Jimmy Doolittle: An American Hero
(1988) 64 m. $79.95. Varied Directions, Inc. Public performance rights included. Vol. 4, Issue 4
Jimmy Doolittle: An American Hero
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