Behind the Rising Sun (film)
| Behind the Rising Sun | |
|---|---|
Film poster
|
|
| Directed by | Edward Dmytryk |
| Produced by | Edward Dmytryk Howard Hughes |
| Written by | Emmet Lavery |
| Based on |
Behind the Rising Sun by James R. Young |
| Starring |
Margo Tom Neal J. Carrol Naish Robert Ryan Gloria Holden |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | Russell Metty |
| Edited by | Joseph Noriega |
| Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Japanese |
| Budget | US$239,000 |
| Box office | $1.5 million (US rentals) |
Behind the Rising Sun is a 1943 American war film based on the 1941 book Behind the Rising Sun written by James R. Young. Later-blacklisted Edward Dmytryk directed the film, and it stars Margo, Tom Neal, J. Carrol Naish, Robert Ryan and Gloria Holden.
The film's opening scene is set in 1943 Japan. Reo Seki (J. Carrol Naish) is presented with the ashes of his dead son, Taro Seki (Tom Neal), and blames himself for the death.
The story flashes back to 1936 when Taro Seki returns to Japan after studying in America, with plans to work for an American engineer, Clancy O'Hara (Don Douglas). Taro falls in love with Clancy's secretary, Tama Shimamura (Margo) and they plan to marry. His father does not accept their marriage because Tama is not from a respectable family. Taro is then drafted to the war in China. Tama and Taro write frequent letters to each other and Tama attempts to show Reo Seki all the letters Taro has sent but he refuses to see them or have anything to do with his son.
Meanwhile, in China, Taro experiences the brutality of war and witnesses the cruelty of the Japanese to the poor in China. He is told to accept it by a higher-ranked officer. Sara Braden (Gloria Holden) is an American reporter in China as well as Clancy O'Hara's girlfriend, and she complains to Taro about the violence that the Japanese soldiers are showing towards others. Taro, remembering what the higher-ranked officer had told him, shrugs it off. Outraged, Sara tells him that the war has changed him.
Tama and Reo receive news that Taro is coming home and arrange for a celebration with Clancy, Boris (George Givot) and Max (Wolfgang Zilzer). When Taro arrives, he is different. Reo explains that he has arranged for Tama to be adopted into a respectable family and will allow them to marry. But then, Sara comes in and tells everyone about the children that Taro let die in China to which Tama is in shock. Clancy comments on the Japanese which angers Taro and he demands a fight. They both choose a proxy; Clancy brings American Lefty O'Doyle (Robert Ryan) and Taro chooses a Japanese judo expert (Mike Mazurki). Lefty O'Doyle wins and the judo wrestler is killed for the shame he has brought on the Emperor. Clancy warns Tama that Sara was right, Taro has changed but she has arranged an outing to the countryside to see her parents for the last time before her adoption.
...
Wikipedia