Joe Smith, American
| Joe Smith, American | |
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Theatrical Film Poster
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| Directed by | Richard Thorpe |
| Produced by | Jack Chertok |
| Written by | Allen Rivkin |
| Based on | story by Paul Gallico |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Daniele Amfitheatrof (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Charles Lawton Jr. |
| Edited by | Elmo Veron |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Lowes, Inc. |
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Release date
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Running time
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63 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $236,000 |
| Box office | $708,000 |
Joe Smith, American is a 1942 American spy film directed by Richard Thorpe and stars Robert Young and Marsha Hunt. The film, loosely based on the story of Herman W. Lang, and the theft of plans of a top-secret bombsight, is the account of a worker at an aviation factory who is kidnapped by enemy spies. The opening credits contained the following written prologue: "This story is about a man who defended his country. His name is Joe Smith. He is an American. This picture is a tribute to all Joe Smiths."
Joe Smith, American was the first in a series of B films made at MGM under the supervision of Dore Schary who also wrote the initial treatment, based on "his own yarn". His story was later adapted to a postwar setting and new characters to become The Big Operator (1959).
In 1942, Joe Smith (Robert Young) is a "buck an hour" crew chief on the Lockheed P-38 Lightning assembly line in a Los Angeles defense plant. When plant president Mr. Edgerton (Russell Hicks) and his supervisor Blake McKettrick (Jonathan Hale) calls him into his office, Joe is grilled by two men from Washington, Freddie Dunhill (Harvey Stephens) and Gus (William Forrest), who later ask him to draw from memory a blueprint put in front of him. When Joe shows he can draw the plans accurately, Edgerton promotes him to head up a new project based on the top secret Norden bombsight.
Unable to tell his wife Mary (Marsha Hunt) and fourth-grade son Johnny (Darryl Hickman) or even his co-workers, about his new job, Joe is targeted by a group of men who want the secrets of the bombsight. While he leaves the plant late at night, his car is forced off the road and Joe is brought to a deserted house. The four men who have kidnapped him, blindfold Joe and beat him, trying to force him to draw the plans of the bombsight. Remembering that his son also had a secret he was keeping no matter what he and his wife asked, and that Johnny was studying about Nathan Hale, Joe refuses to cooperate and is beaten severely.
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