Blood on the Sun (1945)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Frank Lloyd

Writers:

Lester Cole (screenplay)
Nathaniel Curtis (additional scenes)

Release Date:

15 October 1945 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

To know their secret is to court Death !

Plot:

Nick Condon is a newspaper reporter working in Tokyo who refuses to toe the Japanese line on the expansionist...

Plot Keywords:

Newspaper | Seppuku | Hara Kiri | Newspaper Editor | Japan

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

James Cagney	...	Nick Condon
Sylvia Sidney	...	Iris Hilliard
Porter Hall	...	Arthur Bickett
John Emery	...	Premier Giichi Tanaka
Robert Armstrong	...	Col. Hideki Tojo
Wallace Ford	...	Ollie Miller
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Edith Miller
John Halloran	...	Capt. Oshima
Leonard Strong	...	Hijikata
James Bell	...	Charley Sprague
Marvin Miller	...	Yamada
Rhys Williams	...	Joseph Cassell
Frank Puglia	...	Prince Tatsugi

Also Known As:

Spionage in Fernost (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Aima ston ilio (Greece) [el]
Blod på solen (Denmark) [da]
Den blodbestänkta solen (Sweden) [sv]
Du sang dans le soleil (France) [fr]
Sangre sobre el sol (Spain) [es]
Sangue Sobre o Sol (Brazil) [pt]
Sangue sul sole (Italy) [it]
Verta auringossa (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

98 min | 94 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate # 10705) | Canada:PA (Ontario) | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

William Cagney Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Right after Ollie Miller gets shot you see him stumbling to the ground. When he gets up, under his left elbow you can see carpet moving in what should be grass.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Arthur Bickett: But gentlemen, I know nothing about this article being printed. I was out of town.
Secret Police Major Kajioka: Then let me read what is printed here in your paper. "If Japan wants to control China we must first crush the United States just as in the past we have to fight in the Russo-Japanese war."

Movie Connections:

Featured in Going Hollywood: The War Years (1988)

Entertaining Espionage

Jimmy Cagney is like a firecracker in this movie, set in pre-WWII Japan. In some ways it's a cross between Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon and sometimes it's silly (e.g., white actors in Japanese makeup), but it's one of the most entertaining movies of its era. It reminds you how much of a talent James Cagney was - he carries the picture. There are also excellent character performances by Wallace Ford and Porter Hall. Even Sylvia Sidney as an unconvincing half-Chinese vixen has some good moments.

Beware of the DVD, however - the audio is mixed so badly that at times you'll have to put your ear up against the TV to hear the dialogue.