filmography.org



1941
Paranoia meets pandemonium.
( Action / Comedy / War )


1941 Poster

MPAA Rating:
PG

US Runtime: 118 min

Country of Origin: United States of America

Premiere Date:
Dec 14, 1979   [USA]
 
Director: Steven Spielberg   [Director]
 
Writers: Bob Gale   [Screenplay]
Bob Gale   [Story]
John Milius   [Story]
Robert Zemeckis   [Screenplay]
Robert Zemeckis   [Story]
 
Producers: Buzz Feitshans   [Producer]
John Milius   [Executive Producer]
 
Cinematography: William A. Fraker   [Director of Photography]
 
Edited by: Michael Kahn   [Editor]
 
Music Composed by John Williams   [Original Music Composer]
 
Production Design: Dean Mitzner   [Production Design]
 
Costume Design: Deborah Nadoolman Landis   [Costume Design]
 
Casting by Sally Dennison   [Casting]
 
Production Companys: A-Team
Columbia Pictures   (US)
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Universal Pictures   (US)
 


Plot Summary:

    Hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.

Cast: (First 20, for the rest click 'Show All Cast & Crew' below.)

Dan Aykroyd
Sgt. Frank Tree
Ned Beatty
Ward Douglas
John Belushi
Capt. Wild Bill Kelso
Lorraine Gary
Joan Douglas
Murray Hamilton
Claude Crumn
Christopher Lee
Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt
Tim Matheson
Capt. Loomis Birkhead
Toshirô Mifune
Cmdr. Akiro Mitamura
Warren Oates
Col. 'Madman' Maddox
Robert Stack
Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell
 
Treat Williams
Cpl. Chuck 'Stretch' Sitarski
Nancy Allen
Donna Stratton
Lucille Benson
Gas Mama (Eloise)
Jordan Brian
Macey Douglas
John Candy
Pvt. Foley
Elisha Cook Jr.
The Patron (Dexter)
Eddie Deezen
Herbie Kazlminsky
Bobby Di Cicco
Wally Stephens
Dianne Kay
Betty Douglas
Perry Lang
Dennis DeSoto
 
 

Show All Cast & Crew

Miscellaneous Companies:

Freeze Frame
titles
Pickwick Public Relations
publicity
 
Todd-AO Studios
sound recording
Van der Veer Photo Effects
optical effects
 
 

Filming Locations: (Now With Clickable Links To Location On Google Maps)

 

Tech Info:

Budget:
$35,000,000
Revenue:
$94,900,000
Color Info:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Cinematographic Process:
Panavision
Film Negative Format:
35 mm
Printed Film Format:
35 mm / 70 mm

Quotes:

  • Colonel "Madman" Maddox: To Hollywood... and glory!
     
  • Captain Wild Bill Kelso: War nerves? Who said war nerves?
    The Patron: I heard it on that radio there.
    [Kelso shoots the radio.]
    Captain Wild Bill Kelso: Radio's wrong.
     
  • Captain Wild Bill Kelso: My name's Wild Bill Kelso, and don't you forget it!
    Colonel "Madman" Maddox: That's the kind of talk I like to hear, boy. That's it, lemme hear your guns.
    Captain Wild Bill Kelso: My guns?
    Colonel "Madman" Maddox: Yes, I wanna hear what they sound like, let me hear 'em.
     
  • Colonel Akiro Mitamura: [To von Kleinschmidt] You can take your "Third Reich" and shove it up your ass!
     
  • Hollis P. Wood: You sneaky little batards aren't getting doodly shit from me, except maybe my name, rank, and Social Security number: Wood, Hollis P., Lumberjack, Social Security 106-43-2185.
     

Trivia:

  • The dialog between Claude and Herbie was written along the same lines as Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton. In fact, Jackie Gleason and Art Carney were offered the roles but Gleason refused, saying he would not and could not work with Carney any longer.
     
  • James Caan has a cameo in the USO fight scene.
     
  • The gas station where Captain Wild Bill Kelso (John Belushi) lands to refuel was the same one used in Steven Spielberg's movie Duel. Lucille Benson, who plays the gas station owner, appeared in Duel as the Snakerama owner at the same station.
     
  • Spielberg exposed one million feet of film over 247 shooting days.
     
  • The scene where Wild Bill Kelso slips and tumbles off of the wing of his airplane as he is about to take off was a real accident. John Belushi slipped as he was climbing into the plane. It was kept in the movie because it fit his character.
     

Credits Fun:

  • End credits feature scenes showing cast members screaming.
     

DVD Easter Eggs: (Hidden So You Don't See Anything You Don't Want To See)


back to the Film Archives

Questions, Comments?   Please Contact ASH
Movie Database Last Updated: Mar 27, 2017
You are visitor since 04 Oct 2017

page design & content copyright © 2025 Andrew S. Harris
1941 & Poster ™ & copyright © 1979 Universal City Studios, Inc. & Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

Dolby and the the double-d symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.
THX is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd.

return to britannia.org