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1941

1979 film directed by Steven Spielberg

Film · TMDB

5.8

In the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, panic grips California, where a military officer leads a mob chasing a Japanese sub.

Released: 1979-12-14118 minDir: Steven SpielbergComedy, War, Action

Cast

Dan Aykroyd as Sgt. Frank Tree
Ned Beatty as Ward Douglas
John Belushi as Capt. Wild Bill Kelso
Lorraine Gary as Joan Douglas
Murray Hamilton as Claude Crumn
Christopher Lee as Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt

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Key facts

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by: Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale
Story by: Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale John Milius
Produced by: Buzz Feitshans
Starring: Dan Aykroyd Ned Beatty John Belushi John Candy Lorraine Gary Murray Hamilton Christopher Lee Tim Matheson Toshirō Mifune Warren Oates Robert Stack Treat Williams Nancy Allen Eddie Deezen Bobby Di Cicco Dianne Kay Slim Pickens Wendie Jo Sperber Lionel Stander Mickey Rourke
Cinematography: William A. Fraker
Edited by: Michael Kahn
Music by: John Williams
Color process: Metrocolor
Production company: A-Team Productions
Distributed by: Universal Pictures (North America), Columbia Pictures (International)
Release dates

Key dates

Published: 14 December 1979

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: film
Named after: 1941
Genre: Christmas film
Country of origin: United States
Original language: English language
Main subject: World War II
Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: John Milius
Cast member: Sydney Lassick
Composer: John Williams

Article

1941 is a 1979 American war comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. The film stars an ensemble cast including Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Stack, Nancy Allen, and Mickey Rourke in his film debut. The story involves a panic in the Los Angeles area after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Co-writer Gale stated the plot is loosely based on what has come to be known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942, as well as the bombardment of the Ellwood oil refinery, near Santa Barbara, by a Japanese submarine. Many other events in the film were based on real incidents, including the Zoot Suit Riots and an incident in which the U.S. Army placed an anti-aircraft gun in a homeowner's yard on the Maine coast.