Blood on the Sun (1945)

Blood on the Sun (1945)

„Blood on the Sun“ is a spy thriller from 1945 directed by Frank Lloyd. The screenplay by Lester Cole and Nathaniel Curtis was written from a story by Garret Fort, based on an idea by Frank Melford.

In 1929, the existence of the “Tanaka Memorial document,” a Japanese plan devised by Baron Gi-ichi Tanaka to conquer the world, is published in the Tokyo Chronicle. The Japanese secret police demand that editor Nick Condon disclose the source, which he refuses to do.

Ollie Miller, a Chronicle reporter who obtained the original plan, flaunts the money he was paid for his services at a local press bar. Asecret police informer there arranges to have Miller killed. When Condon goes to Miller“s cabin on the ship, to see him off, he finds Ollie“s wife, Edith, murdered and their cabin ransacked. Condon narrowly misses another woman exiting the cabin, but glimpses a ruby ring on her hand. Later that night, Miller is shot outside Condon’s house. Before he dies, Miller gives Condon his copy of the Tanaka Memorial document. As the secret police, led by Captain Oshima, arrive, Condon hides the document in his bedroom, behind a portrait of Emperor Hirohito. Revering the portrait, Oshima does not search it, but ransacks the rest of Condon“s house and subdues him when he resists.

A courier invites Condon to Tanaka’s home where Tanaka offers Condon a substantial sum of money if he returns the document. Condon realizes Tanaka does not have the document, someone else took it.

Suspecting that the other party consists of Japanese anti-war liberals interested in sneaking the document out of the country, Condon publicly announces his intention to return to the United States. That evening, he meets Iris Hilliard, a half-Chinese woman. Seeing a ring on her finger, he suspects she was the woman he saw fleeing Edith’s cabin, but the two are attracted to one another. Unbeknownst to him, Iris is a spy for Tanaka, tasked with retrieving the plan.

Disgruntled at being passed over as Condon’s replacement as editor, Joseph Cassell, an unscrupulous reporter, inadvertently reveals to Condon that Tanaka ordered him to introduce Iris to him. The secret police imprison Iris in her hotel room, but she escapes. Disgraced by his failure, Tanaka commits seppuku.

Evading the secret police, Condon meets Iris, who is accompanied by Prince Tatsugi. Aware that the Japanese government will claim the document is a forgery, Tatsugi places his signature on it, legitimizing it. The police arrive and kill Tatsugi. Condon gives the document to Iris, who flees in a fishing boat. Condon stays behind to delay the policemen.

After defeating Captain Oshima at judo and evading the secret police, Condon arrives outside the United States embassy. He is shot and incapacitated, but when the Japanese search him, they are unable to find the document. An American diplomat rushes from the embassy to help Condon. The head of the secret police asks Condon to forgive his enemy, but he refuses a proffered handshake and replies, “Sure, forgive your enemies, but first, get even!”

A 1945 American Black & White spy thriller film directed by Frank Lloyd, produced by William Cagney, written by Garrett Fort and Lester Cole, cinematography by Theodor Sparkuhl, starring James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney, Porter Hall, John Emery, Robert Armstrong, Wallace Ford, Rosemary DeCamp, John Halloran, and Leonard Strong. This was the second movie made by James Cagney“s production company. Screen debut appearance of judo/martial arts expert John Halloran.

James Cagney would chat with Sylvia Sidney in Yiddish between takes.

The Tokyo Imperial Hotel bar seen at the start of the movie is apparently an exact replica of the bar situated in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Cagney insisted that he perform his own stunts. Los Angeles Policeman Jack Sergel was featured in several magazine stories listing him as a top judo expert. William Cagney contacted him about teaching his brother James judo for the film. Sergel adopted the stage name John Halloran to appear as Cagney“s opponent in the film. He later appeared in several of James Cagney“s films, including teaching judo to Edmund O“Brien in „White Heat“ (1949). Cagney also trained under 5th Degree Judo Master Ken Kuniyuki.

The film is based on a fictional history behind the Tanaka Memorial document, a/k/a the Tanaka Memorial Plan (made public after his death in 1929). This allegedly was Prime Minister Baron Gi-ichi Tanaka“s militarist strategic plan for world domination prepared for Emperor Hirohito. First printed in China by the Chinese communists and in the US by a communist periodical, leading some to think that it was a forgery. No Japanese version has ever been found.

Blood on the Sun was adapted as a radio play on the December 3, 1945 episode of Lux Radio Theater with James Cagney and on the October 16, 1946 episode of Academy Award Theater starring John Garfield.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for a Black & White (Wiard Ihnen, A. Roland Fields) …

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
• Philip Ahn – Secret Police Capt. Yomamoto
• Hugh Beaumont – Johnny Clarke
• Edward Biby – Bar Patron
• Oie Chan – Chinese Servant
• Oy Chan – Chinese Servant
• Hugh Ho Chang – Secret Police Maj. Kajioka
• Gregory Gaye – Bogardis, American Newspaperman
• Sam Harris – Bar Patron
• Joseph Kim – Hayoshi
• Grace Lem – Amah
• Arthur Loft – American Newspaperman
• Harold Miller – Bar Patron
• George Paris – Hotel Manager
• Emmett Vogan – Johnson, American Newspaperman
• Billy Wayne – American Newspaperman

„Spionage in Fernost“ (Blood on the Sun) ist ein Spionagethriller aus dem Jahr 1945 unter der Regie von Frank Lloyd. Das Drehbuch von Lester Cole und Nathaniel Curtis wurde nach einer Geschichte von Garret Fort und einer Idee von Frank Melford geschrieben.

Im Jahr 1929 wird im Tokyo Chronicle die Existenz des "Tanaka Memorial Document", eines japanischen Plans von Baron Gi-ichi Tanaka zur Eroberung der Welt, veröffentlicht. Die japanische Geheimpolizei verlangt von Redakteur Nick Condon die Offenlegung der Quelle, was dieser verweigert.