''Joe Smith, American'' is a 1942 American
spy film
The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...
directed by
Richard Thorpe and stars
Robert Young and
Marsha Hunt.
[Nixon, Rob]
"Articles: 'Joe Smith American'."
''Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...
''. Retrieved: September 21, 2016. 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 film
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...
s made at MGM under the supervision of
Dore Schary
Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...
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).
Plot
In 1942, Joe Smith 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 and his supervisor Blake McKettrick calls him into his office, Joe is grilled by two men from Washington, Freddie Dunhill and Gus, 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
Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to kn ...
Norden bombsight
The Norden Mk. XV, known as the Norden M series in U.S. Army service, is a bombsight that was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the United States Navy during World War II, and the United States Air Force in the Korean and t ...
.
Unable to tell his wife Mary and fourth-grade son Johnny 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.
When the spies realize they have no option but to kill Joe, he is driven away but takes the opportunity to throw himself out of their car. An elderly couple come upon Joe lying in the street while the four kidnappers make their getaway. In recovery, even though he is blindfolded, he had sneaked some peeks at the men who held him and tried to memorize sounds in their car that would identify where he was. When the police take Joe on a reconstruction of his drive, he slowly puts together the route and takes them back to a house where three men are confronted. Each of them has some identifying feature, but the ringleader is missing.
Finally back home, Joe receives Gus, Freddie, Edgerton and McKettrick who are there to thank him for his bravery. When McKettrick shakes his hand, Joe recognizes the distinctive ring worn by the leader of the kidnappers. The police, who are also there, arrest McKettrick before he can escape. One month later, on Father's Day, Mary and Joe have a party with their friends from work and Johnny gives Joe his "secret" gift, a tie. When his friends call Joe a hero, he rebuffs them, saying that there are no heroes in America, just people, "who don't like being pushed around."
Cast
Production
Although considered a war
propaganda film
A propaganda film is a film that involves some form of propaganda. Propaganda films spread and promote certain ideas that are usually religious, political, or cultural in nature. A propaganda film is made with the intent that the viewer will ad ...
, principal photography on ''Joe Smith, American'' took place from October 20 to November 11, 1941, prior to the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
. The prewar arrest of a German factory worker who stole the plans of the Norden bombsight was the basis of the story, with stock photography of the
Lockheed Aircraft company
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but ...
incorporated to provide a wartime look.
Contemporary sources list both
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...
and
John Raitt
John Emmet Raitt (; January 29, 1917 – February 20, 2005) was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theatre.
Early years
Raitt was born in Santa Ana, California, United States. He got his start in theatre as ...
in the cast. Their appearances are uncredited in the film and likely they were
extra
Extra or Xtra may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film
* ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film
Literature
* ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper
* ''Extra!'', an American me ...
s.
Reception
In his review
Theodore Strauss Theodore Strauss (December 27, 1912–October 30, 2009) was an American writer.
Biography
Strauss was born in Oklahoma on December 27, 1912."In memoriam". ''Writers Guild of America West Journal''. Vol. 14, Iss. 1. p. 56. Via Proquest. He worked ...
wrote, in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'',"In its own simple and unassuming way, ''Joe Smith, American'', now at the Criterion, does more to underscore the deep and indelible reasons why this country is at war than most of the recent million-dollar epics with all their bravura patriotism. In this film there is no martial music, there are no displays of armed armadas and no one pins a medal on anybody's chest. Instead, the author and director have simply taken one commonplace American and shown, in one tense and sharply cut event when his country's safety was at stake, how it was the little things, the small remembrances of what his life had been, that pulled him through."
[Strauss, Theodore (T.S.)]
"Movie review."
''The New York Times'', April 2, 1942.
''The New York Times'' film critic
Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
gave ''Joe Smith, American'' an "honorable mention" in his "Ten Best Films of the Year" list, and several consumer magazines praised the low-budget film for its excellence. According to an article in ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' on October 27, 1942, ''Joe Smith, American'' was one of 10 films selected by the East and West Association to be sent for exhibition in Asian countries as, "most nearly representative of life in the U.S."
["Notes: 'Joe Smith American'."](_blank)
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: September 21, 2016.
Box office
According to MGM records, ''Joe Smith, American'' made $487,000 in the US and Canada and $221,000 elsewhere, making a profit of $222,000.
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Eames, John Douglas. ''The MGM Story: The Complete History of Fifty Roaring Years.'' London: Octopus Books Limited, 1982, First edition 1979. .
External links
*
*
* {{TCMDb title, 1461
1942 films
1942 drama films
American aviation films
American drama films
American spy films
American black-and-white films
Films set in Los Angeles
Films set on the home front during World War II
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
World War II films made in wartime
World War II spy films
Films directed by Richard Thorpe
1940s English-language films