20 Aug Tokyo Joe

Tokyo Joe, WWII Movie starring Humphrey Bogart

(1949) Well, the war is over, and Humphrey Bogart returns to Japan to see if the bar he opened pre-war survived.  Naturally, the bar is named after him: “Tokyo Joe.” The movie is typical Bogart cynicism.  He’s in love with a Lauren Bacall look-alike but of course she’s married to a really nice guy.

The evil character in the story is played by Sessue Hayakawa who six years later co-starred in The Bridge on the River Kwai, his most memorable role.

This was the first American film to be shot in Japan after the war, but you don’t see much.  Most of the scenes were filmed in Hollywood.

I honestly thought I’d watched this movie before when I got to the end.  Bogart doesn’t tell his lovely one “Here’s looking at you, kid,” but he does say, “See you a little later, kid.”

It worked so well the first time, why not?

Tokyo Joe at amazon.com (See all Military & War Dramas)

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