In the same year that Akira Kurosawa released ZOKU SUGATA SANSHIRO, the sequel to his 1943 biopic of judo founder Sanshiro Sugata, Hollywood tough guy James Cagney gave American audiences their first real taste of Asian martial arts action by playing a judo-trained newspaper reporter who uncovers Japanese plans to attack the U.S. in the pre-World War espionage thriller BLOOD ON THE SUN.
Produced by Cagney’s brother William, the film was shot and released while war still raged in the Pacific between Japan and the U.S. and while Japanese Americans wrongfully sat imprisoned in internment camps. Despite the use of Caucasian actors in “oriental” makeup to portray lead Japanese characters, the film was remarkably respectful of Asian culture in general considering the anti-Japanese sentiment at the time. This could in part be explained by the efforts of Cagney, a real-life student of judo, to incorporate authentic judo technique in the film’s action sequences. A wonderful side effect of American interest in Asian martial arts, even during the war, had been a growing respect for and understanding of Japanese and Asian culture.
The film is a slight departure from the crime dramas Cagney is best known for. Taking a page from classic noir, Frank Lloyd (MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY), in one of his last directing gigs takes a story by Garrett Fort and adapted for the screen by Lester Cole about a controversial piece of cross-cultural history and frames it within a hard-boiled caper where Cagney’s famous screen persona runs free.
The plot is loosely based on a real-life theory regarding the debated existence of the Tanaka Memorial, a 1927 document allegedly outlining Japan’s expansionist plans that led to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nick Condon (James Cagney) is a brash reporter for an English-language newspaper in 1930s-era Tokyo who finds himself in trouble with the Imperial government after publishing an article that’s critical of the regime. The situation heats up when two of his friends are murdered for knowing too much, but not before the Tanaka Memorial is passed on to Nick. Vowing to get justice and bring the papers to American authorities, Nick finds himself hounded by Imperial secret police while mixed up with a woman (Sylvia Sidney) of mixed Chinese and Caucasian blood who is working for the Imperialists as a spy, but hides an agenda of her own.
BLOOD ON THE SUN is fairly average by 1940s standards. Cagney was an A-list actor with some truly great films counted among his credits, but this one rates no better than an above average B-movie. Production standards are modest, the script is routine and the level of authenticity with the Asian elements are sub-standard. One need look no further than the awful eye makeup used in a failed attempt to turn Caucasian actors John Emery and Robert Armstrong into Japanese characters.
The screen fighting in this movie is exceptional for its day. Cagney was a life-long judo enthusiast whose instructor was a Los Angeles cop named John Halloran. He appears in the film in a Japanese role as Captain Oshima, the man responsible for the death of Nick’s friends. Cagney’s character is first introduced as a skilled student of judo and this becomes a key element of the plot. He develops a rivalry with Oshima that builds up to a climax as the two go at each other with rugged judo moves never before seen in a Hollywood movie and rarely seen since. Nothing else quite matches this exchange in the movie, but there are a few other throws tossed around and some swashbuckler-style stunt work.
The fight work does look rough around the edges. For instance you can clearly see Cagney tapping Halloran below the neckline when he should be slugging him in the jaw. This was somewhat below the level of fist fighting that was being perfected in Western brawls of the era where improved POV techniques were being used to trick the eye into seeing blows hit home. But the throws and locks are very well executed. Also consider that Hong Kong’s first major kung fu movies, the HUANG FEI HUNG serials didn’t appear until 1949. The martial arts movies of Hong Kong and Shanghai up to this point were still dominated by fantasy effects work and rudimentary screen fighting with little or no basis in any formal fighting system.
BLOOD ON THE SUN is a fascinating movie when you consider its place in the history of screen fighting. Unfortunately, Cagney and his judo fighting were ahead of their time. Asian martial arts didn’t become popular in Hollywood until the mid-to-late 1960s in films such as THE MACHURIAN CADIDATE, BILLY JACK and the James Bond franchise.
by Mark PollardRelated Topics:
Blood on the Sun (1945)
