The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) on Netflix
Approved19541h 42mDramaRomanceWar
Naval Reserve aviator Harry Brubaker is recalled to fly in the Korean War, away from his wife Nancy and their children. His squadron must bomb the heavily defended bridges at Toko-Ri.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb6.7/107,053 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes82%
Trailer
Plot summary
Lieutenant Harry Brubaker is a Naval Reserve aviator and a civilian attorney pulled back to active duty in the Korean War, flying F9F Panthers off a carrier. When battle damage forces him to ditch his jet, a Sikorsky helicopter crew under Chief Petty Officer Mike Forney and Airman Nestor Gamidge pulls him from the water. Aboard the carrier USS Savo Island, Rear Admiral George Tarrant, commander of Carrier Task Force 77, takes an interest in Brubaker, who reminds him of his own son, a Navy pilot lost in World War II. Three days of shore leave in Tokyo bring Brubaker together with his wife Nancy and their children, and Tarrant tells Nancy that her husband will fly against the heavily defended bridges at Toko-Ri.
Cast
- Bill Ashas Spotter
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- James Michener wrote the novel out of what he saw as a news correspondent aboard American aircraft carriers in the winter of 1951-52, when strikes were flown against the railroad bridges at Majon-ni and Samdong-ni in North Korea.
- Almost every major character had a real counterpart: William Holden's Harry Brubaker came from a 29-year-old naval reservist from Denver of the same surname, Fredric March's Admiral Tarrant from Rear Admiral John Perry, and Mickey Rooney's Forney from an enlisted pilot known for his non-regulation green headgear. Commander Marshall Beebe, the model for Commander Lee, worked on the film as technical adviser.
SPOILER
The rescue attempt that ends the film was stitched together from two unrelated real ones near Wonsan on 8 February 1952, the second involving a Skyraider from the Valley Forge shot down while bombing the Samdong-ni bridges. Unlike the film, the real downed airmen survived and were taken prisoner by North Korean soldiers.- The squadron on screen was a real one, Fighter Squadron 192, the Golden Dragons, which was aboard the Oriskany while the film was shot. On the strength of its part in the movie the unit afterwards billed itself as the World Famous Golden Dragons.
- Producers George Seaton and William Perlberg paid $100,000 for the film rights and wanted Spencer Tracy as the admiral; the part went to Fredric March.
- Sean Penn's ageing film star in Licorice Pizza (2021) is called Jack Holden and is said to have made a picture with Grace Kelly named The Bridges of Toko-San, with Tom Waits playing a director who stands in for Mark Robson.
