# Anybody watch the "long banned" John Ford December 7th movie on TCM? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-watch-the-long-banned-john-ford-december-7th-movie-on-tcm/774172 "2016-12-08T02:20:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-watch-the-long-banned-john-ford-december-7th-movie-on-tcm/774172/1 "2016-12-08T02:20:09Z")
Wow. That was **poor**. The first half, I won’t even bother with. A product of its time and circumstance, to be sure. But the editing and the photography were horrible, even by 1943 standards. Banned for being a threat to moral? Should have been destroyed for being a pile of suck! However, it did have a memorable line: A Navy chaplain is talking to some sailors and is making suggestions for upcoming Christmas gifts for the family. I swear, I think he says, _" Get you Mother a Bukkake Lei…"_ Just what mom wants! 😃 > **[December 7th (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_7th_(film))** > > December 7th is a 1943 propaganda documentary film produced by the US Navy and directed by John Ford and Gregg Toland, about the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the event which sparked the Pacific War and American involvement in World War II. Toland was also the film's cinematographer. The original version of this film, with a running time of 82 minutes, was not released but was retained by the National Archives. An edited version of 32 minutes length, which removed a long introductory... ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-watch-the-long-banned-john-ford-december-7th-movie-on-tcm/774172/2 "2016-12-08T02:49:05Z")
The forum software did something funny to your link. I fixed it. > **[December 7th (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_7th_(film))** > > December 7th is a 1943 propaganda documentary film produced by the US Navy and directed by John Ford and Gregg Toland, about the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the event which sparked the Pacific War and American involvement in World War II. Toland was also the film's cinematographer. The original version of this film, with a running time of 82 minutes, was not released but was retained by the National Archives. An edited version of 32 minutes length, which removed a long introductory... ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-watch-the-long-banned-john-ford-december-7th-movie-on-tcm/774172/3 "2016-12-08T03:18:03Z")
Banned by who? Never nobody ever says. The implication is the government banned it, which is questionable at best, and likely a simple lie. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-watch-the-long-banned-john-ford-december-7th-movie-on-tcm/774172/4 "2016-12-08T03:31:15Z")
The film is available on YouTube. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gb7XUDlhz6k/maxresdefault.jpg "December 7th (long version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb7XUDlhz6k) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-watch-the-long-banned-john-ford-december-7th-movie-on-tcm/774172/5 "2016-12-08T06:51:41Z")
[quote=“Rick\_Kitchen, post:4, topic:774172”] The film is available on YouTube. [/QUOTE] Don’t waste your time. Trust me. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-watch-the-long-banned-john-ford-december-7th-movie-on-tcm/774172/6 "2016-12-08T06:52:50Z")
IIRC, parts of it were censored at the time. And like most stuff that’s labeled “confidential” or “secret”, it isn’t that interesting. ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-watch-the-long-banned-john-ford-december-7th-movie-on-tcm/774172/7 "2016-12-08T07:17:47Z")
A “pikake” lei? Pikake is the Hawaiian word for a type of jasmine.