Tokyo Joe (1949)

43% of users liked it
(250 ratings)

One of the less famous Humphrey Bogart films is this 1949 drama about post-war guilt and remembrance. Bogart plays U.S. airman and war hero Joe Barrett. During the war, he believes, his wife Trina (Florence Marly) died in a Japanese concentration camp. But when Barrett returns to Tokyo and the bar… More One of the less famous Humphrey Bogart films is this 1949 drama about post-war guilt and remembrance. Bogart plays U.S. airman and war hero Joe Barrett. During the war, he believes, his wife Trina (Florence Marly) died in a Japanese concentration camp. But when Barrett returns to Tokyo and the bar named Tokyo Joe that he used to own, he discovers that Trina is not only alive, but she has married Mark Landis (Alexander Knox), an attorney, and they have a seven-year-old daughter Anya (Lora Lee Michel), whom he suspects is really his child. Baron Kimura (Sessue Hayakawa) forces Barrett into running an airborne smuggling operation by threatening to reveal publicly that Trina made wartime radio propaganda broadcasts. The shipment Barrett must fly includes three Japanese war criminals being brought back into the country, and Kimura insures that Barrett will comply by kidnapping Anya and holding her hostage. But the war criminals hijack the plane and are arrested. Barrett then tracks down Kimura and both die in a shoot-out which saves the life of Anya. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Stuart Heisler
Written By: Walter Doniger, Steve Fisher, Cyril Hume, Bertram Millhauser
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

In Theaters: Nov 1, 1949 Wide
On DVD: Feb 10, 2004

Critic Reviews

Christopher Lloyd, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
In an era when Hollywood loved cut-and-dry endings, Tokyo Joe is notable for the way Humphrey Bogart's character never steps fully into the light, or out of it.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Not much to take away from this world-weary melodrama except for a lot of gloom.
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
The movie ... is a potboiler, and not one of Bogie's best; the use of a stuntman in the fight scenes is quite evident, and Bogart looks a bit run down.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

No Featured Audience Ratings Found…

Cast

Humphrey Bogart
as Joe Barrett
Florence Marly
as Trina
Alexander Knox
as Mark Landis

Sessue Hayakawa
as Baron Kimura
Jerome Courtland
as Danny
Gordon Jones
as Idaho

See full cast