Steven Spielberg is undoubtedly one of the greatest voices in filmmaking today. Since the ’70s, he has proven himself to be a very competent director who can dabble in any filmmaking genre with ease. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of The Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, The Color Purple, etc. are examples of his complete mastery over varied genres.
Spielberg tasted success early in his career with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When he decided to put a comedic spin on the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, many, including John Wayne, warned him that it would backfire on him. The underwhelming reception of the film led to a big realization of the mistakes that he made.
John Wayne’s Warning About 1941 Was The First Sign of the Film’s Doomed Fate
After the huge success of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg shifted gears and attempted to do a war comedy with 1941. The film starring Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, John Candy, and Christopher Lee, among others, chronicled the panic and havoc caused by the attack on Pearl Harbor through a comedic lens.
This weird but unique approach intrigued some high-profile names like John Wayne who asked Spielberg to send him the script. The actor was the director’s first choice for the role of Major General Joseph W. Stilwell. However, Wayne felt that the film was disrespectful of the damage that the Pearl Harbor attack caused by making a mockery out of it as Spielberg told Entertainment Weekly.
The actor told Spielberg that he should not waste his time making it as it’s a very un-American movie. He also warned the director not to joke about horrifying real-world conflicts such as World War 2. Spielberg said,
“He was really curious, and so I sent him the script. He called me the next day and said he felt it was a very un-American movie, and I shouldn’t waste my time making it. He said, ‘You know, that was an important war, and you’re making fun of a war that cost thousands of lives at Pearl Harbor. Don’t joke about World War II.”
Robert Stack went on to play Stilwell in the film. Spielberg would later reflect on the failure of the film in an interview with the Directors Guild of America. He claimed that he had become too overconfident by the success of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and he went over schedule on 1941. He became too self-indulgent and controlling on the film the film’s failure was a learning lesson for him. Spielberg said,
“I have to tell you, when I made 1941, I felt like I was made of Teflon. I felt that anything I put on film was going to succeed; that every laugh I set up would receive not only a laugh but huge applause; that everybody was going to win an Academy Award.
And I look back, and it’s not that I misbehaved, I didn’t, but I just became so precious and indulgent about getting everything right. I couldn’t share the workload with anyone. And I learned the greatest lesson of my career, just from the experience of 1941″
1941 failed to repeat the critical and financial success of his previous films. It is considered one of Spielberg’s weakest films. However, the director learned a great lesson from the film about being humble amidst success or failure and to continue doing great work.
Steven Spielberg Got Carried Away By The Scale of 1941, Making it a Chaotic Mess
Steven Spielberg‘s 1941 is one film from the director’s filmography that fans wouldn’t want to revisit any time soon. A comedic twist to a horrifying vent such as the attack on Pearl Harbor was not something audiences connected with. Spielberg himself admitted to going way overboard on the film.
Spielberg told Empire about how he got carried away by the excess of resources at his disposal. The director stated that the film would have been better off with $10 million less than the actual budget and had too many sub-plots that ruined the narrative. He said,
“We would have been better off with $10 million less, because we went from one plot to seven sub-plots. But, at the time, I wanted it — the bigness, the power, hundreds of people at my beck and call, millions of dollars at my disposal, and everybody saying Yes… yes… yes!”
Spielberg is set to return to his sci-fi roots with a new UFO film as his next project. The film will be written by Jurassic Park writer David Koepp. He is also making a reimagining of Steve McQueen’s Bullitt with Bradley Cooper.
Fans can watch/rent Spielberg’s 1941 on Apple TV+.
