If a love story is set amidst a major military defeat that is a vital part of our modern history, there may be a few filmgoers under the age of 60 who might want to learn more about the event. To those, we urge you to do research on it on the web and in your local library. In the meantime, we offer these tidbits to straighten out or amplify some of the details of "Pearl Harbor", the movie.

However sexy and lustful this bevy of nurses are in the film, its portrayal of their dedication, intensity and energy in the face of countless casualties is fair. The nurses corps was indeed brave and resourceful.

Admiral Husband E. Kimmel was relieved of his command of the Pacific Fleet after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was forced into retirement as Congress refused to allow him to retire as a full admiral but he was probably no less blameworthy than many others in the military and political power structure who remained blind to the threat.

Kimmel was at home preparing to leave for his office when the first bombs struck. He was not on the driving range as was depicted in the movie, picked up from a popular but erroneous myth. My guess is that the producer and director knew this but chose to go with the mythical, more colorfully ironic, version.

The Japanese architect of the attack, Yamamoto, says at the end that he fears he has "awakened a sleeping giant". There is no evidence that such a thought occurred to him until much later when he realized his country was in danger of losing the war. The line itself was created in the 1970 film, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and, apparently, accepted now as historically accurate. For further study of Yamamoto, read Stanley Weintraub"s 1991 book, "Long Day's Journey Into War," in which he describes Yamamoto as having written a poem celebrating his "victory" for the benefit of Emperor Hirohito.

Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle was a short man with a quiet voice whose leadership, it is said, came from his ability to inspire by example rather than with an excess of verbal exhortation, a characteristic that was conveyed in the movie by his personal participation in the raid on Tokyo.

The boxing by mess attendant Dorie Miller was created for the movie, obviously to beef up Cuba Gooding Jr.'s role. Miller was awarded the Navy Cross, becoming the first African American to receive that honor. He actually did fire on the Japanese zeros but there is no evidence that he actually shot any of them down. He died in combat later in the war.

                                      ~~  Jules Brenner
                                              Cinema Signals