Nineteen forty-first

The film takes place in Los Angeles in December 1941 , shortly after the Japanese aircraft attack on Pearl Harbor . Many residents of Los Angeles are absolutely sure that the Japanese will inflict the next blow on their city and are preparing for the defense with all their might.

The cunning Japanese really sent a submarine to the coast of California under the command of Commander Akiro Mitamura ( Toshiro Mifune ) with the task of "destroying something important." This old submarine was presented to Japan by Nazi Germany , so Japanese people who are new to German technology are advised by experienced submarine captain Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt ( Christopher Lee ). However, even his experience cannot help when the compass fails on the boat and the Japanese discover that they have lost their way, not knowing that they are only a couple of hundred meters from the American coast. A boat floating in the night fog literally bumps into a swimmer from the California walrus club.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the upcoming dance competition was announced in one of the city's clubs, for which amateur dancer Wally Stevens ( Bobby Di Cicco ) is passionately preparing. He intends to win the contest with his girlfriend Betty Douglas ( Dianne Kay ) and does not suspect that all the girls, for patriotic reasons, were obliged to dance only with the military. The military does not keep themselves waiting - in the city there are just a lot of sailors and army men.

At this time, in the Death Valley , on the highway near the gas station, the fighter pilot of the wild bill captain Kelso ( John Belushi ) lands. "Wild Bill" demands to refuel him with a plane and scares the locals with stories that he has been chasing a Japanese squadron flying over America for several days. Suddenly, the engine of his plane starts itself up and Kelso rushes after his fighter along the highway, firing into the air from a pistol. One of the bullets, ricocheting off, sets fire to gasoline and the gas station behind the captain’s back takes off into the air.

The new garrison commander arrives in Los Angeles, General Joseph Stillwell ( Robert Stack ), a phlegmatic and sober military man who completely does not believe in the Japanese threat and prefers to watch the new Disney cartoon " Dumbo " for all matters. Together with him comes his secretary Donna Stratton ( Nancy Allen ), who is obsessed with airplanes. Adjutant Stillwell, the sexually preoccupied staff captain Loomis Burkhead ( Tim Matheson ), who is trying by all means to seduce Donna by dragging her into any plane, knows about her weakness. Climbing into one of the B-17s standing on the airfield, they inadvertently drop an air bomb , which falls on the asphalt and rolls towards the general giving the press conference - just when he says that “while he commands here, not a single bomb in California will not explode. " The bomb, however, explodes, only fortunately killing no one.

Wally is trying to convince Betty to dance with him in the competition. All this happens near the house of Betty's father - Ward Douglas, a comedic patriot- enthusiast who does not like Wally because he crashed his car. Wally is hiding from Betty's father in the garage. Near the house appears anti-aircraft gunner Sergeant Frank Three ( Dan Aykroyd ), who was ordered to install a gun on the site of Ward Douglas. Observing the safety requirements, the sergeant shows the owner of the house, who is obsessed with weapons, what can not be done so that the anti-aircraft gun does not accidentally fire - that is, it actually instructs him how to shoot from it. At this time, Corporal Sitarsky ( Trit Williams ) discovers Betty, instantly "sinks" into her and does not give her a pass. In the garage, he runs into Wally. A fight ensues, as a result of which the resisting Wally is forcibly taken out to the trash.

Meanwhile, the commander of the Japanese submarine, who can’t find his way in any way, landed a reconnaissance group in the suburbs of Los Angeles to take the “language” and find out where they are. The group captures the Christmas tree merchant Hollis (Holly) Wood ( Slim Pickens ), and at the same time his ancient radio receiver . The Japanese interrogate the silly merchant, always confused because of the consonance of his name and the name of the city of Hollywood . In the end, they decide that Hollywood, "the heart of America", is very close and they can destroy it. During the search, they find a small toy compass near Wood in a pack of chips. Realizing that the toy is of interest to the enemy, Wood heroically swallows it. The Japanese drink him laxatives , but Wood suffers from constipation and it is not so easy to get a compass from his stomach. As a result, Voodoo manages to catch the Japanese by surprise and escape from a submarine - though, finding himself in the sea and not knowing which side of the coast.

Closer to night, in the fairground attraction complex on the shore, a night watch rises to the top of the Ferris wheel, which should observe the sky and report on a possible air raid. One of the sentinels is panicky afraid of heights, and the second is a fair ventriloquist , who has a doll like him in his bag, with which he is having fun talking to him.

All this time, crazy Bill Kelso has been driving an imaginary Japanese squadron over America, gradually approaching Los Angeles.

General Stillwell is prevented from watching the cartoon, reporting that the commander of the mothballed air base, Colonel Madman Maddox, is confident that the Japanese landed troops to capture his base and urgently needs reinforcements. In order to reassure Maddox, the general sends Captain Loomis Burkhead; Donna Stratten is called to accompany him.

In the evening, a dance competition begins at the club, to which Wally manages to infiltrate after he stuns a military policeman and takes his uniform. He dances with Betty, while fighting off Corporal Sitarsky, earns first prize and provokes a grandiose fight between sailors and foot soldiers. Fighting is stopped by Sergeant Three, who arrived in the charismatic Lee tank, and gives a fiery patriotic speech.

At Maddox airbase, Captain Birkhead puts Donna on the plane, because he does not succeed in seducing her on the ground, and they fly on him towards Los Angeles. There is no radio on the old bomber , the air defense forces fail to recognize it in the dark, the plane is mistaken for Japanese and an air alert is announced throughout the state. Indiscriminate shooting into the sky from anti-aircraft guns and all types of small arms, which causes damage primarily to high-rise buildings and advertising posters. Sergeant Three, who extinguishes the illumination of the city ​​with machine-gun fire, is hurt by the gigantic figure of Santa Claus that has fallen on him and is in an insane state.

Donna flew off the coils in the pilot’s cockpit of a bomber making love to Burkhead, who is simultaneously trying to control an airplane. At this time, the Kelso Wild Bill fighter enters the interception. He pursues an almost uncontrollable bomber over Los Angeles and engages with him in a fire battle literally between the houses of Sunset Boulevard. Burkhead's crashed plane crashes near a leisure park, right into the tar lake. Satisfied with the victory, “Wild Bill” Kelso turns over the ocean and then notices a Japanese submarine. However, at the next moment, observers on a ferris wheel knock out his plane from a rifle. Captain Kelso hardly sits down in the city center and informs everyone about the submarine, after which he takes a motorcycle from a military courier and rushes to the coast. A tank also goes there, the crew of which picks up Wally, still dressed in an army uniform, on the road and, due to sergeant patches on it, appoints him commander.

The surfaced Japanese submarine is also noticed by Ward Douglas. Since there is no calculation near the anti-aircraft gun at this moment, he independently directs it to the submarine and opens fire, not paying attention to the fact that he shoots through his own house. At this time, his children, tasked with lowering the sentinels from the fair wheel, instead included the illumination of an amusement park. Commander Mitamura decides that an industrial center sparkles with lights on the shore and opens fire from the cannons on the Ferris wheel. The projectile knocks the wheel off the rack, it rolls along the pier and falls into the water under the yelling cries of the Japanese.

A tank of sergeant Three appears on the pier, which opens fire on the boat from a gun. Commander Mitamura responds with a torpedo salvo that blows the pier along with the tank. The last on the collapsing pier is the Kelso Wild Bill motorcycle, which, apparently, is trying to ram a submarine with it during acceleration, but does not reach the target and falls into the water.

Sentinels from the Ferris wheel and the crew of the tank are sailing to the shore, and Kelso's “Wild Bill” to the Japanese submarine. Climbing onto it, he bursts in before she has time to plunge, and demands from the dumbfounded Japanese that they take him to Tokyo .

The next morning, General Stillwell appears near the remains of the Douglas house and all the characters in the film gather, retaining the ability to move. Ward Douglas makes a felt patriotic speech and tries to nail a Christmas wreath to the front door - a symbol of peace and tranquility. After the first blow with a hammer, the remains of his house slide into the ocean.

In the United States, the film was shown on cable television.

In the USSR, before the beginning of the 90s, the film was shown on cable television. In Russia, from 1996 to 1998, the film was shown on ORT with the translation of the film company Silena International. In the period from 1999 to 2005, the film was shown on NTV with the translation of NTV-plus . Until 2010, the film was broadcast by REN TV . Also, since 2010, the film has been re-screened on NTV with the same translation.

• "1941" on the Internet Movie Database
• "One Thousand Nine hundred and forty-first" on Steven Spielberg’s Russian fan site