1941 at the AFI Silver (July 18 & 20)

July 18, 5:05 PMClassic TV ExaminerDoug Krentzlin

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When director Steven Spielberg’s epic slapstick comedy “1941” was released in late 1979, it was almost universally denounced as his first misfire. Seen today, some of the scenes have stood up well enough for “1941” to qualify as a guilty pleasure. This Friday and Sunday, it is playing at the AFI Silver as part of its Spielberg Retrospective (for info, call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/silver).

Conceived by Spielberg and his writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale as “Dr. Strangelove meets It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” “1941” was very loosely based on a true incident in which people in Los Angeles panicked when a Japanese submarine was spotted off the coast of California a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Given carte blanche by Universal Studios and Columbia Pictures (who co-produced the movie), Spielberg put together an all-star ensemble including John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Ned Beatty, Christopher Lee, Toshiro Mifune, Warren Oates, Robert Stack, Treat Williams, Slim Pickens and criminally underrated comedienne Wendie Jo Sperber.

The highlights include a dogfight between two American airplanes over Hollywood Boulevard, the Japanese sub’s attack on a Ferris wheel and, best of all, the chase scene in a USO Club during a jitterbug dance contest and done in time to the swing tune being played by the club’s big band.

“1941” also features some of John Williams’ best music ever, especially the movie’s March Theme and the big band number mentioned above.