 Los Angeles Times file photo
I haven’t talked to a movie publicist since Brian De Palma’s ghastly “The Black Dahlia” came out, but I was recently bombarded with pitches to do some sort of story about the rather comical February 1942 “Battle of Los Angeles” to hype the upcoming science fiction shoot ’em up “Battle: Los Angeles.” And frankly, if the publicity campaign wanted to establish UFO research as nothing but lies and fakery, it couldn’t have done a better job. In case you don’t know, every year about this time, someone revisits a rather ridiculous episode of wartime hysteria that occurred shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in which more than 1,000 rounds were fired at strange objects in the sky over Los Angeles. The objects were later suspected to be weather balloons – although nobody was ever really sure. In later years, the reporters who lived through the Battle of Los Angeles treated the whole thing as a big joke. And if the incident sounds familiar, that’s because it inspired the movie “1941.” ALSO |
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The publicists pitching me a story on “Battle: Los Angeles” assured me that the film was about this historic event, which sounded interesting, so I did enough online investigation to discover that there is a cheap knockoff called “Battle of Los Angeles” by those folks who brought you that cinematic triumph “Sharktopus.” A few minutes with the “Battle: Los Angeles” trailer on YouTube and a scan of the production notes (spoiler: it was filmed in Louisiana) convinced me that the movie is a modern-day shoot ‘em up of Marines vs. aliens, but I was intrigued by the publicity campaign’s attempt to drape the film with some sort of historical authenticity. And look, I don’t expect accuracy from movies, but here’s what they pulled:
Here’s the actual Times headline from Feb. 26, 1942: “Army Says Alarm Real.”
And here’s the fake headline used in the trailer from – uh-oh – Nov. 6, 1957!
Ready for more lies? Oh good, here’s another one:
Oops. Nothing but lies and fakery. I don’t know if people who do this sort of work are capable of shame, but it would be nice to think so. |
These little dots, by the way, were identified in The Times as bursts of anti-aircraft fire illuminated by the spotlights.
ladailymirror.com 
I’m kind of looking forward to it. I like the stories about the battle of la http://alien-ufo-research.com/battle_of_la/ At least there is a little background to it unlike so many really bad movies made.
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One, I don’t think that THE BLACK DAHLIA was a ghastly movie. Two, you were dumb enough to believe that BATTLE: LOS ANGELES was based upon a historic event? Really?
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Rosie: That’s what the publicists told me. Why do you think I checked?!
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There is a phrase in the Spanish language that covers stuff like this. It speaks of being “sin verguenza” — without pride, without shame, without honor.
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Larry, have you been to the restaurant on the beach in Goleta, The Timbers, constructed with parts of the pier the Japanese sub shelled 2/23/42? If i remember correctly, the inside walls are covered with front page reports of the scare, of which your scroll of front pages reminded me.
Closest thing we have to the buildings in Gettysburg pitted by shells and bullets.
The Japanese commander told his superiors he left Santa Barbara in flames. It came out later he attacked Santa Barbara because he fell backward onto a patch of cactus at a cocktail party there once, and everyone laughed.
Hey, they moved the Rose Bowl to North Carolina 1/1/42 in fear of an attack. (Sneak preview of Daily Mirror 1/1/2012.)
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In the trailer opening when they show the artillery loading and firing they are using footage of German artillery. I love it when filmdom does not bother to use authentic footage.
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“And look, I don’t expect accuracy from movies…”
but
“I expect accuracy from movies.” (Paraphrased)
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Brigade: I expect something that claims to be “a look at the history behind the films source material with archive footage” to at least make an attempt to be correct, rather than resort to lies and fakery.
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Nobody quite does overheated UFO hype the way Bill Birns does. His presence can instantly quash genuine interest in otherwise intriguing exploration. Even he doesn’t believe himself. Watch his hyper eye-blinks. Always more intriguing than his words.
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The ad for the movie says “based on actual events.” One would think the movie research department would actually, I don’t know, make the dates, photos, etc. consistent.
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My father who died a few years ago used to tell me an untold number of war stories when I was a kid. One of his stories was when he was in the coastal artillery stationed in the L.A. area at the beginning of WWII. His story was that the army was getting fed up with civilians ignoring their blackout warnings and finally one night they were ordered to fire a few rounds into the air to shake things up. Well I guess everybody was a little jumpy and things got a bit out of hand. The army was too embarrassed to admit what really happened and they came up with the balloon story.
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