The Longest Day (film)
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The Longest Day | |
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original movie poster IMDB 7.8/10 (8,662 votes) |
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Directed by | Ken Annakin (British exterior episodes) Andrew Marton (American exterior episodes) Bernhard Wicki (German episodes) |
Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
Written by | Romain Gary James Jones David Pursall Cornelius Ryan Jack Seddon |
Starring | John Wayne Henry Fonda Robert Mitchum Sean Connery |
Music by | Maurice Jarre |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date(s) | September 25, 1962 |
Running time | 178 min. |
Language | English German French |
Budget | $10,000,000 US (est.) |
IMDb profile |
The Longest Day is a 3-hour-long 1962 war film with a very large cast, based on the 1959 book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, during World War II.
Contents |
[edit] Background
The movie was adapted by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall, Cornelius Ryan and Jack Seddon from the Ryan book. It was directed by Ken Annakin (British exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), Gerd Oswald (parachute drop scene), Bernhard Wicki (German scenes) and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited).
Many of the military consultants and advisors who helped with the film's production were actual participants in the action on D-Day, and are portrayed in the film. The producers drew them from both sides. Among them are Günther Blumentritt (a former German general), James M. Gavin (an American general), Frederick Morgan (Deputy Chief of Staff at SHAEF), John Howard (who led the airborne assault on the Pegasus Bridge), The Earl of Lovat (who commanded the 1st Special Service Brigade), Philippe Kieffer (who led his men in the assault on Ouistreham), Pierre Koenig (who commanded the Free French Forces in the invasion), Max Pemsel (a German general), Werner Pluskat (the major who was the first German officer to see the invasion fleet), Josef "Pips" Priller (the hot-headed pilot) and Lucie Rommel (widow of Erwin Rommel).
One thing that sets the film apart from most films set in the Second World War is that all characters speak in their own languages, with subtitles in English wherever the characters speak either French or German. The usual Nazi stereotypes are avoided, and most German characters are portrayed as human beings. The words "Sieg, heil!", for instance, are not uttered even once in The Longest Day, although they are seen written on a bunker wall in Ouistreham.
[edit] Cast and roles include
Actor | Role |
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Eddie Albert | Col. Thompson |
Paul Anka | U.S. Army Ranger |
Arletty | Madame Barrault |
Patrick Barr | Group Capt. James Martin Stagg (uncredited) |
Jean-Louis Barrault | Father Louis Roulland |
Michael Beint | Bit Part |
Richard Beymer | Schultz |
Hans Christian Blech | Maj. Werner Pluskat |
Bourvil | Mayor of Colleville-sur-Mer |
Vicco von Bülow | German Officer |
Richard Burton | RAF Flying Officer David Campbell |
Wolfgang Buttner | Maj. Gen Dr. Hans Speidel |
Red Buttons | Pvt. John Steele |
Lucien Camiret | Bit Part |
Pauline Carton | Maid |
Jean Champion | Bit Part |
Brian Coleman | Ronald Callen |
Sean Connery | Pte. Flanagan |
John Crawford | Col. Caffrey |
Jo D'Avra | French Navy Captain |
Mark Damon | Pvt. Harris |
Ray Danton | Capt. Frank |
Richard Dawson | British soldier |
Eugene Deckers | Nazi officer |
Irina Demick | Jaine Boitard |
Colin Drake | Zanuck |
Michael Duchaussoy | Extra |
Fred Dur | U.S. Army Ranger Major |
Fabian | U.S. Army Ranger |
Mel Ferrer | Maj. Gen. Robert Haines |
Frank Finlay | Pvt. Coke |
Henry Fonda | Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. |
Steve Forrest | Capt. Harding |
Harry Fowler | Bit part |
Bernard Fox | British soldier |
Robert Freitag | Meyer's aide |
Bernard Fresson | Bit part |
Gert Fröbe | „Unteroffizier [Sgt.] Kaffeekanne“ |
Lutz Gabor | Bit part |
Leo Genn | Brig. Gen. Edwin P. Parker Jr. |
Harold Goodwin | Bit part |
Henry Grace | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
John Gregson | British Padre |
Clement Harari | Bit part |
Paul Hartmann | Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt |
Ruth Hausmeister | Lucie Rommel |
Jack Hedley | RAF briefing officer |
Peter Helm | Young GI |
Werner Hinz | Field Marshal Erwin Rommel |
Michael Hinz | Manfred Rommel |
Donald Houston | RAF pilot at flight base |
Jeffrey Hunter | Sgt. (later Lt.) John H. Fuller |
Karl John | Wolfgang Hager |
Curd Jürgens | Maj. Gen. Günther Blumentritt |
Til Kiwe | Helmuth Lang |
Alexander Knox | Maj. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith |
Michael Knox | |
Simon Lack | Trafford Leigh-Mallory |
Peter Lawford | Lord Lovat |
Fernand Ledoux | Louis |
Rudy Lenoir | Bit part |
Joseph Lowe | Ranger at Pointe du Hoc |
Wolfgang Lukschy | Alfred Jodl |
Howard Marion-Crawford | Doctor |
Christian Marquand | capitaine de corvette Philippe Kieffer |
Dewey Martin | Pvt. Wilder |
Neil McCallum | Bit part |
Roddy McDowall | Pte. Morris |
Michael Medwin | Pvt. Watney |
Edward Meeks | |
John Meillon | Alan G. Kirk |
Kurt Meisel | Ernst During |
Bill Millen | Himself |
Sal Mineo | Pvt. Martini |
Robert Mitchum | Brig. Gen. Norman Cota |
Tony Mordente | Cook |
Kenneth More | Commander Colin Maud |
Louis Mounier | Arthur William Tedder |
Richard Munch | Erich Marcks |
Bill Nagy | Bit part |
Edmond O'Brien | Gen. Raymond D. Barton |
Kurt Pecher | German commander |
Rainer Penkert | Fritz Theen |
Leslie Phillips | Royal Air Force officer |
Sian Phillips | WREN |
Wolfgang Preiss | Maj. Gen. Max Pemsel |
Maurice Poli | Jean |
Ron Randell | Joe Williams |
Hartmut Reck | Bernard Bergsdorf |
Trevor Reid | Bernard L. Montgomery |
Madeleine Renaud | Mother Superior |
Heinz Reincke | Josef Priller |
Georges Riviere | Guy de Montlaur |
John Robinson | Bertram Ramsay |
Norman Rossington | Pvt. Clough |
Paul Edwin Roth | Col. Schiller |
Marcel Rouze | Bit part |
Robert Ryan | Brig. Gen. James M. Gavin |
Tommy Sands | U.S. Army Ranger |
Dietmar Schonherr | Luftwaffe major |
Ernst Schröder | Gen. Hans von Salmuth |
George Segal | Commando #1 up cliff |
Jean Servais | RAdm. Janjard |
Hans Sohnker | Deutscher Offizier |
Heinz Spitzner | Helmuth Meyer |
Bob Steele | Paratrooper |
Rod Steiger | Destroyer commander |
Lee Strasberg | Sgt. Forster |
Nicholas Stuart | Omar N. Bradley |
Alice Tissot | Housekeeper |
Richard Todd | Major John Howard |
Serge Tolstoy | German officer |
Tom Tryon | Lt. Wilson |
Peter van Eyck | Lt. Col. Ocker |
Lionel Vitrant | the first landed paratrooper, in a garden |
Robert Wagner | U.S. Army Ranger |
Richard Wattis | British soldier |
Stuart Whitman | Lt. Sheen |
Georges Wilson | Alexandre Renaud |
John Wayne | Lt. Col. Benjamin H. Vandervoort |
Dominique Zardi | Bit part |
[edit] Awards
It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White and Best Effects, Special Effects, and was nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Film Editing and Best Picture.
[edit] Theme lyrics
The music is also the authorized march of Le Régiment de la Chaudière, the Canadian Parachute Centre, and the former Canadian Airborne Regiment of the Canadian Forces.
[edit] Casting
- Sergeant Kaffeekanne's last name is from the German for "coffee pot", which he always carries.
- Bill Millin, the piper who accompanies Lord Lovat to Normandy with his bagpipes, played himself in the film. He used the same set of bagpipes he played on D-Day.
- In Sainte-Mère-Église, Private John Steele from the 82nd Airborne (played by Red Buttons) has been memorialized by the local population with a dummy hanging from a parachute from the church tower on which he accidentally landed.
- Richard Todd, who plays the Major John Howard leading the British Airborne assault on the Pegasus Bridge, took part in the real bridge assault on D-Day. Todd was offered the chance to play himself but thought the part would be too small, so he asked to play the part of his former commanding officer.
- Joseph Lowe landed on Omaha Beach and scaled the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc on D-Day. He repeated the climb for the cameras 17 years later.
- Curd Jürgens, who plays the German General Blumentritt who muses on the incompetence of his superiors, was actually imprisoned by the Nazis in his youth.
- As well as featuring 007 himself (Sean Connery), this film boasts two James Bond villains: Curd Jürgens played the lunatic industrialist Karl Stromberg in "The Spy Who Loved Me" while Gert Fröbe played Auric Goldfinger in "Goldfinger".
- Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was considered for the role of himself in the film, and he indicated his willingness. However, it was decided that makeup artists couldn't make him appear young enough to play his WWII self.
- The role of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin H. Vandervoort was actively sought by Charlton Heston but the last-minute decision of John Wayne to take a role in the film prevented Heston from participating.
- Acclaimed British actor Christopher Lee auditioned for a role but was turned down as he did not look like a military man. However, he served in the RAF during World War II.
[edit] Filming
- During the filming of the landings at Omaha Beach, the American soldiers appearing as extras didn't want to jump off the landing craft into the water because they thought it would be too cold. Robert Mitchum, who played General Norm Cota, finally got disgusted with them and jumped in first, at which point the soldiers had no choice but to follow his example.
- The Rupert paradummies used in the film were far more elaborate and lifelike than those actually used for the decoy parachute drop (Operation Titanic) which were actually just canvas or burlap sacks filled with sand. In the real operation six Special Air Service soldiers jumped with the dummies and played recordings of loud battle noises to distract the Germans.
- At $10,000,000, this film was the most expensive black-and-white film made until 1993, when Schindler's List was released. (Source: Turner Classic Movies).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] DVD Reviews
- Review by Glenn Erickson at DVD Savant a part of DVD Talk