The Longest Day (film)

The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II.

Producer Darryl F. Zanuck paid the author of the book, Cornelius Ryan, $175,000 for the screen rights to produce the film.^[1] The film was adapted from the book by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall, Jack Seddon, and the author himself. It was directed by Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), Gerd Oswald (parachute drop scene), Bernhard Wicki (German scenes), John Wayne (uncredited) 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; Allied and Axis. 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), Lord 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).

Unique for World War II films produced at the time, all French and German characters speak in their native language with subtitles in English. A separate version exists, shot simultaneously, in which all the actors speak their lines in English, which is why the trailer has the Germans delivering their lines in English. This version saw limited use during the initial release, and more extensive use during a late 1960s re-release of the film. The English-only version was featured on the "flip side" of an older single disc DVD release.

The film, one of the very few 1960s epics made in black and white, features a large ensemble cast including actors such as Kenneth More, Richard Todd (who took part in the actual invasion), Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Leo Genn, Peter Lawford, Gert Fröbe, John Wayne, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curd Jürgens, Robert Wagner and Arletty. Several of these actors played roles that were virtually cameo appearances.

Cast

Americans

British

French

Germans

Casting

• Sergeant Kaffeekanne's name is German for "coffee pot", which he always carries.
• It is a common misconception that Bill Millin, the piper who accompanies Lord Lovat to Normandy with his bagpipes, played himself in the film. He was actually portrayed by Pipe Major Leslie de Laspee, the official piper to the Queen Mother in 1961.^[2][3]
• In Sainte-Mère-Église, Private John Steele from the 82nd Airborne (played by Red Buttons) has been memorialised by the local population with a dummy hanging from a parachute from the church tower on which he accidentally landed.
• Richard Todd, who played Major John Howard, leader of 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 Major John Howard instead. Shortly after the British have captured the Orne bridge (later renamed Horsa Bridge) in the film, one of the soldiers tells Todd that all they have to do now is sit tight and wait for the 7th Parachute Battalion to relieve them, to which Todd replies dismissively that the Paras are always late. This was a private joke, as Todd had been the adjutant of the 7th Parachute Battalion on D-Day and did help relieve the forces on the bridge. During the scene of Todd as Howard awaiting relief from the beachhead, an officer in a Para beret next to Todd is an actor playing the real Richard Todd.
• 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.
• Actor Curd Jürgens portrayed the German General Blumentritt who muses on the incompetence of his superiors. Jürgens himself was actually imprisoned by the Nazis in his youth.
• 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 World War II self. The role of General Eisenhower went to Henry Grace, a set decorator with no acting experience, but who had been in the film industry since the mid-1930s. He was a dead ringer for the younger Eisenhower, though his voice differed. His role in this film was his only acting credit.
• 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. While everyone else accepted twenty-five thousand dollars as payment, John Wayne insisted on a quarter of a million dollars to punish Zanuck for an earlier negative remark in the press about Wayne and his film The Alamo.^[4]
• Acclaimed British actor Christopher Lee auditioned for a role, but was turned down because he did not look like a military man, even though he had served in the Royal Air Force as an Intelligence Officer. However, some film books incorrectly credit him with a role in the film.
• The film was the last one made by Sean Connery before he was cast in the role of James Bond. It is also noticeable, that James Bond's later rivals, "Auric Goldfinger", and "Karl Stromberg" are played by the German actors Gert Fröbe, and Curd Jürgens respectively, who coincidentally also take "Nemesis" roles in this movie (Seargant Kaffeekanne, and General Günther Blumentritt).
• Canadian journalist Charles Lynch played an unnamed war correspondent on Juno beach, who calls the homing pigeons "traitors" when they fly towards Germany. Lynch, then working for Reuters, was one of a handful of journalists to accompany the troops ashore in the actual invasion.

Filming

• During the filming of the landings at Omaha Beach, the American soldiers appearing as extras did not want to jump off the landing craft into the water because they thought it would be too cold. Robert Mitchum, who played General Norman Cota, became disgusted with their trepidation. He 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.^[1][5]
• In the scenes where the paratroopers land, the background noise of frogs croaking "ribbit ribbit" was wrong for northern French frog species and showed that the film likely used an American recording of background night noises.
• Colin Maud loaned Kenneth More the shillelagh he carried ashore in the actual invasion, while Richard Todd wore the actual D-Day helmet worn by Major John Howard.
• In the film, 3 Free French Special Air Service paratroopers jumped into France before English and American airborne landings. This is accurate. 36 Free French SAS (4 sticks) jumped into Britanny (Plumelec and Duault) on 5 June (11 h 30). The first Allied soldier killed in action was Free French Corporal Emile Bouetard : 6 June (0 h 40) in Plumelec, Morbihan.

Awards

• Academy Awards for Best Art Direction (1962): Ted Haworth, Léon Barsacq, Vincent Korda and Gabriel Béchir (nominated)^[6]
• Academy Awards for Best Cinematography (1962): Jean Bourgoin (won)^[6]
• Academy Awards for Best Cinematography (1962): Walter Wottitz (won)^[6]
• Academy Awards for Best Editing (1962): Samuel E. Beetley (nominated)^[6]
• Academy Awards for Best Picture (1962): (nominated)^[6]
• Academy Awards for Best Special Effects (1963): (won)^[6]

Historical inaccuracies

In the film, Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith is incorrectly portrayed as a Major General. Walter B. Smith was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General in January 1943, 18 months prior to D-Day.

References in Popular Culture

The English heavy metal band Iron Maiden wrote a song about the Normandy invasion called The Longest Day. This would be one of several songs Iron Maiden wrote about war movies.

See also

• The Longest Day - other uses
• Authorized marches of the Canadian Forces
• John Wayne filmography (1961-1976)

Notes

External links

• The Longest Day at the Internet Movie Database
• The Longest Day at the TCM Movie Database
• The Longest Day at Allmovie
• Voted best war film
• The Longest Headache http://books.google.com.au/books?id=fVUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA118&lpg=RA1-PA118&dq=%22longest+day%22+%2B+%22irina+demich%22+french+director&source=bl&ots=4nxIw7tTLf&sig=VZTqowD_D2Y2yhKSjpmV-b2-Lxg&hl=en&ei=wgcPTIyPKtGHkAXW4s34Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAgQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q&f=false