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'''The Longest Day''' is a 3-hour-long 1962 war film with a very large cast, based on the 1959 history ''The Longest Day'' by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, during World War II.
| Contents |
| Background |
| Cast |
| Allies |
| French |
| Germans |
| Awards |
| Theme lyrics |
| Casting |
| Filming |
| See also |
| Notes |
| External links |
| DVD reviews |
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 and French 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 (however the trailer has the Germans delivering their lines in English). 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.
The film, one of the very few 1960's epics made in black and white, features a large ensemble cast including actors such as Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Paul Anka, John Wayne, Rod Steiger, Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Wagner. Several of these actors played roles that were virtually cameo appearances.
Cast
Allies
French
| Actor | French |
|---|---|
| Arletty | Madame Barrault |
| Jean-Louis Barrault | Father Louis Roulland |
| Bourvil | Mayor of Colleville |
| Pauline Carton | Maid |
| Irina Demick | Janine Boitard ''(French Resistance)'' |
| Fernand Ledoux | Louis |
| Christian Marquand | Philippe Kieffer ''(French commando leader)'' |
| Madeleine Renaud | Mother Superior |
| Georges Rivière | Sergeant Guy de Montlaur |
| Jean Servais | Rear admiral Janjard |
| Georges Wilson | Alexandre Renaud |
Germans
| Actor | German Forces |
|---|---|
| Hans Christian Blech | Major Werner Pluskat |
| Wolfgang Büttner | Generalmajor Dr. Hans Speidel |
| Gert Fröbe | Feldwebel ''(Sergeant)'' Kaffekanne |
| Paul Hartmann | Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt |
| Werner Hinz | Field Marshal Erwin Rommel |
| Karl John | General Wolfgang Hager |
| Curd Jürgens | Generalmajor Gunther Blumentritt |
| Til Kiwe | Helmuth Lang |
| Wolfgang Lukschy | Alfred Jodl |
| Kurt Meisel | Ernst During |
| Richard Münch | General Erich Marcks |
| Hartmut Reck | Bernhard Bergsdorf |
| Heinz Reincke | Josef Priller |
| Ernst Schroder | Hans von Salmuth |
| Heinz Spitzner | Helmuth Meyer |
| Wolfgang Preiss | Generalmajor Max Pemsel |
Awards
It won 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 at the 35th Academy Awards.
Theme lyrics
The music, written by Paul Anka, is the authorized march of Le Régiment de la Chaudière, the Canadian Parachute Centre, and the former Canadian Airborne Regiment of the Canadian Forces.
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 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 his former commanding officer. 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.
★ Curt 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, who played the lunatic industrialist Karl Stromberg in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'', and Gert Fröbe, who 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.
★ While everyone else accepted ten thousand dollars as payment, John Wayne insisted on a quarter of a million to punish Zanuck for an earlier negative remark in the press about Wayne and his Alamo film. (Source: ''John Wayne's America: The Politics of Celebrity'' (1997), ISBN 0-684-80823-4.)
★ Acclaimed British actor Christopher Lee auditioned for a role but was turned down as he did not look like a military man even though he served in the RAF as an Intelligence Officer. However, some film books incorrectly credit him with a role in the film.
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]
See also
★ The Longest Day - other uses
★ Authorized marches of the Canadian Forces
Notes
1. Turner Classic Movies)
External links
★
DVD reviews
★ Review by Glenn Erickson at DVD Savant a part of DVD Talk
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