The greatest generation won World War II. The movie, The Longest Day, based on the book, by Cornelius Ryan, gives an account of their bravery on D-Day, June 6, 1944.The film not only gives the allied perspective of the invasion, but also the German one. It shows in detail, the planning, the execution, and ultimate success of Operation Overlord, the name the allies gave it.
The film begins with the Germans trying to figure out radio messages, and interpreting them to be code for the invasion. They know its coming, but aren’t sure where or when, particularly where. The German high command, in their arrogance, believe the allies will invade Calais, because its a better location. They are fooled when the allies hit the Normandy beaches, resulting in near panic by the Nazi commanders.
The decision to go with the long delayed invasion, because of the weather is shown, with General Eisenhower, consulting with his staff. They give him the information, he needs and gives the invasion the green light. The officers, Brigadier General Norman Cota, played by Robert Mitchum and Lt. Col Benjamin Vandervoort, played by John Wayne receive their orders, and brief their men.
The invasion is in three different stages. The first stage being a glider invasion, with British troops, led by Major General John Howard, played by Richard Todd. He remembers in flashback his mission, which is to hold the bridge, that leads into town, until relief comes. This he does, with the relief coming from Lord Lovatt, played by Peter Lawford, and his troops, coming in playing bagpipes. The scenes in this part of the invasion are intense, especially the glider’s rough landing, and General Howard’s troops coming under heavy fire, after landing and when they are securing the bridge.
The second stage involves airborne operations commanded by Col.Vandervort. The troops land in the French town under heavy fire. One paratrooper, Pvt. John Steele, played by Red Buttons, lands in a bell tower, and cant free himself and witnesses several of his comrades being killed. Col. Vandervoot, breaks his ankle during the operation, but goes on, using his rifle as a crutch. The forward group later radios to the colonel, and asks if they can retreat. He adamantly tells them no, stating, that they are here to take the town, and that is what they will do.
The third and final stage is the massive invasion. This shows the Nazi commander blatantly telling his superior over the phone, that the allies have arrived with thousands of ships. His superior, smugly tells him, that the allies don’t have that many ships. The commander holds up the phone so his boss can hear the shelling. One scene that speaks of the mixed emotions of war is the reaction of a French villager, when his home is in the middle of allied shelling. He is jumping for joy, and waving the French flag, while his wife is cowering in fear, telling him to take cover. During the early stages of the invasion, army rangers are shown attacking Point Du Hoc, on the other side of the beach. They climb the cliffs under heavy fire, to take out the main German guns. There is an intense scene when Sgt. John H. Fuller, is given a battlefield promotion to lt., by General Cota. Fuller then tries to set explosives, but is killed before he can, but another soldier completes the task. General Cota also gives inspiration to a demoralized officer, Col Thompson, played by Eddie Albert. Thompson wants to withdraw from his position, because of the losses of men and heavy fire. Cota says he has to keep going, because that is the mission. Col Thompson signals the troops to move forward and is killed. The movie ends with General Cota telling his driver to take him up the hill and a shot of the rest of the soldiers following, with the beach secured.
The Longest Day has an all star cast that includes Robert Ryan, Eddie Albert and Richard Burton. The biggest stars of the film are John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. These two actors never dominate the film, but do a great job of bringing their characters to life.
This film had four directors, Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki and Gerd Oswald. They were responsible for directing exterior scenes and the German scenes. They all did well in keeping the scenes flowing smoothly. The producer of the movie, Darryl F. Zanuck, helped direct some scenes, and deserves a lot of the credit for The Longest Day, being an excellent narrative of D-Day.
The Longest Day as a film is a great example of taking an historical event, and making it into a very watchable movie. When this movie was made, D-Day was in the recent past. This events depicted in this film are still relevant 75 years later. This is mainly because the the bravery of the soldiers, on that fateful day, turned the tide of the war in Europe, making victory for the allies possible. It is a movie that everyone should see.