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| The Longest Day | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by |
|
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan |
| Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | |
| Edited by | Samuel E. Beetley |
| Music by | Maurice Jarre |
Production company | Darryl F. Zanuck Productions |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 178 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages |
|
| Budget | $7.75 million[1] |
| Box office | $50.1 million[2] |
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The Longest Day is a 1962 Americanepicwar film based onCornelius Ryan's 1959non-fiction book of the same name[3] about theD-Day landings inNormandy on June 6, 1944. The film was produced byDarryl F. Zanuck for20th Century Fox, and is directed byKen Annakin (British and French exteriors),Andrew Marton (American exteriors), andBernhard Wicki (German scenes). The screenplay was written by Ryan, with additional material written byRomain Gary,James Jones, David Pursall and Jack Seddon.
The film features a large international ensemble cast that includesJohn Wayne,Kenneth More,Richard Todd,Robert Mitchum,Richard Burton,Steve Forrest,Sean Connery,Henry Fonda,Red Buttons,Peter Lawford,Eddie Albert,Jeffrey Hunter,Stuart Whitman,Tom Tryon,Rod Steiger,Leo Genn,Gert Fröbe,Irina Demick,Bourvil,Curd Jürgens,George Segal,Robert Wagner,Paul Anka andArletty. Many of these actors played roles that were essentiallycameo appearances. Several cast members had seen action as servicemen during the war, including Albert, Fonda, Genn, More, Steiger and Todd, the latter having been among the first British officers to land in Normandy inOperation Overlord and participate in the assault onPegasus Bridge.
The filmmakers employed several actualAllied andAxis D-Day participants as consultants, many of whom had their roles re-enacted in the film. These includedGünther Blumentritt (a former German general),James M. Gavin (an American general),Frederick Morgan (Deputy Chief of Staff atSHAEF),John Howard (who led the airborne assault on thePegasus Bridge),Lord Lovat (who commanded the 1st Special Service Brigade),Philippe Kieffer (who led his men in the assault onOuistreham),Marie-Pierre Kœnig (who commanded theFree 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 Field MarshalErwin Rommel).
The Longest Day premiered in France on September 25, 1962, and in the United States on October 4. It received acclaim from critics and was a significant commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing black-and-white movie at the time. At the35th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for fiveOscars, includingBest Picture, and won awards forBest Cinematography (Black-and-White) andBest Special Effects.
Shot in a docudrama style (with captions identifying the different participants), the film opens in the days leading up toD-Day, depicting events on both sides of theEnglish Channel. There is disagreement within theGerman High Command as to where theAllies will land and how theWehrmacht should respond, but the threat is not perceived to be imminent, given the stormy weather. On June 5, 1944, not wanting to keep his forces waiting any longer, Gen.Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander ofSHAEF, makes the decision to go ahead with plans to invade France throughNormandy the following day after receiving a somewhat hopeful weather report.
In the early hours of June 6, Alliedairborne troops are sent in to take key locations, and theFrench Resistance reacts to the news that the invasion has started. British troops arrive in gliders to securePegasus Bridge, American paratroopers land scattered aroundSainte-Mère-Église to defend a road that will be a vital artery for the invasion, and French Resistance andSOE agents conductinfiltration and sabotage work. There is uncertainty among German commanders about whether these events are a feint to distract from Allied crossings at theStrait of Dover (seeOperation Fortitude), where the senior German staff had always assumed the invasion would begin.
As day breaks, Allied forces land on several beaches in Normandy and attempt to push inland, having particular trouble atOmaha Beach. Two loneLuftwaffe pilots strafe the beaches before flying away. The U.S.Provisional Ranger Group conducts an assault on the artillery atPointe du Hoc, only to discover the guns are not functional.Free French Forces destroy a German stronghold inOuistreham. After blowing through a concrete barrier, the American troops on Omaha Beach are able to begin their advance and join the rest of the Allied troops on the march to retake France and, eventually, conquer Germany.
Note: Characters listed in order of rank.
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Grace (dubbed byAllen Swift) | Gen.Dwight D. Eisenhower | Supreme Commander,Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) |
| Alexander Knox | Lieutenant Gen.Walter Bedell Smith | Chief of Staff, SHAEF |
| Arthur Hill | Lieutenant Gen.Omar N. Bradley | Commander,1st Army |
| John Meillon | Rear AdmiralAlan G. Kirk | Commander,Western Naval Task Force,U.S. 8th Fleet |
| Mel Ferrer | Major Gen. Robert Haines | Assistant Commander, SHAEF |
| Edmond O'Brien | Major Gen.Raymond O. Barton | Commander,4th Infantry Division |
| Henry Fonda | Brigadier Gen.Theodore Roosevelt Jr. | Assistant Commander, 4th Infantry Division |
| Robert Mitchum | Brigadier Gen.Norman Cota | Assistant Commander,29th Infantry Division[a] |
| Robert Ryan | Brigadier Gen.James M. Gavin | Assistant Commander,82nd Airborne Division |
| John Crawford | Col.Eugene M. Caffey | Commander,1st Engineer Special Brigade |
| Eddie Albert | Col. Lloyd Thompson | Aide-de-camp to Cota, 29th Infantry Division[b] |
| John Wayne | Lieutenant Col.Benjamin H. Vandervoort | CO, 2nd Battalion,505th Parachute Infantry Regiment |
| Bill Nagy | Maj. Lance | XO, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment |
| Fred Dur | Maj. Stoltz | XO,2nd Ranger Battalion |
| Rod Steiger | Lieutenant Cmdr. Joseph Witherow Jr. | Commander,USSSatterlee |
| Steve Forrest | Capt. Harding | XO, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment |
| Ray Danton | Capt. Frank | XO, 29th Infantry Division |
| Stuart Whitman | Lt. Sheen | Paratrooper, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment |
| Tom Tryon | Lt. Wilson | Paratrooper, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment |
| Gary Collins | Ensign Sheeran | Bridge officer, USSSatterlee |
| Jeffrey Hunter (credited as Jeff Hunter) | Sgt. John H. Fuller (later field promoted to Lieutenant) | Combat engineer, 299th Engineer Combat Battalion |
| Tony Mordente | Wyman | Cook, 82nd Airborne Division |
| Bob Steele | Corporal Alexander | Paratrooper, 82nd Airborne Division |
| Richard Beymer | Pvt. Arthur 'Dutch' Schultz | Paratrooper, 82nd Airborne Division[4] |
| Red Buttons | Pvt.John Steele | Paratrooper, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment |
| Sal Mineo | Pvt. Martini | Paratrooper, 82nd Airborne Division |
| Roddy McDowall | Pvt. Morris | Infantryman, 4th Infantry Division |
| George Segal | Pvt. Wohl | Infantryman, 2nd Ranger Battalion |
| Robert Wagner | Pvt. Keller | Infantryman, 2nd Ranger Battalion |
| Paul Anka | Pvt. Lowell | Infantryman, 2nd Ranger Battalion |
| Mark Damon | Pvt. Harris | Infantryman, 29th Infantry Division |
| Peter Helm | Young Pvt. who loses his rifle | Infantryman, 29th Infantry Division |
| Fabian | Pvt. Forte | Infantryman, 2nd Ranger Battalion |
| Tommy Sands | Pvt. Hunt | Infantryman, 2nd Ranger Battalion |
| Joseph Lowe | Ranger Pvt. | Sgt. Joseph T. Lowe of the 505th Infantry Battle Group was a 22-year-old PFC with the Fifth Ranger Battalion on the day[5] |
| Mickey Knox | Airman Louis | Downed airman with damaged eye |
| Ron Randell | Joe Williams | War correspondent |
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jean Servais | Contre-amiralRobert Jaujard | Commander, 4th Cruiser Division,Free French Naval Forces |
| Christian Marquand | Capitaine de CorvettePhilippe Kieffer | Group leader,1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos |
| Georges Rivière | Second-MaîtreGuy de Montlaur | Section leader,1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos |
| Bernard Fresson | Dubocq | Commando,1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos |
| Irina Demick | Jeanine Boitard | Partisan,Caen[f] |
| Yves Barsacq | Marcel | Partisan,Caen |
| Maurice Poli | Jean | Partisan,Caen |
| Jean Champion | Édouard | Partisan,Caen |
| André Bourvil | Alphonse Lenaux | Mayor ofColleville-sur-Orne |
| Georges Wilson | Alexandre Renaud | Mayor ofSainte-Mère-Église |
| Jean-Louis Barrault | Father Louis Roulland | Parish priest ofSainte-Mère-Église |
| Madeleine Renaud | Justine | Mother Superior,Ouistreham |
| Arletty | Madame Barrault | Resident ofSainte-Mère-Église |
| Fernand Ledoux | Louis | Elderly farmer |
| Pauline Carton | Joanna | Louis's housekeeper |
| Alice Tissot | Gemma | Lenaux's housekeeper |
| Clément Harari | Arrested Man | Civilian |
French producerRaoul Lévy signed a deal withSimon & Schuster to purchase the filming rights toCornelius Ryan's bookThe Longest Day: June 6, 1944 D-Day on March 23, 1960. After finishingThe Truth, Lévy set up a deal with theAssociated British Picture Corporation and got directorMichael Anderson attached. Ryan would receive $100,000, plus $35,000 to write the adaptation's screenplay. Lévy intended to start production in March 1961, filming atElstree Studios and the English and French coasts, but the project stalled when ABPC could not get the $6 million budget Lévy expected. Eventually, former20th Century Fox mogulDarryl F. Zanuck learned about the book while producingThe Big Gamble, and in December purchased Lévy's option for $175,000.[10] Zanuck's editor friendElmo Williams wrote afilm treatment, which piqued the producer's interest and made him attach Williams toThe Longest Day as associate producer and coordinator of battle episodes. Ryan was brought in to write the script, but had conflicts with Zanuck as soon as the two met. Williams was forced to act as a mediator; he would deliver Ryan's script pages to Zanuck, then return them with the latter's annotations.[11] While Ryan developed the script, Zanuck also brought in other writers for cleanups for the various nationalities, includingJames Jones for the Americans,Romain Gary for the French,Noël Coward for the British andErich Maria Remarque for the Germans.[12] As their contributions to the finished screenplay were relatively minor, Ryan managed to get the screenplay credit after an appeal to theWriters Guildarbitration,[13] but four other writers are credited for writing "additional episodes" in the film's closing credits.
During pre-production, producerFrank McCarthy, who had worked for theUnited States Department of War during World War II, arranged for military collaboration with the governments of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Zanuck, who was friends with Supreme Allied CommanderLauris Norstad, secured 700United States Army Europe and Africa soldiers for use as extras. However, hundreds of these soldiers had to be recalled after theBerlin Crisis of 1961, and many Members of Congress, such asBob Wilson, criticized the military for transferring soldiers to a film production in France during a majorCold War standoff. The Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights underSam Ervin investigated the film for allegedly forcing soldiers to appear as extras against their will. In the end, the film included 250U.S. Army soldiers and 500British Army soldiers as extras.[14]
Zanuck realized that, with eight battle scenes, shooting would be accomplished more expediently if multiple directors and units worked simultaneously, so he hired German directorsGerd Oswald andBernhard Wicki, British directorKen Annakin, and Hungarian-American directorAndrew Marton.[15] Zanuck's sonRichard D. Zanuck was reluctant about the project, particularly the high budget;[16] with a budget of $10 million ($104 million in 2024 dollars), this was the most expensive black-and-white film made until 1993, whenSchindler's List was released.[17]
The film premiered in France on September 25, 1962, in the United States on October 4, and in the United Kingdom on October 23. Funds from the premiers were donated to theSalk Institute for Biological Studies and theInternational Rescue Committee.[14] Because Fox was suffering due to financial losses incurred during the concurrent production ofCleopatra, the studio wantedThe Longest Day to go straight intowide release to reap quick profits, but Zanuck got them to do a properroadshow theatrical release, threatening to sell distribution rights toWarner Bros. if Fox refused to do so.[25]The Longest Day eventually became the box office hit Fox needed, with $30.5 million[citation needed] in worldwidetheatrical rentals on a $7.5 million budget.[1] It was the highest-grossing black-and-white movie at the time. Zanuck's production company (DFZ Productions) received 50% of the profits, and by 1964 had received over $5.8 million.[26]
There were special-release showings of the film in several cities in the United States at which men who had participated in D-Day were invited to see the film with their fellow soldiers. One such screening took place inCleveland, Ohio, at theHippodrome Theater.[citation needed]
The scenes in the film featuring German and French characters were shot both with them speaking their native language and with them speaking English. Almost uniquely among British- and American-produced World War II films of the time, the version of the film with foreign languages accompanied by English subtitles was more widely seen during the film's initial release. The all-English version of the film was used more extensively during the film's late 1960s re-release.[citation needed]
When the film was re-released in 1969, it opened at number one at the US box office with a first-week gross of $501,529.[27] In the first four days of its worldwide re-release in 544 theatres, it grossed $2,846,627.[28]
The film was released in widescreen with stereo surround sound onLaserDisc in 1989. A colorized version of the film was released onVHS in 1994, the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. The original black-and-white version of the film was released onDVD on November 6, 2001. In 2008, 20th Century Fox released the film onBlu-ray.[29]
The day after the film opened at theWarner Theatre in New York City,Bosley Crowther ofThe New York Times declared: "The total effect of the picture is that of a huge documentary report, adorned and colored by personal details that are thrilling, amusing, ironic, sad [...] It is hard to think of a picture, aimed and constructed as this one was, doing any more or any better or leaving one feeling any more exposed to the horror of war as this one does".[30]Variety described it as "a solid and stunning war epic" that "emerges as a sort of grand scale semi-fictionalized documentary concerning the overall logistics needed for this incredible invasion".[31]
Richard L. Coe ofThe Washington Post called the film "a tingling, eye-gripping, fantastic picture" that "must rank as the screen's most massive battle epic", his only criticism being "the lack of perspective in depicting the German belief that the Normandy landings might not have succeeded had Hitler not taken a sleeping pill [...] 'The Longest Day' should have taken infinitely more care to put this German belief, however strongly held, into proper proportion".[32]Brendan Gill ofThe New Yorker called the film "a tour de force of audio-visual verisimilitude," but confessed that "my emotions were hardly ever engaged, and I ended, rather to my embarrassment, by being bored". He continued: "Mr. Zanuck made it all the harder for me to take this mock-documentary seriously by stuffing it with innumerable celebrated actors, most of whom make such fugitive appearances that the audience finds itself engaged in a distracting game of instant identification".[33]
The Monthly Film Bulletin stated: "The Longest Day is a monument split down the middle by compromise. At its best, what comes across very strongly is the feeling of immense and careful organisation that went into the whole D-Day operation, the sheer crippling weight of noise, the simple fact that a lot of people died, and the sense of personal confusion and dismay of soldiers wandering alone through the countryside [...] But the film is, first and foremost, a spectacle, and therefore it has stars—a multitude of them, often with barely a line to speak, and usually with no real part to play".[34]
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 25 reviews, with an average score of 7.6/10.[35]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 35th Academy Awards | Best Picture | Darryl F. Zanuck | Nominated | [36] |
| Best Art Direction, Black-and-White | Ted Haworth,Léon Barsacq,Vincent Korda andGabriel Béchir | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography, Black-and-White | Jean Bourgoin andWalter Wottitz | Won | |||
| Best Film Editing | Samuel E. Beetley | Nominated | |||
| Best Special Effects | Robert MacDonald andJacques Maumont | Won | |||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Motion Picture – Drama | Darryl F. Zanuck | Nominated | [37] | |
| Best Cinematography - Black and White | Henri Persin, Walter Wottitz and Jean Bourgoin | Won | |||
| Eddie Awards | Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic | Samuel E. Beetley | Won | [38] | |
| David di Donatello | Best Foreign Production | Darryl F. Zanuck | Won | [39] | |
| Directors Guild of America Award | Outstanding Directing – Feature Film | Ken Annakin,Andrew Marton andBernhard Wicki | Nominated | [40] |
In one scene they needed some Spitfires that attacked a German column. Through the French ex-wartime pilot, Pierre Laureys, they rented a couple of Spitfires. Laureys restored the Spitfires (MH415, MK297, and MK923) and flew self a Spitfire when they shot the attack scene, just as he did with 340 Squadron on June 6th, 1944, low and very fast!
