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 June 6, 1944, during World War II. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, who paid the book's author Ryan US$175,000 for the film rights. The screenplay was by Ryan, with additional material written by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall and Jack Seddon. It was directed by Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), and Bernhard Wicki (German scenes). The Longest Day, which was made in black and white, features a large ensemble cast including John Wayne, Kenneth More, Richard Todd, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, 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, Curt Jürgens, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka and Arletty. Many of these actors played roles that were virtually cameo appearances and several cast members such as Fonda, Genn, More, Steiger and Todd saw action as servicemen during the war, with Todd actually being among the first British officers to land in Normandy in Operation Overlord and participated in the assault on Pegasus Bridge. The film employed several Axis and Allied military consultants who had been actual participants on D-Day. Many had their roles re-enacted in the film. These included: 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). The Longest Day is filmed in the style of a docudrama. Beginning in the days leading up to D-Day, the film concentrates on events on both sides of the channel such as the Allies waiting for the break in the poor weather and the anticipation of the Axis forces defending northern France. The film pays particular attention to the decision by General Eisenhower, supreme commander of SHAEF, to go after reviewing the initial bad weather reports as well as the divisions within the German High Command on where an invasion might happen or what response to it should be. Numerous scenes document the early hours of 6 June when Allied airborne troops were sent in to take key locations. The French resistance is also shown reacting to the news that an invasion has started. The Longest Day chronicles most of the important events surrounding D-Day. From the British glider missions to secure Pegasus Bridge, the counterattacks launched by American paratroopers scattered around Sainte-Mère-Église, the infiltration and sabotage work conducted by the French resistance and SOE agents, and the response by the Wehrmacht to the invasion and the uncertainty to whether it was a feint in preparation for crossings at the Pas de Calais (see Operation Fortitude). Set piece scenes include the parachute drop into Sainte-Mère-Église, the advance inshore from the Normandy beaches, the US Ranger Assault Group's assault on the Pointe du Hoc, the attack on Ouistreham by Free French Forces and the strafing of the beaches by two lone Luftwaffe pilots. The film concludes with a montage showing various Allied units consolidating their beachheads before the advance inland begins to liberate France. Actor Role Eddie Albert Colonel Thompson, 29th Infantry Division Paul Anka US Army Ranger Richard Beymer Private Arthur 'Dutch' Schultz, 82nd Airborne Division Red Buttons John Steele, 82nd Airborne Division Mark Damon Private Harris Ray Danton Captain Frank Fred Dur US Army Ranger Major Fabian Forte US Army Ranger Mel Ferrer Major General Robert Haines Henry Fonda Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Deputy Commander 4th Infantry Div. Steve Forrest Captain Harding, 82nd Airborne Division Henry Grace General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander Peter Helm Young GI Jeffrey Hunter Sergeant (later Lt.) John H. Fuller Alexander Knox Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith, SHAEF Chief of Staff Dewey Martin Private Wilder (role cut from released version) Roddy McDowall Private Morris, 4th Infantry Division John Meillon Admiral Alan G. Kirk, Senior US Naval Commander Sal Mineo Private Martini Robert Mitchum Brigadier General Norman Cota, Asst. Commander 29th Infantry Div. Edmond O'Brien Major General Raymond O. Barton, Commander 4th Infantry Div. Ron Randell Joe Williams Robert Ryan Brigadier General James M. Gavin, Asst. Commander 82nd Airborne Div. Tommy Sands US Army Ranger George Segal US Army Ranger Rod Steiger Destroyer Commander Nicholas Stuart Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, Commander US First Army Tom Tryon Lieutenant Wilson, 82nd Airborne Division Robert Wagner US Army Ranger John Wayne Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, Commander 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Reg. Stuart Whitman Lieutenant Sheen, 82nd Airborne Division Actor Role Patrick Barr Group Captain J.M. Stagg Richard Burton Flying Officer David Campbell Bryan Coleman Ronald Callen Sean Connery Private Flanagan Leslie de Laspee Private Bill Millin, No. 4 Commando (Piper on Beach) Frank Finlay Private Coke, 2nd Oxford & Bucks L.I. Harry Fowler Paratrooper, 6th Airborne Division Bernard Fox Private Hutchinson, 3rd Infantry Division Leo Genn Brigadier Edwin P. Parker Jr. Harold Goodwin Private, 2nd Oxford & Bucks L.I. John Gregson Padre, 6th Airborne Division Jack Hedley RAF Briefing Officer Donald Houston RAF pilot at flight base Simon Lack Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Commander Allied Air Forces Peter Lawford Brigadier Lord Lovat, Commander 1st Special Service Brigade Howard Marion-Crawford Glider Doctor Michael Medwin Private Watney, 3rd Infantry Division Kenneth More Capt. Colin Maud Royal Navy beach master Louis Mounier Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Leslie Phillips Royal Air Force officer Trevor Reid General Sir Bernard Montgomery, Commander Allied Ground Forces John Robinson Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Commander Allied Naval Forces Norman Rossington Private Clough Richard Todd Major John Howard, OC D Company, 2nd Oxford & Bucks L.I. Richard Wattis British Paratrooper officer, 6th Airborne Division Actor Role Arletty Madame Barrault Jean-Louis Barrault Father Louis Roulland André Bourvil Mayor of Colleville Pauline Carton Maid Gil Delamare Naval Commando (also was the leading stunt director of the film) Irina Demick Janine Boitard (French Resistance) Bernard Fresson Navy Commando Fernand Ledoux Louis Christian Marquand Capitaine de Frégate Philippe Kieffer Commander French Navy commandos Madeleine Renaud Mother Superior Georges Rivière Sergeant Guy de Montlaur Jean Servais Contre-amiral Jaujard Georges Wilson Alexandre Renaud Actor Role Hans Christian Blech Major Werner Pluskat, 352nd Infantry Division Wolfgang Büttner Generalleutnant Dr. Hans Speidel, chief of staff, Army Group B Robert Freitag Meyer's aide Gert Fröbe Unteroffizier "Kaffeekanne" ("coffee pot") Paul Hartmann Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt, commander OB West Werner Hinz Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, commander Army Group B Karl John Generalleutnant Wolfgang Häger Curt Jürgens General der Infanterie Günther Blumentritt, chief of staff, OB West Til Kiwe Hauptmann Helmuth Lang, Rommel's aide Wolfgang Lukschy Generaloberst Alfred Jodl, chief of staff, OKW Kurt Meisel Ernst Düring Richard Münch General der Artillerie Erich Marcks, commander LXXXIV Army Corps Hartmut Reck Bernhard Bergsdorf Heinz Reincke Oberst Josef "Pips" Priller, commander JG 26 Ernst Schröder Generaloberst Hans von Salmuth, commander 15th Army Heinz Spitzner Helmuth Meyer Wolfgang Preiss Generalmajor Max Pemsel chief of intelligence, 7th Army Peter van Eyck Oberstleutnant Ocker, Pluskat's Commanding Officer Vicco "Loriot" von Bülow Luftwaffe Chief's aide The film was shot at several French locations including the Île de Ré, Saleccia beach in Saint-Florent, Haute-Corse, Port-en-Bessin-Huppain filling in for Ouistreham, Les Studios de Boulogne in Boulogne-Billancourt and the actual locations of Pegasus Bridge near Bénouville, Calvados, Sainte-Mère-Église and Pointe du Hoc. During the filming of the landings at Omaha Beach, the extras appearing as American soldiers 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 extras followed 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. 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 probably 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 British and American airborne landings. This is accurate. 36 Free French SAS (4 sticks) jumped into Brittany (Plumelec and Duault) on June 5 (11 h 30). The first Allied soldier killed in action was Lieutenant Den Brotheridge of the 2nd Ox & Bucks Light Infantry as he crossed Pegasus Bridge at 0h 22m on 6 June. The United States Sixth Fleet extensively supported the filming and made available many amphibious landing ships and craft for scenes filmed in Corsica, though many of the ships were of (then) modern vintage. The USS Springfield (CL-66), and USS Little Rock (CL-92), both World War II light cruisers (though extensively reconfigured into guided missile cruisers) were used in the shore bombardment scenes, though it was easy to tell they did not resemble their wartime configuration. Gerd Oswald was the uncredited director of the parachute drop scenes into Sainte-Mère-Église. Darryl F. Zanuck said he did some uncredited pick-ups, the American and British interiors. Elmo Williams was credited as associate producer and coordinator of battle episodes. He later produced another historical WWII film Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) for Zanuck. Similar to The Longest Day, it used a docudrama style, though it was in color. It focused on the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Charlton Heston actively sought the role of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin H. Vandervoort but the last-minute decision of John Wayne to take the role prevented Heston's participation. At 55, Wayne was 28 years older than Vandervoort at the time of action (and 10 years older in real life). While everyone else accepted $25,000 as payment, John Wayne insisted on $250,000 to punish producer Zanuck for referring to him as "poor John Wayne" regarding Wayne's problems with his lavish movie The Alamo. Sergeant Kaffeekanne (played by Gert Fröbe)'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. 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 took the part of Major John Howard instead. In the film, shortly after the British have captured the Orne bridge (later renamed Horsa Bridge), one of the soldiers tells Todd, playing Howard, that all they have to do now is sit tight and await the arrival of the 7th Parachute Battalion, to which Todd's character replies dismissively: "the Paras are always late". This was a private joke, as Todd had been the adjutant of the 7th Parachute Battalion on D-Day. 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 as a serving member of the 505th Airborne Battle Group who provided US Army film extras. Former US 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. The film marked the last film appearance of Sean Connery before he was cast in the role of James Bond. Gert Fröbe (Sergeant Kaffeekanne) and Curd Jürgens (General Günther Blumentritt) would later go on to play Bond villains Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger (1964)) and Karl Stromberg (The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)) respectively. Connery would later play Major General Roy Urquhart in the 1977 film A Bridge too Far which was also based on a book by Cornelius Ryan. (Likewise Wolfgang Preiss played Major General Max Pemsel in The Longest Day and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt in A Bridge too Far.) Mel Ferrer was originally signed to play the role of General James M. Gavin but withdrew from the role due to a scheduling conflict. According to the 2001 documentary Cleopatra: The Film That Changed Hollywood, Richard Burton and Roddy McDowall were so bored having not been used for several weeks while filming in Rome, they phoned Zanuck begging to do "anything" on his film. They flew themselves to the location and each did a day's filming for their cameo-performances for free. The film premièred in France on 25 September 1962, followed by the United States on 4 October and 23 October for the United Kingdom. There were special release showing of the film in several United States cities. Participants in D-Day were invited to see the film with their fellow soldiers—in Cleveland, Ohio, this took place at the Hippodrome Theater.[ Unique for British and American produced World War II films of the time, all French and German characters speak in their own languages with subtitles in English. Another version, which was shot simultaneously, has all the actors speaking their lines in English (this version was used for the film's trailer as all the Germans deliver their lines in English). However this version saw limited use during the initial release. It was used more extensively during a late 1960s re-release of the film. The English-only version has been featured as an extra on older single disc DVD releases. Academy Awards for Best Art Direction (1962): Ted Haworth, Léon Barsacq, Vincent Korda and Gabriel Béchir (nominated) Academy Awards for Best Cinematography (1962): Jean Bourgoin and Walter Wottitz (won) Academy Awards for Best Editing (1962): Samuel E. Beetley (nominated) Academy Awards for Best Picture (1962): (nominated) Academy Awards for Best Special Effects (1962): Robert MacDonald and Jacques Maumont (won) Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Longest Day (film). Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Longest Day (film) The Longest Day at the Internet Movie Database The Longest Day at the TCM Movie Database The Longest Day at AllMovie The Longest Day at the American Film Institute Catalog The Longest Day at Box Office Mojo The Longest Headache
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Original movie poster for the film The Longest Day.jpg. original movie.. Similar to The Longest Day, it used a docudrama style, though it was in color. It focused ..
Amazon.com: The Longest Day (D-Day 50th Anniversary, Exclusive Color Version): Cornelius Ryan: Movies & TV.
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My recollection is that the clips were a colorization of The Longest Day, and that the whole movie has not been done. Look at the thread here ..