Originally Posted by J Harker  The Longest Day, Ken Anakin, Andrew Marton and Bernhard Wicki, 1962
Producer Darryl F. Zannucks massive retelling of the events of June 6th, 1944 otherwise known as D-Day the day allied British and US forces stormed the beaches of Normandy. The plot is history itself and not being up on my WW2 history i won't even try breaking it down too much. Weary soldiers both British and American are holed up in embarkation points across the South Coast, some already on the boats and have been for a number of days. Fierce weather is holding up Eisenhowers order to go. Across the channel the Germans are expecting an attack on Calais and because Adolf is asleep with orders not to disturb the German forces are struggling to reach decisions. That this film manages to look at these monumental events from not just British, US and German perspectives but also take in to account the French resistance and even the everyman stuck in the middle is a testament to the efforts of the 3 directors hired to handle the three primary nationalities of the film. American led parts are handled by Andrew Marton, English by Ken Anakin and the German by Bernhard Wicki. Seems a shame really that the film seems better known for its producer and huge cast of stars than the three directors. I didn't count and theres probably a few i don't recognise but the cast includes John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda, Sean Connery, Mel Ferrer, Curd Jurgens, Roddy McDowall, Kenneth More, Leslie Phillips...and on.
Its a shame, i thought that most of the more interesting characters the various privates who i would like to have seen more of and known better don't get that much screen time, thats not to say that even the biggest names like Wayne or Mitchum get a lot either, even running at three hours (nothing for a film of this scale) there are simply too many characters to really spend any time or get any attachment to anyone. Which is possibly the films flaw, at least for me. Yes its grand, as epic as could be. The battle sequences are thrilling and the beach landing itself while maybe not as brutal or as visceral as Spielbergs Saving Private Ryan is also brilliantly realised and in its own way just as impressive than anything Steve put on the screen 40 years later. Despite my comments on the screentime of the smaller roles there are still some standout scenes for these characters that stuck in my mind. The paratrooper who's chute gets caught up in a building so he's left dangling over the town square like some helpless marionette, briefly removed from the chaos and turned into a spectator on the madness below. The French girl desperately struggling to stop a German soldier warning the oncoming train of the explosives on the track. Thats a film this length and scale should have flaws is no surprise but the good definitely outwieghs the bad, the widescreen b&w cinematography looks gorgeous and all in all an enjoyable Sunday afternoon. |