Theirs Is the Glory
| Theirs Is the Glory | |
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 Detailing the battleplans in Theirs is the Glory |
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| Directed by | Brian Desmond Hurst |
| Produced by | Castleton Knight |
| Written by | Louis Golding |
| Music by | Guy Warrack |
| Cinematography | C.M. Pennington-Richards |
| Distributed by | Gaumont British |
| Release date(s) | 14 October 1946 |
| Running time | 82 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Theirs Is the Glory (AKA Men of Arnhem), a Rank production, is a 1946 British film about the British Airborne element of the World War II Operation Market Garden, and specifically the Battle of Arnhem. It was the first film to be made about this battle, and the biggest grossing war movie for nearly a decade. The later film A Bridge Too Far depicts the operation as a whole and includes the American, British and Polish Airborne forces, while Theirs Is the Glory focuses solely on the British forces, and their fight at Oosterbeek and Arnhem.
The two films were compared in the battlefields magazine Against All Odds (published in October 2010) and the comparison is stark and revealing "A Bridge Too Far is a slow moving epic, well worth a viewing with some authentic scenes, but is unconvincing in its portrayal of the battle of Oosterbeek...'Theirs is the Glory' is the only feature film currently released that accurately portrays the events at Oosterbeek in atmospheric and chronoligical terms, despite its jerky portrayal of events. This is a film to watch.".[1]
Directed by Ulsterman Brian Desmond Hurst who, himself, was a veteran of the first world war having survived Gallipoli where he had served with the Royal Irish Rifles. Hurst was an accomplished film director having been mentored by John Ford in Hollywood and directing more than 30 films including Malta Story. Scrooge and Tom Brown's Schooldays. Hurst was also Ireland's most prolific film director of the 20th Century. The producer was Leonard Castleton Knight, Head of Gaumont British News. The film weaves original footage from the battle with re-enactments shot on location at Oosterbeek and Arnhem just a year after the battle had ravaged the streets. All of the actors portraying the paratroopers were actual Airborne soldiers who fought in the battle and it remains a magnificent testimony to those men. The film also features local people like Father Dyker (a Dutch civilian priest who conducts the service in the movie) and Kate ter Horst (who reads a psalm to the wounded men in the cellar) re-enacting their roles and what they did for the Airborne troops during the battle.
The film may have been the "Help For Heroes of its day". Hurst's biographer, Allan Esler Smith in "Theirs is the Glory- 65th Anniversary of the filming of the movie" explains that "The popularity of Theirs is the Glory allowed Arthur Rank, the head of the Rank Organisation, to fulfill his pledge to help the Airborne Forces Security Fund. Collections , raffles and parades rode the wave of enthusiasm that swept the United Kingdom following its premier. The Earl Mountbatten subsequently received a cheque for £50,0000 for the Airborne Forces Security Fund from Arthur Rank".
With no credits appearing before or after the film little is known about the 200 veteran actors in the film. "Just ordinary men" as the narrator says at the beginning. "But when you next watch the movie look closely at the faces of the men and especially at their eyes in the many close shots that Brian Desmond Hust arranged. When you look into the eyes you will start to gain a little bit of the experience that those ordinary men went through"."".[2]
Brian Desmond Hurst said "The film is my favourite because of the wonderful experience of working with soldiers, and because it is a true documentary reconstruction of the event. I say without modesty it is one of the best war films ever made".[3]
Articles and books [edit]
Revisiting Theirs is the Glory by Allan Esler Smith published by Robert Sigmond Publishing for the 68th Commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem Battlefield Walk 21 September 2012 http://www.briandesmondhurst.org/theirsistheglory.html
References [edit]
- ^ Against the Odds. Heroic battles in the Face of Adversity. Author Robert Kershaw. Published 11 October 2010 ISBN 978-0-7110-3639-0
- ^ Theirs is the Glory- 65th Anniversary of the filming of the movie, Ministory number 106 , author Allan Esler Smith, published by Friends of the Airborne Museum Oosterbeek, November 2010
- ^ Theirs is the Glory- 65th Anniversary of the filming of the movie, Ministory number 106 , author Allan Esler Smith, published by Friends of the Airborne Museum Oosterbeek, November 2010
External links [edit]
- Theirs Is the Glory at the Internet Movie Database
- Theirs Is the Glory is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- www.briandesmondhurst.org- official legacy website of the director with filmography including Theirs is the Glory
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