The Longest Day (film)

For other uses, see The Longest Day.

The Longest Day
original movie poster
Directed by	Ken Annakin (British & French exteriors) Andrew Marton (American exteriors) Bernhard Wicki (German episodes) Gerd Oswald (parachute drop) Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited) John Wayne (uncredited)
Screenplay by	Romain Gary James Jones David Pursall Cornelius Ryan Jack Seddon
Produced by	Darryl F. Zanuck
Starring	John Wayne Henry Fonda Robert Mitchum Sean Connery Curd Jürgens Richard Burton Peter Lawford Rod Steiger Irina Demick Gert Fröbe Edmond O'Brien Kenneth More
Cinematography	Jean Bourgoin Walter Wottitz
Edited by	Samuel E. Beetley
Music by	Maurice Jarre
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	25 September 1962 (France) 4 October (US) 23 October (UK)
Running time	178 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Languages	English (British and American scenes) German (German scenes French (French scenes)
Budget	US$10,000,000 (est.)
Box office	US$50,000,000 (worldwide, to 12/1963)

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 6 June 1944, during World War II.

Producer Darryl F. Zanuck paid the author of the book, Cornelius Ryan, $175,000 for the screen rights to produce the film. The film was adapted from the book by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall, Jack Seddon, and the author himself. It was directed by Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), Gerd Oswald (parachute drop scene), Bernhard Wicki (German scenes), John Wayne (uncredited) and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited).

Many of the military consultants and advisors who helped with the film's production were actual participants in the action on D-Day, and are portrayed in the film. The producers drew them from both sides; Allied and Axis. Among them are 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).

Unique for World War II films produced at the time, all French and German characters speak in their native language with subtitles in English. A separate version exists, shot simultaneously, in which all the actors speak their lines in English, which is why the trailer has the Germans delivering their lines in English. This version saw limited use during the initial release, and more extensive use during a late 1960s re-release of the film. The English-only version was featured on the "flip side" of an older single disc DVD release.

The film, one of the very few 1960s epics made in black and white, features a large ensemble cast including actors such as Kenneth More, Richard Todd (who took part in the actual invasion), Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Leo Genn, Peter Lawford, Gert Fröbe, John Wayne, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curd Jürgens, Robert Wagner and Arletty. Several of these actors played roles that were virtually cameo appearances.

Cast

Americans

Actor	Role
Eddie Albert	Colonel Thompson, 29th Infantry Division
Paul Anka	U.S. Army Ranger
Richard Beymer	Private Arthur 'Dutch' Schultz, 82nd Airborne Division
Red Buttons	Private John Steele, 82nd Airborne Division
Ray Danton	Captain Frank
Fred Dur	U.S. Army Ranger Major
Fabian Forte	U.S. 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 U.S. 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	U.S. Army Ranger
George Segal	U.S. 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	U.S. Army Ranger
John Wayne	Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, Commander 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Reg.
Stuart Whitman	Lieutenant Sheen, 82nd Airborne Division

British

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.
Leo Genn	Brigadier Edwin P. Parker Jr.
Harold Goodwin	Private, 2nd Oxford & Bucks L.I.
John Gregson	British military chaplain 6th Airborne Division
Donald Houston	RAF pilot at flight base
Simon Lack	Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Commander Allied Air Forces
Peter Lawford	Brigadier Lord Lovat, Commander 1st Special Service Brigade
Howard Marion-Crawford	Dr. Vaughan, 2nd Oxford & Bucks L.I.
Michael Medwin	Private Watney, 3rd Infantry Division
Kenneth More	Capt. Colin Maud Royal Navy beach master
Louis Mounier	Air Marshal Arthur William Tedder, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander
Leslie Phillips	Royal Air Force officer
Trevor Reid	General Bernard Montgomery, Commander Allied Ground Forces
John Robinson	Admiral Bertram Ramsay, Commander Allied Naval Forces
Norman Rossington	Private Clough
Richard Todd	Major John Howard, CO 2nd Oxford & Bucks L.I.
Richard Wattis	British Paratrooper officer, 6th Airborne Division

French

Actor	Role
Arletty	Madame Barrault
Jean-Louis Barrault	Father Louis Roulland
André Bourvil	Mayor of Colleville
Pauline Carton	Maid
Irina Demick	Janine Boitard (French Resistance)
Fernand Ledoux	Louis
Christian Marquand	Capitaine de Frégate Philippe Kieffer Commander French Navy commandos
Madeleine Renaud	Mother Superior
Georges Rivière	Sergent Guy de Montlaur
Jean Servais	Contre-amiral Janjard
Georges Wilson	Alexandre Renaud

Germans

Actor	Role
Hans Christian Blech	Major Werner Pluskat, 352nd Infantry Division
Wolfgang Büttner	Generalleutnant Dr. Hans Speidel, chief of staff, Army Group B
Gert Fröbe	Unteroffizier "Kaffeekanne" (coffeepot)
Paul Hartmann	Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt, commander OB West
Werner Hinz	Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, commander Army Group B
Karl John	Generalleutnant Wolfgang Häger
Curd 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 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, chief of Luftwaffe operations, OB West
Vicco "Loriot" von Bülow	Luftwaffe Chief's aid.

Casting

• Sergeant Kaffeekanne'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 thought the part would be too small, so he asked to play the part of Major John Howard instead. Shortly after the British have captured the Orne bridge (later renamed Horsa Bridge) in the film, one of the soldiers tells Todd that all they have to do now is sit tight and wait for the 7th Parachute Battalion to relieve them, to which Todd replies dismissively that the Paras are always late. This was a private joke, as Todd had been the adjutant of the 7th Parachute Battalion on D-Day and did help relieve the forces on the bridge. During the scene of Todd as Howard awaiting relief from the beachhead, an officer in a Para beret next to Todd is an actor playing the real Richard Todd.
• 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.
• Actor Curd Jürgens portrayed the German General Blumentritt who muses on the incompetence of his superiors. Jürgens himself was actually imprisoned by the Nazis in his youth.
• Former U.S. 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. His role in this film was his only acting credit.
• The role of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin H. Vandervoort was actively sought by Charlton Heston, but the last-minute decision of John Wayne to take a role in the film prevented Heston from participating. While everyone else accepted twenty-five thousand dollars as payment, John Wayne insisted on a quarter of a million dollars to punish Zanuck for an earlier negative remark in the press about Wayne and his film The Alamo.
• Acclaimed British actor Christopher Lee auditioned for a role, but was turned down because he did not look like a military man, even though he had served in the Royal Air Force as an Intelligence Officer. However, some film books incorrectly credit him with a role in the film.
• The film was the last one made by Sean Connery before he was cast in the role of James Bond. It is also noticeable, that James Bond's later rivals, "Auric Goldfinger", and "Karl Stromberg" are played by the German actors Gert Fröbe, and Curd Jürgens respectively, who coincidentally also take "Nemesis" roles in this movie (Sergeant Kaffeekanne, and General Günther Blumentritt).
• Canadian journalist Charles Lynch played an unnamed war correspondent on Juno beach, who calls the homing pigeons "traitors" when they fly towards Germany. Lynch, then working for Reuters, was one of a handful of journalists to accompany the troops ashore in the actual invasion.
• Sean Connery had a part in both movies made from Cornelius Ryan novels: Private Flanagan in "The Longest Day"; Major General Urquhart in "A Bridge too Far".
• Wolfgang Preiss similarly had parts in the same 2 films: Maj. Gen. Max Pemsel in "The Longest Day"; Field Marshal Von Rundstedt in "A Bridge too Far."

Filming

• 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 had no choice but to follow 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 likely 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 English and American airborne landings. This is accurate. 36 Free French SAS (4 sticks) jumped into Brittany (Plumelec and Duault) on 5 June (11 h 30). The first Allied soldier killed in action was Free French Corporal Emile Bouetard : 6 June (0 h 40) in Plumelec, Morbihan.

Awards

• 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): (won)

External links

• The Longest Day at IMDb
• The Longest Day at the TCM Movie Database
• The Longest Day at AllMovie
• The Longest Headache