The Longest Day (1962)

The Longest Day is a 1962 American epic war film based on Cornelius Ryan's 1959 non-fiction of the same name. It is about the D-Day landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, who paid author Ryan $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. The film features a large international ensemble cast including John 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, and Arletty. Many of these actors played roles that were essentially cameo appearances.

Plot
In 1944, the U.S. Army and Allied forces plan a huge invasion landing in Normandy, France. Despite bad weather, General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the okay, and the Allies land at Normandy. General Norma Cota travels with his men onto Omaha Beach. With much effort and lost life, they get off the beach, traveling deep into French territory. The German military, due to arrogance, ignorance, and a sleeping Adolf Hitler, delay their response to the Allied landing, with crippling results.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It is incredibly faithful to what really happened in World War II, and most of the events during the Normandy Landings in World War II are very accurate, prior to 1998's Saving Private Ryan.
 * 2) Well done acting, especially from Henry Grace, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Trevor Reid, and Sean Connery.
 * 3) Great direction, thanks to the three directors, Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, and Bernhard Wicki.
 * 4) Amazing cinematography.
 * 5) An Iconic shoot where an army helmet is seen lying on the beach in the opening and the credits scene.
 * 6) Despite the film's 178-minute runtime, the film's pacing is pretty good, which gives a lot of great details about the preparation of a big war in France.
 * 7) The film's special effects are spectacular.
 * 8) Well done soundtrack that was composed by Maurice Jarre.
 * 9) The film has lots of epic action sequences, especially a big scale battle of when the Allies battle the five beaches of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944.
 * 10) The setting of Nazi-occupied France, including the region Normandy and its beach during World War II, is well set.
 * 11) It stays mostly faithful to the novel of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, with a few differences to the book.
 * 12) The film gives tons of amazing performances, such as Henry Fonda, and Sean Connery, who portrayed as real-life allies who thought in World War II, they would later appear in any other World War II movie like A Bridge Too Far, 15 years later.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) There were some historical inaccuracies, such as John Wayne playing as Benjamin H. Vandervoort, who was actually thirty years younger than him. Also, in beach invasion scenes, troops can be seen wearing 1960s-era military-issue eyeglass frames (birth control glasses or B.C.G.s) with thick plastic frames. During World War II, troops were issued wire-rimmed glasses. B.C.G.s were not issued until after the war.

Critical response
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, with a 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 23 reviews. On Metacritic, it has a 75/100 rating, based on 7 reviews with "Generally favorable reviews". 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". Bosley Crowther of The 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".

With a $10-million budget, this was the most expensive black-and-white movie ever made until Schindler’s List (1993).

Trivia

 * Former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower was considered for the role of himself and indicated his willingness. However, it was decided that make-up artists couldn't make him appear young enough to play his World War II self.
 * Sean Connery asked that his scenes be filmed quickly so he could get to Jamaica in time to star in Dr. No (1962).
 * As would be done later in Patton (1970), the 20th Century-Fox logo is never shown.
 * Red Buttons was considered too old to play a paratrooper.
 * After D-Day the Sixth of June (1956), this was the second film about the Normandy landings in which D-Day veteran Richard Todd (Major John Howard) appeared.

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