My Favorite Films: The Longest Day (1962)

“Believe me, Lang, the first twenty-four hours of the invasion will be decisive … for the Allies, as well as Germany, it will be the longest day.”  

-Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

     The Longest Day has been with me almost as long as I can remember. I have vivid memories of going to my local library and getting out the 2 VHS tape set. I also remember starting with the second tape to skip all the "boring" set-up at the beginning of the film. It was my first exposure to the Second World War and to modern warfare in general (as opposed to the "olden-fashioned" wars portrayed in Davy Crockett, as I used called them). This was the beginning of a life-long interest in WW2, one that would eventually lead to my involvement in historical reenacting.

     It is a brilliant re-creation of the events of 6 June, 1944 as chronicled by Cornelius Ryan in his classic novel. Producer, Daryl F. Zanuck who had served in the Signal Corps during the war, was determined bring the story of the Normandy Invasion to the big screen. He had resigned as head of 20th Century Fox in 1956 to become an independent producer and went to the studio heads with his plan to adapt Ryan's book. Reeling from the disaster that was Cleopatra (1963), the executives at Fox were reluctant to fund Zanuck's project and imposed an $8 million dollar ceiling on the film's budget, forcing Zanuck to fund much of the production himself.

     In order to bring his vision to life, Zanuck had to get really creative, calling in favors from his friends in the army and in Hollywood. According to director Ken Annakin, he had four assistants working 24 hours a day to keep an eye on all the movies that were being made so he could get actors for possibly just a couple of days of shooting. This is how he managed to get 43 international stars to appear in the picture. Similarly, he worked with the armed forces of America, England and France to get much the equipment and extras when he needed them.

     Cornelius Ryan himself wrote the initial draft of the screenplay though it was later worked on by four other writers. Ryan clashed with Zanuck on many issues and associate producer Elmo Williams had to work as a go-between between the two men. His book had been meticulously researched and had brought together numerous personal accounts of the invasion, along with the official histories, to present a really complete picture of the events. It is largely thanks to the strength of his material that The Longest Day manages to present such a complicated, large scale event as a coherent narrative, despite a few inaccuracies. No other war film has ever come close to achieving this on the same scale.

     Although The Longest Day had three credited directors the real visionary behind the film was really Zanuck. He insisted on historical accuracy and authenticity wherever possible. It is because of him that the German and French characters speak in their native tongue, that many of the battle scenes were shot on location where they originally happened, and that the film was shot in black and white, rather then technicolor, which was the standard at the time of the film's release. The producer also brought in many of the films technical advisers including Brigadier Simon Fraser, the Earl of Lovat, Frau Lucie Maria Rommel (the wife of Erwin Rommel), Major John Howard, and Lieutenant General James Gavin.

     It was Zanuck's hope that the film, by accurately portraying the battle, would serve as an indictment of war. The Longest Day contains some really tragic scenes. Particularly of note is the sequence where elements of the 82nd Airborne land in the middle of Sainte-Mère-Église only to be slaughtered by waiting the waiting German  troops before they reach the ground. In a scene ripped straight from Ryan's book, one paratrooper (played by Red Buttons), who lands on the steeple of the church, is saved from his comrades fate and watches helplessly as they are gunned down before his eyes. In another, controversial moment that really brings home the futility of war, we see the 2nd Ranger battalion reach their objective on Pointe du Hoc after a bloody struggle, only to find that the guns they came to destroy are not there (in reality the Rangers did eventually locate and destroy the German battery though it was not where it was supposed to be).

     Of course Zanuck does not deserve all the credit. The battle scenes are handled with great proficiency by directors Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors) and Andrew Marton (American exteriors) along with cinematographers Jean Bourgoin and Walter Wottitz and editor Samuel E. Beetley. A lot of the credit also has to go to Elmo Williams, who coordinated all the battle scenes. Marton, who had been a second unit director for the chariot race on Ben-Hur (1959), was especially adept at filming action scenes and his big sequence, the rangers assault on Pointe du Hoc, is perhaps the best in the film, as the Rangers scale the cliffs and take the heavily defended German positions on the heights. Annakin's big sequence, the capture of the town of Ouistreham by Free French forces, could give it a run for its money. Opening with a minute-and-a-half long helicopter shot showing the French forces charge through the harbor under heavy fire from the Germans, it is a stirring sequence. The film's other major action scene, the taking of the Orne river bridge by the British 2nd Airborne Battalion, was also skillfully helmed by Annakin.

     The rest of the film's action present fragmented pieces of the battle which, together, paint a pretty complete picture of the invasion. The sheer scale of these scenes is simply awesome, with thousands of extras, hundreds of pyrotechnics and dozens of tanks, heavy guns, armor and heavy artillery. The most jaw-dropping scene in the film is certainly the Allied naval bombardment of the German coastal defenses. As Major Werner Pluskat (Hans Christian Blech) looks out of his bunker at the thousands of Allied ships emerging out of the fog, you cannot help but be stunned along with him. Much of the film was shot on location in Normandy, which lends a lot of authenticity to the exterior scenes. The film's score, with Paul Anka's thematic material composed brilliantly by Maurice Jarre and orchestrated by Mitch Miller, is used sparingly and helps to punctuate some of the movies more epic moments.

     The film's dramatic moments are also handled deftly. It portrays both the anticipation and restlessness of the Allied forces and the resigned frustration of the German commanders as they are prevented from adequately responding to the invasion by the ill informed decisions of Hitler and the high command. It gives you a really clear picture of the strategy and the tactical decisions made by both sides. Bernhard Wicki (director of the German episodes) has to be given a lot of credit for imbuing what could have been a lot of boring exposition with the German generals into stirring cinema. Remarkably, the film takes time to cover each countries involvement in the campaign and it never tries to demonize the German generals but actually humanizes them and helps the audience to relate to their frustration.

     The cast, a remarkable collection of international stars, bring a lot of dramatic weight, not to mention star power, to the film. Some of the best performances come from Curd Jürgens as the frustrated Chief of Staff Günther Blumentritt, Heinz Reincke as the hothead Luftwaffe fighter ace Josef Priller, Richard Burton as the war-weary veteran of the Battle of Britain, Richard Todd (who actually fought with the British Airborne in Normandy) as Major John Howard, Henry Fonda as General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., and of course Robert Mitchum as General Norman Cota. For some of the more recognizable figures, such as Eisenhower, Rommel, and Bradley, Zanuck was able to find actors that looked remarkably similar to their real life counterparts. Henry Grace in particular (who was actually not a professional actor but a set decorator) could pass for Ike's twin.

     In the end The Longest Day works so brilliantly because of the continual contrast between the epic and the intimate. We see the generals going over their strategy and the common soldiers waiting for the decision to invade. We see masses of men assault the beaches and small groups of paratroopers and resistance fighters harass the enemy inland. The last two scenes illustrate this contrast beautifully, as we see a lone paratrooper (played by Richard Beymer), separated from his unit, having a smoke with Richard Burton's downed pilot. He muses "I wonder who won?" and then we transition to the films final moments, as the victorious allied convoy moves inland in a magnificent wide shot while a vindicated General Cota looks on. We are reminded here that many of the men who fought the battle couldn't see the bigger picture, they simply did the job they were told to do.

     Fifty seven years after its release, The Longest Day remains the benchmark for epic battle movies. It will always be mandatory yearly viewing for me around June 6th.