"The Longest Day" was a mammoth project dramatizing D-day, the Allied invasion of France. It was nearly three hours in length and with an enormous ensemble cast, all playing supporting roles. The production was very conscientious about realism, the actors were always of the same nationality as their characters, and spoke in their native languages, leading to a lot of subtitles translating French and German dialogue. Although the movie was historically correct, it was also meant to be a blockbuster by starring John Wane, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery and Henry Fonda. But The American role in the invasion is not exaggerated, and the German soldiers and officers are not portrayed as brutal stereotypes.
The date for invasion was decided in Washington in May 1943, but due to some difficulties it had been postponed till June 5. June 5th was the unalterable date for the invasion to take place. The troops and the officers had been stationed in barracks for month and they were getting quite anxious to get the invasion over with. On June 5th due to bed weather the invasion had been postponed again, some ships were already on the way and had-to be recalled. The film shows the meeting that General Eisenhower (Supreme commander of the Allied forces who was in charge of the operation Overlord) held to decide to whether of not go on
with the invasion. They came up with a decision to delay the invasion for twenty- four hours. The solders and the officers got quite excited when they heard that the invasion was delayed for only 24-hours, they were worried, if the invasion would be delayed any longer they would have to wait for two more month for the tide to be back.
The allies took a lot of thought in fooling the German intelligence. Allies had air supremacy so German recon planes were very unsuccessful. The allies used that to their advantage, they had set up fake landing crafts and purposely allowed German planes in those arias. Germans had also underestimated the Allies. They didn’t believe that allies would ever gather up a navy big enough to attack the French coast but on June 6th a fleet of more then 5’000 ships took off for the French beaches.
Prior to the landing of the Allied troops there were several pr invasion bombings, which had very little effect on German fortifications. The movie did a very good job in portrayin...
... middle of paper ...
...e parts of the invasion were so intimately connected, that if one had failed the others would have almost no chance to succeed.
The movie had also focused on an aspect which is not mentioned in most of the books, the French underground resistance. They played a small but extremely significant role for the D-Day invasion. They were marking the sites for the paratroopers, they had disabled some German communications and had sabotaged the railroads. The producer did a very good job in researching this aspect of the Longest Day.
The “The Longest Day” was an extremely well done film that reenacted the events, which happened on June 6th 1944. The production was very conscientious about realism, the actors were always of the same nationality as their characters, and spoke in their native languages, leading to a lot of subtitles translating French and German dialogue. Although the movie was historically correct. This has been one of the best American war movies I’ve seen.
Bibliography
D-Day, Warren Tute, Collier Books, 1974
Red Berets ’44, Official Publication of the Airborne Forces
Pegasus Bridge - June 6th 1944, Stephen E. Ambrose, 1985
It was 1944, and the United States had now been an active participant in the war against Nazi Germany for almost three and a half years, nearly six years for the British. During that period occurred a string of engagements fought with ferocious determination and intensity on both sides. There is however, one day which stands out in the minds of many American servicemen more often than others. June 6, 1944, D-Day, was a day in which thousands of young American boys, who poured onto the beaches of Utah and Omaha, became men faster than they would have ever imagined possible. Little did they know of the chaos and the hell which awaited them on their arrival. Over the course of a few hours, the visions of Omaha and Utah Beaches, and the death and destruction accompanied with them formed a permanent fixation in the minds of the American Invaders. The Allied invasion of Europe began on the 6th of June 1944, and the American assault on Utah and Omaha beaches on this day played a critical role in the overall success of the operation. (Astor 352)
Germany knew that an allied invasion of France was imminent. For months, allied spies and intelligence sought to leverage the knowledge gained through the invasion of Sicily and against weaknesses in the German defense of France. General Eisenhower knew that an attack on the coast would not be sufficient to invade because Germany had reserve troops and escape routes. The 101st Airborne division’s task was to seize four causeway exits because it was expected that VII Corps would have difficulty moving inland. The 101st and the 82nd were to jump in 5 hours before the landings on Omaha and Utah beach. The Pathfinders mission was crafted thr...
During the fall of 1944, the “Atlantic Wall” had diminished after the invasion of Normandy and the American and allied forces were making their way towards Germany. One of the offensives directed to counteract this; Adolf Hitler focused in on and was attacking the inadequately defended Ardennes front. Had this plan succeeded, through the capture of Antwerp, the Germans would have divided the American and British forces in the area, depriving the American Soldiers and allies of a seaport for resupply.
D-Day by Stephen E. Ambrose follows the landings on the Calvados coast of Normandy from the pre-planning stages all the way up through the invasion and through about D-Day plus one - one day after the Normandy landings. The first two chapters deal with the combatants in a general fashion before moving on to the location of the landings and why it was chosen. From there, Mr. Ambrose moves into planning of the operation and the preparation for the same. This discussion of the preparation leads into a chapter on the operation specific training that the soldiers received. Then Ambrose discusses the numerous briefings that the troops underwent before the invasion was even launched and then he writes about the process behind General Eisenhower’s deciding to launch the invasion. Once that actual invasion begins, Ambrose uses oral history accounts from men on both Utah Beach and Omaha Beach to tell the story of how the day progressed. The end of the book is taken up with the British and Canadians on Gold Beach and Sword Beach, as well as the actions of the British airborne units. Finally, Mr. Ambrose ends his book with an overview of the Allied forces at the end of June 6, 1944.
From what I know and have heard about the D-Day invasion, the movie was very accurate on it’s portrayal of the attack. The action was so intense at the movie theater I first saw it in that a veteran got up and left for a while because he was crying so bad. I later found out that he had actually been there and that seeing it so vividly on screen had brought back too many bad memories. If that doesn’t convey realism, I don’t know what does. ...
...ver a period of over two years and although the obtaining of a foothold in Germany was necessary, the leaders could have taken many more precautions to save many American lives. Operation Overlord illustrates bad planning through the conflicts of the leadership control, through lack of preparation for treacherous tides, and the unsuccessful aerial attacks.
In the late May in 1918, the German forces put together four divisions and launched the Aisne offensive. The bombardment began at one in the morning on May 27th. The British and French front lines were torn apart by the current waves of German infantry and artillery. Both armies began to disintegrate before the might of the Germans, and were unable to halt the advancement of their awesome force. The Germans didn’t press further after the Marnes River, giving the French time to call in reinforcements and American assistance. When the American forces arrived, a French office asked Marine Colonel Wendell C. Neville if a tactical retreat would be in order, he replied with th...
Most of the events in the movie are told in the correct order that they happened, but they have many inaccuracies in them. One event that is not in the correct order is when Rafe volunteered to join the RAF Eagle Squadron, this didn’t happen in reality until after December 7, 1941. There are many scenes that never even actually even happened in real life. The scene where Admiral Kimmel was playing golf and found out about the attack happening never occurred in real life. Another scene that historians
First, German did not consciousness advantages of paratroopers. Germany headquarters take a mistake about Crete Airborne Operation of the. They just saw the big casualty, but the generals did not know why they can occupy the island so fast. On the morning of May 20, German paratroopers landed at 08.00 near Male me and Crania. They want to take the vital airfields. On May 22, the Germans landed additional troops on the beaches of Male me and west of its airfield. The Germans captured the island in 10 days. (“Crete Airborne Operation of the” para 2) And American generals begin to mind this new kind of attack. On the follow warfare, American 101 paratrooper army played a key on D day. They help army landed successful and help to cut Liberation of Western Europe. In this warfare, 6,600 German soldiers, including one in four paratroopers, lay dead on the battlefield.
With World War II lasting six years, there were many battles that had taken place. Three major events that are famous from this war are D-day, Pearl Harbor and Battle of Iwo Jima. D-day, which is where Saving Private Ryan begins, is known as the largest amphibious attack in history. Before the attack could take place though there was a lot of planning done. In months before the attack, General Dwight Eisenhower led allies in an operation to make Germany believe that their main target of invasion was Pas-de-Calais, along with a few other locations. The operation that led Germany to believe this was carried out by fake equipment, a phantom army located in England, counterfeit radio transmissions, and double agents. Once Eisenhower knew Germany was mislead, he led the troops into battle. This attack began with British, American, and Canadian forces landing on five different beaches all along the coast of Normandy on June 6, 1944. By the end of the first day approximately 156,000 al...
...this really portrays the realism of war. Overall the use of de-saturated film and handheld cameras is an effective way of portraying the film. It does not only portray the film but also realistically portrays war. Scenes which are sometimes horrific or disturbing to watch give us a tiny insight in to the horrific scenes of war. I feel this is the most realistic war film without actually being there. Spielberg successfully took this film to new levels with not always showing brave and noble men. Spielberg has reached the limits of modern film with his effects and constant persistence to find realistic effects. The opening scene is like a starter of a meal or a taste of what is about to come. It shows how these men are brave but scared. I think the film portrays the diversities of emotions experienced by the men. Overall I think this is a realistic and effective film.
The Germans power struck fear into the Allied countries, which drove Allied leaders to initiate the D-day invasion. Hitler was aware of the Invasion of Normandy, but he wasn’t sure when it was going to take place. Since he was confident in his military power and the Allied forces had dissipated across the Mediterranean, he disregarded the threat. But in November of 1943, Hitler could no longer ignore the invasion. He started taking defensive maneuvers by reinforcing the French beaches, placing mines, and barricading any entrance into France to protect his French territory. The German troops were also at an advantage because, “It [, Omaha,] was defended by the best German troops in the area, tough combat veterans who had recently been sent to Normandy for more training” (Bigelow et al. 267). This scared the Allied leaders because their troops were dropping like flies. During this time, the Russians h...
News, CBC. "D-Day: The allied invasion of Normandy." Canada 1 (2009). http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/06/02/f-dday-history.html (accessed June 24, 2011).
One of the most important days during World War II was D-day, it became a “day” so important it changed a continent. Don't be mistaken by the word D-day it did not all happens in just one day but many days. D-day was just a code name for the day that Operation Overload started. D-day is very well known for the beginning of the end of the war in Europe and Hitler's rule over most of the ruined continent of Europe. Many say that if it were not for D-day Europe would have definitely fell to Hitler.
For a long time, when anyone thought of a war movie, they immediately thought of Darryl F. Zanuck’s, The Longest Day. Cornelius Ryan, who was the author of the book by the same name, and happened to be a D-day veteran himself, wrote the movie. The book meticulously recreates the events preceding and during the invasion. It is filled with detailed descriptions of multiple occurrences during the invasion. It explains everything from mass attacks on beaches and towns to humorous anecdotes. The book wasn’t exactly a story involving characters, and neither was the film. The Longest Day is more a story of tragedy, glory, and courage surrounding one very important day. And even though mainly American and English filmmakers produced the movie, the movie and book both portray the Germans fairly. But the film added so much to the story that the book could not. Without some of the stunning visuals that the five (Zanuck went unaccredited, but was said to have directed over half the movie) directors put in the film, it would have been impossible to comprehend the scale of it all.