The Longest Day

I confess that I watched this 1962 World War II movie because . . . I own the book and thought I'd watch the movie first to see if I wanted to read it or donate it. I'm so glad the public libraries provide me with these opportunities!

 

This isn't a spoiler, but . . . the book is in the donation pile.

 

Here are my observations:

• it's in black and white! Old school
• German and French with subtitles . . . interesting (the parts with Americans, British, etc. were in English and not subtitled). They had lots of German speaking actors!
• slow pace . . . three hours long?! (I checked this after I had already started watching.)
• green screen! This made me giggle. There was a scene early on with German commanders in front of beach fortifications and they were clearly using green screen technology.
• John Wayne - I had already recognized several actors' faces, but his was the first STAR I saw.
• D-Day / June 6, 1944 / invasion at Normandy . . . war sucks 
• I started thinking about the current war in Iran and the people dying now and it seems so horrible and pointless. My momma raised a pacifist.
• Henry Fonda as Teddy Roosevelt's son! Loved this.
• both sides commenting "I wonder whose side God is on." Interesting . . . 
• Sean Connery! So young.
• Bagpipers with the Scots - seriously? Did bagpipers go into battle like that? At the front of the soldiers?
• What a massive production . . . explosions, men, guns, tanks . . . I wonder if some of the footage was actual historical footage from 1944.
• This movie was a very big deal.
• William Shatner! So young.

 

Watching this made me think of how removed I am from the reality of these events. When I watched Saving Private Ryan, it made me feel as though I was there, storming the beaches, in the thick of battle, seeing people get hit and die right around me . . .  I'm not much of a student of history. As much as I dislike war movies, perhaps I need to spend just a little time each month thinking about the past and learning lessons from it.

 

It seemed as though the movie maker (and the author of the book?) portrayed the Germans as not too quick. A small part of me would like to do a little more digging on what happened on 6/6/44 and how the Allies were successful. But most of me wants to move on.

 

I looked up the book and found this info:

"The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan is a classic, bestselling 1959 book that provides a detailed, minute-by-minute account of the D-Day invasion (June 6, 1944) through interviews with over 1,000 participants from both the Allied and German sides, as well as civilians, creating a comprehensive narrative of the pivotal battle. It's known for pioneering a new style of military history by blending grand strategy with personal stories of courage and tragedy, and was adapted into a famous 1962 film." 

 

So kudos to Ryan for doing the interviews and writing the book! And boo to me for grabbing and quoting  this AI garbage that seems to be accurate  . . . I love pictures, so here's one: