“My photograph will hate the institution of war, but be fair”: Steve Forrest, John Wayne and Stuart Whitman in the film “The Longest Day” . By Alamy
For producer Darryl F. Zanuck, The Longest Day was a matter of winning or losing. “Either I go broke or I make the greatest painting in the world,” he said. It turned out to be victorious: it helped turn around the fortunes of 20th Century Fox, of which Zanuck was then appointed head, won two Oscars and earned $50 million at the box office against a budget of $9 million.
Released on September 26, 1962, the film has since been voted by veterans as the best war film ever made, and yet, during its initial showing, President Eisenhower was so annoyed by the inaccuracies that he walked out of the theater. cinema just minutes away.
Based on the book by Cornelius Ryan and requiring 10 years of research and writing, The Longest Day tells the story of D-Day from the perspective of soldiers from four countries: America, Britain, France and Germany.
Ryan was a war correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and observed D-Day from a B-26 bomber. He claimed to have conducted 700 interviews to obtain a comprehensive first-hand account of June 6, 1944, worked on the book full-time for three years, and ran up a debt of $60,000. But his efforts paid off: The Longest Day, published in 1959, sold 30 million copies.
At the time, both 20th Century Fox and Darryl F. Zanuck were in free fall: the studio had lost more than $60 million between 1961 and 1962—hopes were now pinned on the out-of-control epic Cleopatra—while Zanuck, the multiple Oscar-winning producer found himself in poverty.
“Since the mid-1950s, he has been in a tailspin as professionally and personally,” says Peter Lev, author of 20th Century Fox: The Zanuck-Skouras Years. “He got kicked out of Hollywood and his wife kicked him out, or he left because he was having an affair. He drank heavily, lived in France and dated women 30 years younger. He was such a pathetic figure.»
Zanuck, now an independent producer, acquired the rights to The Longest Day, and 20th Century Fox took a $9 million risk, an incredible budget at the time. The Longest Day was the only film that Zanuck's son, also successful producer Richard D. Zanuck, warned him against. «I asked him, 'Who cares about World War II?' — Zanuck Jr. recalled in Mel Gussow’s biography. “Most of the theater audience wasn’t even born at that time.”
But the elder Zanuck, himself a World War II veteran, knew that The Longest Day was a very different picture of the war: “the story of the little people, the underground, the civilians who were there, the unknown men who carried out the first attack, the general confusion… my picture will hate the institution of war, but will be fair in this regard.”
He also knew that making a war film of this magnitude required the cooperation of all four countries. “Zanuck knew everyone,” says Peter Lev. “When he wanted cooperation from the Department of Defense, he didn’t just call the Pentagon office, he called the commander of NATO.”
Darryl F. Zanuck (left) with Peter Lawford, Irina Demick and Richard Todd on set in France, 1961. Commando leader Simon Fraser, played by Peter Lawford, stands third from the right. Photo: Getty
The US Department of Defense has promised to provide 700 special forces. Troops of the Forces. France contributed more than 2,000 men and equipment. West Germany provided technical assistance. “I negotiated for almost eight months,” Zanuck told Life magazine. “In turn, I agreed that each of the participating governments could review the finished film and censor anything that might be offensive.”
However, the British turned out to be more hostile. «Based on the fact that they thought it was another one of those American films that showed how the Americans won the war,» Zanuck said.
He received his greatest support from Lord Mountbatten, with whom he served. Mountbatten helped by pledging 66 World War II ships (which could not be used because neither Fox nor Blighty wanted to pay the fuel costs) and 150 men. Mountbatten also served as an advisor alongside Lord Lovat and Major John Howard, each of whom trained actors Peter Lawford and Kenneth More respectively.
Zanuck wanted a big-name cast. John Wayne played Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort, a paratrooper who landed on the town of Sainte-Mère-Église in the early hours of June 6, 1944. Richard Burton and Roddy McDowall were shuttling between Cleopatra and The Longest Day. McDowall asked for the role to escape the boredom of the Cleopatra production; Burton took the specially written role of an RAF pilot. It was one of the film's entirely fictional leads, although in real life Burton served in the RAF.
Several World War II veterans were cast for the role, so boot camp was not necessary. “They knew how to hold a gun and wear a uniform, and they knew how to salute,” says Paul Woodage, a D-Day historian, filmmaker and battle guide.
Richard Burton and Richard Beymer in the film “The Longest Day” Author: Alami
Zanuck, of course, was commander in chief. Even with three different directors — Ken Annakin (British and French scenes), Andrew Marton (Americans) and Bernhard Wicki (Germans) — Zanuck boasted that he directed 60 percent of the film himself. Cornelius Ryan called him «Darryl Eisenhower.» Zanuck flew between filming locations in a helicopter, always holding a cigar in his hand.
But tensions between Zanuck and Ryan escalated. They fought over the rewrites, and Zanuck added fictional scenes. «I'm not interested in making a film that is only historically accurate,» Zanuck said. “It just so happens that this one turned out to be accurate.”
Important to the film’s accuracy was the portrayal of the Germans, who, according to Lev, “are presented as professional soldiers doing their job. There is nothing about Nazi ideology. It's very different from many war films. The German government of 1962 was happy to help.»
“The Germans in The Longest Day are very realistic,” says Paul Woodage. «They have different views on how to deal with the invasion, and that's true.» The actors playing the German soldiers received basic training from former Wehrmacht paratrooper Johnny Jendrich.
Their portrayal — with the support of several German military advisers — speaks volumes about the politics of the time: West Germany was considered an ally of the United States. during the Cold War and the Berlin Crisis. Locals in France were less lenient. The sight of a swastika flag and actors marching in Nazi uniforms nearly sparked riots during filming.
Brits largely oscillate between the old stereotypes: prim, pursed-lipped Poshingstons or stocky guys doing the Lambeth Walk. “This is still the era when the Americans won the war and the British came to make tea and crunch the numbers,” laughs Woodage. However, the British take responsibility in a stunning sequence — the capture of the Pegasus Bridge.
Darryl F. Zanuck with Robert Wagner and Tommy Sands on the set of The Longest Day. Photo: Getty
Shortly after midnight on June 6, 181 men led by Major John Howard landed near Bénouville in Horse's bumpy gliders and captured the drawbridge spanning the Caen Canal. Major John Howard served as a consultant on the film; Richard Todd, who played him, was also at Pegasus Bridge on June 6, 1944. In the film he wore his real beret.
«It's hands down the best sequence in the film,» says Woodage. «The accuracy is so good — it's a real location, the glider is coming in and hitting the ground, and they run out and take the bridge.»
There are also various sabotage and commando tactics, including the dropping of dummy paratroopers — «Ruperts» — to confuse the Germans and play on fears of invasion. In the film, these are ornate dummies that explode. In reality, they were hessian sandbags.
One of the film's most iconic scenes follows paratrooper John Steele (played by Red Buttons) of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment as he lands in the village of Sainte-Mère-Eglise in the early hours of June 6th. In the film, paratroopers shoot from a car. guns at the enemy as he descends. In fact, their weapons were sorted into bags. However, it is true in the film that the paratroopers had little chance against the German machine guns waiting for them on the ground.
It is known that John Steele caught his parachute on the top of a church roof and hung there, pretending to be dead. It's an iconic moment: the look of horror on his face as he watches his fellow paratroopers being killed and the church bell ringing. «He almost certainly exaggerated the story,» Woodage says. “We can't prove it didn't land there, but there isn't much evidence that it did! But as soon as I hear the bells ringing in the film, I am captivated.”
ID card belonging to Cornelius Ryan, The Daily Telegraph reporter who covered D-Day and wrote «The Longest Day»
Filming the scenes filmed in the real Sainte-Mère-Eglise proved a losing battle, marred by strong winds. Cranes had to be used to lower the paratroopers to the ground.
However, a little wind was the least of Zanuck's problems. In April 1961, Zanuck was summoned to a board meeting in the United States. 20th Century Fox's top brass wanted to call it quits on The Longest Day to make $3 million and cut their losses. But one of the board members, General James Van Fleet, a veteran of both world wars, came to Zanuck's defense.
“He lost his temper,” Zanuck said. “He practically called them idiots. He landed in the first wave on D-Day. Usually he never said anything at board meetings, but now he said, “This photo will bring more than any other photo.” The council conferred and warned Zanuck that if he spent more than $8 million, they would take his cameras away.
By this point, Zanuck had amassed an impressive arsenal. He returned Spitfires, Messerschmitts, German guns and artillery. His team excavated a British tank buried in the sands of Normandy and repaired German bunkers. They ordered over 60,000 rounds of ammunition and used Allied uniforms, which were still in abundance. It was necessary to make a Nazi uniform — the German government had long ago destroyed the originals.
For important operations of the allied fleet, Zanuck used the US Sixth Fleet, which conducted maneuvers off the coast of Northern Corsica. To make Corsica's beach more like Normandy on D-Day, sand was hosed down every morning and tires were burned to turn the sky grey. In the footage of the actual landing, soldiers of the Third Marine Battalion played a role. The Marines were indeed seasick due to the rough conditions and appeared anxious.
Landing scene in The Longest Day Photo: Getty A classic scene occurs when Major Werner Pluskat (Hans Christian Blech) spots the Allied fleet from his bunker and warns another German officer by telephone. “My dear Pluscat, where are these ships heading?” — asks the officer. «Right for me!» — Pluskat shouts.
There are doubts that Pluskat was in the bunker. It is now believed that he was with a prostitute at the time and arrived only later. Pluskat may have borrowed the story from another German — one who did not live to tell it — and appropriated the historical moment.
Another story, popularized by The Longest Day, is that Hitler was asleep on D-Day and that the invasion was only successful because the officers did not dare wake him, preventing them from mobilizing tanks. Paul Woodage believes the story is exaggerated. “You can argue what time of day he got up,” Woodaj says. “What is not negotiable is that even if Hitler had gotten up at 2 a.m., there was nothing he could have done at that moment to change anything — it was already too late.”
The biggest creative freedom in The Longest Day is the Battle of Pointe du Hoc, where the 2nd Ranger Battalion climbed the cliffs to destroy a battery of six guns. In the film, the Rangers are played by young pop stars of the time, including Tommy Sands and Fabian (among the few age-appropriate actors in the film). They climb the cliffs and discover that there are no cannons there: a tragically pointless attempt. In fact, the rangers continued on and found the cannons inland. They destroyed the guns and fought for several days.
Peter Lawford, Brigadier General and Commander Simon Fraser, Lord Lovaton, Richard Todd and British Army officer John Howard on the set of The Longest Day. : Getty
Another factually inaccurate scene is one of the best in the film: French commandos attack a casino housing a German base in the commune of Ouistreham. The battle was still captured in stunning aerial photography. There was indeed a casino in Ouistreham, but it was destroyed by June 6, 1944 — all that remained was a series of fortified bunkers in the basement. «The man who told the story to Cornelius Ryan was a commando,» Woodage says. “But he wasn’t there on D-Day.” He repeated what the other guys told him and got it all wrong… some of the stories were a little dubious.»
In August 1961, The Longest Day was rocked by the construction of the Berlin Wall. Questions suddenly arose about whether US soldiers should be used for show business purposes when they are needed in a real crisis. The Ministry of Defense reduced Zanuck's troop strength from 700 to 250. From that moment on, the relationship between the American military and Hollywood changed radically.
As filming approached winter, Zanuck had to make an Eisenhower-like decision: the soldiers would film the fight scenes in Omaha (filmed on Ile de Rey) in potentially bad weather; or stop filming until next year. He gathered the film crew and asked: should we postpone filming or take a risk? The majority voted for a postponement, but Zanuck decided to go further. 20th Century Fox was in such danger that if production stopped, it might never resume.
Irina Demick in The Longest Day Photo: Alami
The Battle of Omaha—multiple attempts along a four-and-a-half-mile beach, further mythologized in Saving Private Ryan—now seems amusingly simplified in The Longest Day. It all comes down to Robert Mitchum and his men breaking through one small hole in the wall. But during filming there was real chaos: the air was filled with smoke from about 150 explosives.
Zanuck called it «the most damned mess I've ever seen in my life.» Neither the actors nor the cameras could see anything through the smoke. “People sat with their faces in their hands,” Zanuck told biographer Mel Gussow. “Some had cuts on their faces where they had come across explosives. In one of the scenes where the guys explode in the air, it wasn't staged. They were running blind. We stayed up all night training without smoke or with white smoke. I got two good takes and decided we wouldn't do any more. We would kill someone.»
The original ending was supposed to consist of a lone, solemn soldier throwing stones. in water. However, the Ministry of Defense wanted something more fanatical. Instead, the film ends with Robert Mitchum's General Kota in a jeep. “Take me up the mountain, son,” he orders.
The Department of Defense was also unhappy with the scene in which the Americans shoot surrendering Germans (although Zanuck kept it in), while the Motion Picture Association of America expressed concern about the script's «excessive killing». Sixty years later it's funny — the actors are holding their chests without blood and jumping to the ground. Zanuck also added a final insert at the request of a British adviser — a British flag hoisted on a pole.
However, some British critics were cold. “Germans get a lot of screen time,” says Peter Loew. “Bigger than Great Britain. Critics of the time noticed this.» When Eisenhower's wife, Mamie, told him he couldn't leave another minute of the film, Ike replied, «I sure as hell can.»
Even today, «The Longest Day» remains the definitive account of the events of June 6 1944 on film. “As an overview of how Operation Overlord unfolded, it is incomparable,” says Paul Woodage. “You'd be hard-pressed to explain it better in three hours.”
More information about Paul Woodage can be found on WW2 TV's YouTube channel
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