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Longest Day Color Photos from Press Book


338thRCT
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I obtained a few copies of the British edition of a press book for the Longest Day. I had the Americanedition when I was a kid and don't recall any color photos in it.These are nice and when we were kids we really didn't pay attention to lapses in uniform and vehicle authenticity/accuracy; we just liked the action! post-70300-0-64825900-1354978691_thumb.jpg

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They look like "colorized" photos, in the manner of the (dreadful!) colorized version of the movie which was released some years ago.

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I didn't realize that the movie had been recently colorized. I don't believe these pictures were colorized, but just period, less sophisticated film and reproduction methods as this particular booklet was printed in the 60's when the film debuted. Note in top pic the uniform of John Wayne;what appears to be brown boots and pants w/ OD jump jacket and the others are wearing OD with a green dominance.Also the difference in the uniforms where he is on the cart. I wouldn't think the colorizer would have left it as such. But, like I said, a 10 year old boy didn't worry about those sort of details.

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I suspect they are lobby cards or other sanctioned still photography from the set.

 

As my dad used to always say: "I won the war single handedly, well... me and John Wayne!"

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I didn't realize that the movie had been recently colorized. I don't believe these pictures were colorized, but just period, less sophisticated film and reproduction methods as this particular booklet was printed in the 60's when the film debuted. Note in top pic the uniform of John Wayne;what appears to be brown boots and pants w/ OD jump jacket and the others are wearing OD with a green dominance.Also the difference in the uniforms where he is on the cart. I wouldn't think the colorizer would have left it as such. But, like I said, a 10 year old boy didn't worry about those sort of details.

 

I believe the colorized version of the movie is available on DVD...but it's not that recent! I prefer the original black and white version because it looks "period". There are some glaring errors in the colorized one, not least the 29th patches which, if I recall rightly, appear red!! :o

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Did they mute out or color in some of the Gold on Black U.S. ARMY tapes and Gold on Army Green ranks that were known to be worn by some of the extras on there M51 field jackets during the beach scenes ? :P

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Here's clip from the colorized version.

 

 

 

I always wondered about the gunfire in the background (at about 2:40) in the British scene; it's realistic gunfire yet before and after that in the other scenes, it's that fake obnoxious sound-effect gunfire. That's one of my gripes about all those old movies. It's right up there with "laugh tracks" in sitcoms.

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When this movie was colorized, some years ago, they didn't have the ability to different shades of colors. These are actual color photographs.

The thing about this movie that amazes me is that it was filmed at the actual locations......for instance, Point Du Hoc. They tried to cover up previous battle damage with nets, etc. also the monument on top of the bunker.

Still, even with the goofy uniforms and such, I really rate this movie high on my list!

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When this movie was colorized, some years ago, they didn't have the ability to different shades of colors. These are actual color photographs.

The thing about this movie that amazes me is that it was filmed at the actual locations......for instance, Point Du Hoc. They tried to cover up previous battle damage with nets, etc. also the monument on top of the bunker.

Still, even with the goofy uniforms and such, I really rate this movie high on my list!

 

 

I agree 1000% ronnie, despite it flaws it was a monumental effort, and it's finished product, truly epic.

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It's one of my all-time favourite war movies too, but one thing always strikes me whenever I watch it. When it was made, WW2 was barely 20 years in the past...most of the cast would have actually lived through it! There must've been a ton of WW2 surplus stuff still around in those days, and yet they managed to get many of the uniforms soooo wrong, like the "jump-jackets" being M51s with their breast pockets being clearly removed and re-sewn at an angle, and those bizarre rubber chin-cups on the helmets etc. It must have been a big-budget movie in its day but obviously they didn't spend it on the wardrobe department!

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I know what you're talking about sabre. That is odd. But Zanuck spent sooooo much money on the actors, such as John Wayne, that he had to save money some where else. Also remember that Fox had the big production of Cleopatra going at the same time and all their money was going towards that production. Even the 82nd patches and the first aid kits suck pretty bad. I think Zanuck got lucky on the Omaha Beach scenes as the U.S. Army was involved in maneuvers somewhere in the area.....don't remember exactly, but he was able to film that. I believe those scenes are the only scenes not filmed at the original location. Odd that we are talking about this movie. Out of boredom I threw in the disk last night and watched the movie again! Still love it! When I first visited Omaha Beach I was amazed at how far it was from the waters edge at low tide to the bluffs.....at the same time I heard in my head the theme music to this movie! I hummed it for two weeks while touring around. You guys that live nearby are so lucky to be able to walk around the area at just about anytime you desire. On the other hand I live very close to the Shiloh Battlefield and about 3 hours from Vicksburg....Forrest camped in our town the night before his raid on Memphis. A lot of neat artifacts have been found nearby for years.

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The best part of the movie are the original locations such as the main square at St Mere Eglise and Pluskat's command bunker etc. When I was last at St Mere back in June I was visualizing the real action as opposed to the film version. For example, John Steele actually got hung up on the opposite side of the church tower to that shown in the movie. Strangely, even today they hang the Steele mannequin in the movie position because that's where people expect to see it! A case of life imitating art rather than vice-versa!

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From what we,ve seen all movies from that general time period were low in uniform equipmet accuracy right? Merrill's Marauders come to mind, loads of movies actually, there just too many to name, some to be sure were good/decent, some were worse than the other, some completly bad, this just being the Americans that were portrayed, now the Germans :rolleyes: I think after the very early 50s this sort not caring began, immediate post war movies like 12 O'Clock High, Battleground, The Sands of Iwo Jima, to name three did have it right or near to 100% correct, it would seem as the 50s wore on this was not important for some reason, not caring, not occuring the prodution people, whatever the reason was. There could be more but I think the only accurate one from that 50s 60s time frame would have to be Pork Chop Hill.

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post-70300-0-73845900-1354978854_thumb.jpg

 

Hey you can really see now that Yellow on Black AIRBORNE tabs that were worn, they are noticable even in B/W, but here we see them in all their colorful inaccurate glory :o

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Same applies to trucks and tanks. Most (not all!) early post-war movies used appropriate vehicles then by the 60s we're into the "Battle of the Bulge" scenario!

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Patches you called it......Pork Chop Hill is such a spot on movie. No bs, just a dang good war movie with the uniforms and equipment being well, spot on!

Ronnie

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Zanuck spent sooooo much money on the actors, such as John Wayne, that he had to save money some where else.

 

I wonder if Charlton Heston, who was originally considered for the Vandervoort role, would been better received than John Wayne. He was younger and frankly looked more like the character. IIRC Wayne demanded some outrageous amount; if I were Zanuck I would have just gone with Heston.

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You're right page, Wayne wanted a massive amount of money and Zanuck wanted Wayne so he paid him. I agree with you that Heston may have been a better choice......heck I woulda been a better choice, and I love John Wayne. But knowing the history involved Wayne just didn't fit. So "if it don't fit, you must acquit."

RD

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