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"The Longest Day"


Sabrejet
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I wonder how Eddie Albert felt during filming. Survived all the chaos at Tarawa and "dies" in the Longest Day.

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He would be another actor to have been a great advisor. Landing craft, are landing craft, and fighting man are the same from Tarawa to Normandy. This question of acting real life experiences would be a great story all by itself.

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So what's the story behind those infamous "Longest Day" chincups? Purely a studio creation? It begs the question why they didn't just use the webbing chin-braces which the Army airborne was actually using back in 1960...not accurate for D-Day but much better than those monstrosities!

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Just got back from a two week trip to Normandy. It was my first time there and I must say it was most impressive...trip of a lifetime actually. I was told from my French friend that the Werner Pluskat scenes were filmed at an observation bunker in Longues-Sur-Mer?

And it is an eye opener to see how close Major Howards glider landed to Pegasus Bridge.

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The Longest Day is one of my favorite war movies. I saw it for the first time in 1974 at the REX theater in Paris. I was ten and I went with my aunt Yvonne. This is the movie which gave me the militaria bug with Airfix HO soldiers and GI.Joes and Action Men.

I watched it many times but I've only seen once SPR. The Longest Day has this flavor that old movies had and the new ones no longer have. Just like the Battle of the Bulge and the Wild Geese.

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I agree with Andrei 100% .

 

 

seen spr a few times and cringe when the tiger shows up.

 

Also just heard the engine noise for the tiger was a british cheftan tank .!

 

Longest day rules .

 

0wEn

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Owen...that Tiger in SPR has been at War & Peace several times. I've checked it over closely. It's actually built on the chassis of a T-34 (like the one in "Kelly's Heroes" was) It's actually quite well done, but is only about two-thirds the size of a real Tiger. Ironically, the world's only running Tiger (below) is here at the Tank Museum...but it was too precious to be loaned out for filming SPR.

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You know guys it just occured to me that there is only one actor who had the distinction to play a role in both of the movies based on Cornlius Ryan's books.

 

Why it was Sean Connery

post-34986-0-47310200-1372041130.jpgpost-34986-0-39176000-1372041047.gif

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So what's the story behind those infamous "Longest Day" chincups? Purely a studio creation? It begs the question why they didn't just use the webbing chin-braces which the Army airborne was actually using back in 1960...not accurate for D-Day but much better than those monstrosities!

Ian they still could get it right 17 years or so later with A Bridge Too Far.

 

This is that very fatiqued road guard that halts James Caan's charactor as he's tooling down the a road looking for the CO, remember him? he the one who tells Caan the Captains dead. We see the chin cup, but I don't know what it is, I believe a few real ones were worn right? but this one looks like a kinda mock up.

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For sure Kevin. The wardrobe departments screwed up again...big time...when it came to getting the helmets right. The worst "offender" is Ryan O'Neal playing "Jumpin' Jim" Gavin. One minute he's got a USGI M1 then later a very obvious French Casque M-51!! :o

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You know guys it just occured to me that there is only one actor who had the distinction to play a role in both of the movies based on Cornlius Ryan's books.

 

Why it was Sean Connery

attachicon.gifphpyF82QdPM.jpgattachicon.gif3486-2464.gif

A revision.

 

Thank's to Sabrejet in noticing that another The Longest Day alumnus was also in A Bridge Too Far, this being the late German actor Wolfgang Preiss (he passed in 2002).

 

As Generalmajor Max Pemsel in The Longest Day As Generalfeldmarschall Gerd Von Rundstedt

post-34986-0-69470600-1372142833.jpg post-34986-0-34517700-1372142822.gif

 

He also played Kesselring in Anzio

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Perfect casting. He looks just like everyone's mental image of a typical Prussian / German officer. All that's missing is a monocle and duelling scar!

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  • 3 months later...

Just found this superb still of Jeffery Hunter and Eddie Albert, both who don't make it off the beach. Good helmets on both, with good gear on Hunter, BUT we see Hunter is wearing that ubiquitous M51 Field Jacket one see's interspersed throughout, note the comtemporary GI White Name Tape on the extra to the left of Hunter in the background. Albert, don't know what he got on, a wardrobe made M41? Anyway a great photo.

 

post-34986-0-14134400-1381802920.jpg

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Hunters chin strap is sewn on the wrong side.

Ronnie

Good eye, I wonder why that was? it seems like a real mccoy, maybe a wardrobe repair, you know the person goofed and sewn them on the wrong sides.

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dan_the_hun84

Longest Day is a classic....was a summertime war film staple with my grandpa, who was in the ETO with the 65TH ID. Plus it had John Wayne and Robert Mitchum,,,mens men back when there was such a thing.

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  • 1 month later...

Found this great publicity still from the movie.

 

From left to right.

 

Robert Wagner, Fabian, Paul Anka, Tommy Sands. shot during a break at the Pointe Du Hoc scene. Hey where's George Segal! :D Note the Swimmer in the right background, a local or a member of the film crew? Maybe he's George Segal! :lol:

 

post-34986-0-85389700-1385759302.jpg

 

 

Also found this page on production, very interesting.

http://longeng.bravepages.com/long.htm

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  • 1 month later...

What I don't get is the paratroopers with M1928 haversacks and most of them have Thompson SMG`s but still have M1923 cartridge belts.

 

-Dave

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It's called "readily available surplus" and recent enough (in relation to when the picture was made) at that, that I am sure authenticity of the uniforms and equipment was not even a serious thought. Most vets that saw it were struck by it. My old math teacher and his dad saw it in theaters, and he said his dad, who was with the Big Red One, said he liked the movie a lot better than the play (the real thing). I think most would agree that it is pretty much THE epic WWII film of its era, where at least the story was real, even if the equipment was a bit off.

 

Anybody aware of hyper-attention to detail in a WWII film prior to Band of Brothers?

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It's called "readily available surplus" and recent enough (in relation to when the picture was made) at that, that I am sure authenticity of the uniforms and equipment was not even a serious thought. Most vets that saw it were struck by it. My old math teacher and his dad saw it in theaters, and he said his dad, who was with the Big Red One, said he liked the movie a lot better than the play (the real thing). I think most would agree that it is pretty much THE epic WWII film of its era, where at least the story was real, even if the equipment was a bit off.

 

Anybody aware of hyper-attention to detail in a WWII film prior to Band of Brothers?

 

"Battleground", 1949.

 

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