Posted on 09/10/2012 6:35:25 AM PDT by C19fan
On September 17, 1944 the Dutch sunshine was blotted out by 4,700 aircraft of all types in a stream that stretched ninety-four miles long and three miles wide. It was the largest aerial armada in the history of warfare featuring 35,000 Allied glider and paratroops.
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Although a major defeat for the Allies, it did provide a great story for Cornelius Ryan's book "A Bridge Too Far" which director Richard Attenborough and producers Joseph and Richard Levine made into the epic war film of the same name in 1977. It featured an all-star cast that included Robert Redford, Sean Connery, Ryan O’Neal, Gene Hackman, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Maximilian Schell, James Caan, Elliot Gould and Lawrence Olivier among others.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
I always watch it when it’s on, if only for the subplot involvoing James Caan.
I always think back to the barrage scene in All Quiet On The Western Front when I see that scene...
Unfortinately, they do not run this one often....we eventually won the war I guess is a bit too much for the lefties.
Last night one of my favs was on: A walk in the sun.
One of the best books on WWII ever written. I highly recommend all of Cornelius Ryan’s books.
Sadly, I think the movies aren’t so good. The Longest Day being better by far (IMHO) than A Bridge Too Far.
Another Ryan book, The Last Battle, is a must read. It deals with the battle for Berlin.
From the book, A Bridge Too Far, a fantastic story is a P-51 pilot that was making repeated runs against a AAA gun, flying low over a paratroop landing zone. The AAA gun is out of sight from the paratroopers. The Mustang is hit and impacts the ground. When all the pieces come to a stop, the pilot jumps out of the largest piece and runs to a paratrooper. He demands a weapon, stating that he knows right where the bastards are at. All of his books are completely nonfiction, based on personal accounts.
I prefer the film "Bridge too Far" to "The Longest Day". I thought the latter was far too bitty.
Some great lines....maybe not word for word, but close.....
“I’m much too old and much too large to be jumping out of airplanes.”
“God bless Field Marshall Montgomery.”
Agreed.
It’s too easy to like a book or film when everything is going well for our side.
“A Bridge Too Far” captures all the arrogant hope and draws us back to the realities of war not a few months after the victories of D-Day+.
Better music in “Bridge”, as well. John Addison’s score was fantastic.
Much like 'Operation Market Garden'...
For example, Hollyweird could do a movie about the Marines taking Fallujah that would rake in a fortune. But they won't do it for ideological reasons. They won't make a movie that makes brave males and the American military look good. The only way they'd do it is if the hero was a homosexual and at the end the film he deserts and then joins a leftist group and criticizes war-mongering, racist America.
I call it “The Hunger Games” syndrome....now every hero has to be a woman, and the woman shows more guts than the guys.....heck we even see this now in politics in real life.
Is the problem that Hollywood makes 60% of their profit overseas? They have to take into account what foreign viewers are going to feel about the movie. John Wayne doesn’t sell overseas. That’s why Americans can win a battle but they have to feel badly about it. There always has to be incompetent officers (Good Morning Vietnam), etc. We were soldiers once, and young (Mel Gibson) is an exception. Maybe this is why American males are watered down, so that they will be more acceptable overseas.
Wonderful music and Gene Hackman’s part stands out to me.
The article overlooks the great performance of Edward Fox as XX X Corps commander Lt. General Horrocks.
I agree. I thought Fox was very good. If you watch interviews with Horrocks (ie. World at War), he definitely showed some of his personality.
Mr. Addison was tanker in XXX Corps who participated in Market Garden.
1. Montgomery was an idiot. He pushed this, because he wanted to keep Patton from running all the way to Berlin. Churchill all but forced Ike to approve it, as FDR by that time was too tired, and ill, to stand up to Winston. Patton's 3rd Army was all but halted in place, as most fuel/supplies were sent to Montgomery.
2. "A Bridge to Far" is a pretty good film..but to check out the "Battle of Britain." When the film was being made, the movie was said to have the THIRD largest air force in the world..
3. Just about every Memorial Day, there's a thread on FR about the Best war movies ever. There are so many wonderful ones. If someone wants to try SEARCH and post links to some of those threads...please do so..
Not specifically about masculinity in movies, but masculinity, Post #1 in the following thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2429204/posts
The only way they’d do it is if the hero was a homosexual
Yep. Just like he tried to do with Ben-Hur. To listen to a great many liberals, every to do with the military and combat has homo-emotive undertones.
Frost saw the take and told him that no British officer would do that lest he instill fear and panic in his men. Frost told him that he needed to walk smartly and briskly across the street.
The movie makers discarded Frost's "technical advice" fearing that no audience would find reality realistic.
***Unfortunately, they do not run this one often.***
Picked up a copy in the $5.00 bin at Walmart! It may be $7.00 now.
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