'Believe me Lang, the first 24 hours of the invasion will be critical,…
the future of Germany will depend on the outcome of that,…
as well for the Allies as for Germany it shall be the longest day'.
(Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, to his adjutant, on 2 April, 1944.)


The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, during World War II. Costing 10 million dollars to make, with a cast that reads like a who's who of Hollywood, Grab a little insight to an extraordinary movie


Producer Darryl F. Zanuck paid the author of the book, Cornelius Ryan, $175,000 for the screen rights to produce the film. The film was adapted from the book by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall, Jack Seddon, and the author himself. It was directed by Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), Gerd Oswald (parachute drop scene), Bernhard Wicki (German scenes) and Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited).

Many of the military consultants and advisors who helped with the film's production were actual participants in the action on D-Day, and are portrayed in the film. The producers drew them from both sides; Allied and Axis. Among them are Günther Blumentritt (a former German general), James M. Gavin (an American general), Frederick Morgan (Deputy Chief of Staff at SHAEF), John Howard (who led the airborne assault on the Pegasus Bridge), Lord Lovat (who commanded the 1st Special Service Brigade), Philippe Kieffer (who led his men in the assault on Ouistreham), Pierre Koenig (who commanded the Free French Forces in the invasion), Max Pemsel (a German general), Werner Pluskat (the major who was the first German officer to see the invasion fleet), Josef "Pips" Priller (the hot-headed pilot) and Lucie Rommel (widow of Erwin Rommel).

One thing that sets the film apart from most films set in the Second World War is that all characters speak in their own languages, with subtitles in English wherever the characters speak either French or German. A separate version exists, shot simultaneously, in which all the actors speak their lines in English, which is why the trailer has the Germans delivering their lines in English. This version saw limited use during the initial release, but saw extensive use during a late 1960s re-release of the film. The English-only version was featured on the "flip side" of an older single disc DVD release. The usual stereotypes are avoided in the case of the German characters, most of whom are depicted as soldiers concerned with military matters, not Nazis consumed with political ideology. The words "Sieg Heil", for instance, are not uttered even once in The Longest Day, although they are seen written on a bunker wall in Ouistreham. At one point, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt refuses to ask Adolf Hitler for permission to release the Wehrmacht's panzer reserves, declaring that he would not "bow" to "that Bohemian corporal."

The film, one of the very few 1960s epics made in black and white, features a large ensemble cast including actors such as Kenneth More, Richard Todd (who took part in the actual invasion), Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Leo Genn, Peter Lawford, Gert Fröbe, John Wayne, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curt Jürgens, Robert Wagner and Arletty. Several of these actors played roles that were virtually cameo appearances.

Film Trivia

# Richard Todd (playing Major John Howard, Officer Commanding D Company of The 2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, Air Landing Brigade, 6th Airborne Division) was himself in Normandy on D-Day, and participated as Capt. Todd of the 7th Parachute Battalion, 5th Parachute Brigade, British 6th Airborne Division. His battalion actually went into action as reinforcements, via a parachute jump (after the gliders had landed and completed the initial coup de main assault). Capt. Richard 'Sweeney' Todd was moved from the plane he was originally scheduled to jump from, to another. The original plane was shot down, killing everyone on board.

# As a 22-year-old private, Joseph Lowe landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day with the Second Ranger Battalion and scaled the cliffs at Point-Du-Hoc. He scaled those hundred-foot cliffs all over again, for the cameras, some 17 years later.

# Darryl F. Zanuck was quoted in an interview as saying that he didn't think much of actors forming their own production companies, citing The Alamo (1960), produced by John Wayne, as a failure of such ventures. Wayne found out about this interview before being approached by Zanuck, and refused to appear in the film unless he was paid $250,000 for his role (when the other famous actors were being paid $25,000). Wayne got his requested salary.

# Henry Grace was not an actor when being cast as Dwight D. Eisenhower, but his remarkable resemblance to Eisenhower got him the role.

# During the filming of the landings at Omaha Beach, the American soldiers appearing as extras didn't want to jump off the landing craft into the water because they thought it would be too cold. Robert Mitchum, who played General Norm Cota, finally got disgusted with them and jumped in first, at which point the soldiers had no choice but to follow his example.

# Sean Connery, who made his debut as James Bond also in 1962, acted in the movie along with Gert Fröbe and Curd Jürgens - two future Bond villains.

# Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was considered for the role of himself in the film, and he indicated his willingness. However, it was decided that makeup artists couldn't make him appear young enough to play his WWII self.

# Red Buttons was cast in the film after he ran into Darryl F. Zanuck in a Paris cafe.

# Due to the massive cost overruns on the film Cleopatra (1963) (which was filming contemporaneously), Darryl F. Zanuck had to agree to a fixed filming budget. After he had spent the budgeted amount he started using his own money to pay for the production.

# When cost overruns on Cleopatra (1963) threatened to force 20th Century Fox to shut down production of this film, Darryl F. Zanuck flew to New York to save his project. After an impassioned speech to Fox's board, Zanuck regained control of the company he founded, ultimately finishing this picture and getting the production of Cleopatra (1963) under control.

# According to fellow veterans major Werner Pluskat was not at his command bunker in Omaha Beach when the first wave of the invasion forces landed, instead he was in a bordello in Caen.

# The theme song to the movie, by Paul Anka, was used as the Regimental march of the Canadian Airborne Regiment (1968-1995)

# The piper who played the bagpipes as Lord Lovat's commandos stormed ashore is played by the late Pipe Major Leslie de Laspee who was at the time Pipe Major of the London Scottish Pipe Band, and personal piper to HM the Queen Mother. The actual man who did this stirring deed on D-Day is Bill Millin. He recently donated that very set of pipes to the national war memorial in Edinburgh Castle.

# While clearing a section of the Normandy beach near Ponte du Hoc, the film's crew unearthed a tank that had been buried in the sand since the original invasion. Mechanics cleaned it off, fixed it up and it was used in the film as part of the British tank regiment.

# One of producer Darryl F. Zanuck's big worries was that, as filming of the actual invasion drew near, he couldn't find any working German Messerschmitts, which strafed the beach, or British Spitfires, which chased them away. He finally found two Messerschmitts that were being used by the Spanish Air Force, and two Spitfires that were still on active duty with the Belgian Air Force, and rented all four of them for the invasion scenes.

# An estimated 23,000 troops were supplied by the U.S., Britain and France for the filming. (Germans only appeared as officers in speaking roles.) The French contributed 1,000 commandos despite their involvement in the Algerian War at the time.

# The Spitfire planes needed to be fitted with new Rolls-Royce engines before being usable.

# No gliders of the sort used in the invasion were available, so Darryl F. Zanuck commissioned new duplicates from the same company that built the originals.

# The fleet scenes were filmed using 22 ships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet during maneuvers off Corsica between June 21-30, 1961. The cameras had to avoid shooting the area where the fleet's aircraft carrier was positioned, as there were no carriers in the invasion.

# Just before shooting began in Corsica, Darryl F. Zanuck was approached by a man stating he represented the beach owners. He insisted on a $15,000 payment or else they would drive modern cars along the beach. Zanuck paid the money, but it was later discovered to be a scam as there were no private beaches in Corsica. Zanuck eventually won damages after an eight-year lawsuit.

# As there was a nudist colony two miles inland from the Corsican beach, it was necessary to post signs warning the colonists not to approach the water during filming.

# During shooting in Ste. Mère-Eglise, traffic was stopped, stores were closed and the power was shut down in order not to endanger the paratroopers who were unused to night drops in populated areas. Still, the lights and staged fire proved too difficult to work around, and only one or two jumpers managed to land in the square - with several suffering minor injuries. One of the initial jumpers broke both legs in landing. Ultimately, plans to use authentic jumps were abandoned, opting instead for rigged jumps from high cranes.

# The cameo part of the British Padre was first offered to Dirk Bogarde.

# Eddie Albert, who played Colonel Thompson, was a World War II veteran. However, Albert actually served in the Pacific, not in Europe.

# As would be done again later in the WWII epic, Patton (1970), the Twentieth-Century Fox logo is never shown onscreen in this film.

# With a $10,000,000 budget, this was the most expensive black & white film ever made until Schindler's List (1993).

# In Italy for the filming of Cleopatra (1963), Roddy McDowall became so frustrated with the numerous delays during its production, he begged Darryl F. Zanuck for a part in this picture just so he could do some work. He ended up with a small role as an American soldier.

# A number of sources credit Christopher Lee and Geoffrey Bayldon as being in this project but Lee denies working on the film and Bayldon is nowhere to be seen in the final print.

# One of the very first World War II films made by an American studio in which the members of each country spoke nearly all their dialog in the language of that country: the Germans spoke German, the French spoke French, and the Americans and the British spoke English. There were subtitles on the bottom of the screen to translate the various languages.

# Richard Todd, veteran of the action at the bridge at Benouville (later renamed Pegasus Bridge) (see Item 1 above), was offered the chance to play himself but joked, "I don't think at this stage of my acting career I could accept a part 'that' small." He played the commander of the actual bridge assault itself, Major John Howard, instead. During the scene of Todd as Howard awaiting relief from the beachhead, an officer in a Para beret next to Todd is an actor playing the real Richard Todd.

# Leslie Phillips only has one line in this movie.

# Alec Guinness was sought for a cameo.

# The role of Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort was actively sought by Charlton Heston, but the last-minute decision of John Wayne to take a role in the film prevented Heston from participating.

# In his memoirs Christopher Lee recalls being rejected for a role in the movie because he didn't look like a military man (he served in the RAF during WW2).

# Average Shot Length = ~8 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.5 seconds

# The Messerschmitts used to portray Luftwaffe fighters were not Bf-109s, but were actually Bf-108 Taifuns, a four-seat cabin monoplane design with a wider fuselage.

# Kenneth More, playing Capt. Colin Maud, carried the shillelagh Maud had used in the actual invasion. Maud loaned it to More so the actor could use it in the film.

# Sean Connery asked that his scenes be filmed quickly so he could get to Jamaica in time to star in Dr. No (1962).

# Richard Dawson's film debut.

# In researching his contribution to the script, Romain Gary uncovered one of Cornelius Ryan's mistakes: the casino at Ouistreham had not existed on June 6, 1944. Since the casino set had already been built, however, the scene taking place there was filmed anyway.

# Despite the Cornelius Ryan connection, the only stars to appear in both this film and A Bridge Too Far (1977) are Sean Connery and Wolfgang Preiss.

# The character who calls the homing pigeons on Juno beach "Traitors" when they appear to fly east towards Germany is Canadian journalist Charles Lynch, who landed with the Canadians and covered the landings for Reuters.

# There was some controversy over the casting. At 54, John Wayne was 27 years older than Colonel Vandervoort had been at the time of D-Day. At 52, Robert Ryan was fifteen years older than General Gavin had been.

# Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's (Werner Hinz) son, Manfred Rommel is played by Michael Hinz, the real life son of Werner Hinz.

# First film of Siân Phillips.

# Victor Maddern was cast in this in a bit part but dropped out.

# Four Spitfires were used in the strafing sequence. They were all ex-Belgian target tugs and all were MK9's. The serial no.s were MH415, MK297, MK923 and MH434 and all are still extant. The Spitfires were assembled and co-ordinated by former free French Spitfire pilot Pierre Laureys who flew with 340 Squadron, a free French unit in the RAF. The 4 Spitfires were of course re-painted in 340 Squadron markings. Spitfire MK923 was between 1963 and 1998 owned by film actor and Oscar winner Cliff Robertson.

# Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort was very disappointed to find that he was being played in the movie by John Wayne, since even 17 years after D-Day Vandervoort was still a decade younger than the 54-year-old Wayne.

# John Robinson, who plays Admiral Ramsay, actually took part in the D-Day landings.

# Dewey Martin filmed scenes playing the cameo role of Lt.Wilder, but his scenes were deleted in post-production.

# Despite being one of the more lengthy cameos it only took four days to shoot John Wayne's major cameo.

Cast

The British

Patrick Barr Group Captain J.M. Stagg
Richard Burton Flying Officer David Campbell
Bryan Coleman Ronald Callen
Sean Connery Private Flanagan
Leo Genn Brigadier General Edwin P. Parker Jr (commander US 78th Infantry Division)
John Gregson British Padre 6th Airborne Division
Donald Houston RAF pilot at flight base
Simon Lack Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Commander Allied Air Forces
Peter Lawford Brigadier Lord Lovat, Commander 1st Special Service Brigade
Michael Medwin Private Watney
Kenneth More Capt. Colin Maud RN
Louis Mounier Air Marshal Arthur William Tedder, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander
Leslie Phillips Royal Air Force officer
Trevor Reid General Bernard Montgomery, Commander Allied Ground Forces
John Robinson Admiral Bertram Ramsay, Commander Allied Naval Forces
Norman Rossington Private Clough
Richard Todd Major John Howard
Richard Wattis British Paratrooper

The Americans

Eddie Albert Colonel Thompson
Paul Anka U.S. Army Ranger
Richard Beymer Private 'Dutch' Schultz
Red Buttons Private John Steele
Ray Danton Captain Frank
Fred Dur U.S. Army Ranger Major
Fabian Forte U.S. Army Ranger
Mel Ferrer Major General Robert Haines
Henry Fonda Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr.,
Asst. Commander 4th Infantry Div.
Steve Forrest Captain Harding
Henry Grace General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander
Peter Helm Young GI
Jeffrey Hunter Sergeant (later Lt.) John H. Fuller
Alexander Knox Major General Walter Bedell Smith, SHAEF Chief of Staff
Dewey Martin Private Wilder
Roddy McDowall Private Morris
John Meillon Admiral Alan G. Kirk, Senior U.S. Naval Commander
Sal Mineo Private Martini
Robert Mitchum Brigadier General Norman Cota, Asst. Commander 29th Infantry Div.
Edmond O'Brien Major General Raymond O. Barton, Commander 4th Infantry Div.
Ron Randell Joe Williams
Robert Ryan Brigadier General James M. Gavin, Asst. Commander 82nd Airborne Div.
Tommy Sands U.S. Army Ranger
George Segal U.S. Army Ranger
Rod Steiger Destroyer Commander
Nicholas Stuart Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, Commander US First Army
Tom Tryon Lieutenant Wilson
Robert Wagner U.S. Army Ranger
John Wayne Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort,
Commander 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Reg.
Stuart Whitman Lieutenant Sheen

The French

Arletty Bathiat Madame Barrault
Jean-Louis Barrault Father Louis Roulland
André Bourvil Mayor of Colleville
Pauline Carton Maid
Irina Demick Janine Boitard (French Resistance)
Fernand Ledoux Louis
Christian Marquand Capitaine de Frégate Philippe Kieffer
Commander French Navy commandos
Madeleine Renaud Mother Superior
Georges Rivière Sergeant Guy de Montlaur
Jean Servais Contre-amiral Janjard
Georges Wilson Alexandre Renaud

The Germans

Hans Christian Blech Major Werner Pluskat
Wolfgang Büttner Generalleutnant Dr. Hans Speidel
Gert Fröbe Unteroffizier "Kaffeekanne"
Paul Hartmann Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt
Werner Hinz Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel
Karl John Generalleutnant Wolfgang Häger
Curd Jürgens General der Infanterie Günther Blumentritt
Til Kiwe Hauptmann Helmuth Lang
Wolfgang Lukschy Generaloberst Alfred Jodl
Kurt Meisel Ernst Düring
Richard Münch General der Artillerie Erich Marcks
Hartmut Reck Bernhard Bergsdorf
Heinz Reincke Oberst Josef Priller
Ernst Schröder Generaloberst Hans von Salmuth
Heinz Spitzner Helmuth Meyer
Wolfgang Preiss Generalmajor Max Pemsel
Peter van Eyck Oberstleutnant Ocker
Vicco "Loriot" von Bülow Unknown German officer

The Novie Makers

Directed by Ken Annakin (British & French exteriors)
Andrew Marton (American exteriors)
Bernhard Wicki (German episodes)
Gerd Oswald (parachute drop)
Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited)
Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck
Written by Book & Screenplay:
Cornelius Ryan
Screenplay:
Romain Gary
James Jones
David Pursall
Jack Seddon
Music by Maurice Jarre
Cinematography Jean Bourgoin
Walter Wottitz
Editing by Samuel E. Beetley

Media Info

Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) 25 September 1962 (France)
4 October (US)
23 October (UK)
Running time 178 minutes
Country United States
Language English / German / French
Budget US$10 million (est.)
Gross revenue US$50 million (worldwide, to 12/1963)