The Longest Day

1962
7.7| 2h58m| PG| en
Details

The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"

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Reviews

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Ian (Flash Review)Many WWII films hone in on the Omaha Beach invasion. Certainly important, heroic and frightening yet this film touches on each aspect leading up to and during the D-Day attack including of course the Omaha Beach invasion. The movie goes into interesting detail on the planning, strategy and decisions that went into the battle not only from the American's side but Germany and occasionally other countries. It was fascinating to hear the behind the scenes thinking from various high ranking officials for how and why certain decisions were made. As the film enters the battles, it reminds me of A Thin Red Line as you get a peek into a complete assortment of scenarios from big to small and the emotional perspectives of those involved; from a paratrooper stuck high up on a bell tower to residents of a cottage in the battle zone to German officials afraid to awaken a sleeping Hitler. The pacing was stellar as this is a 3 hour war epic shot in rich black & white, thus their approach of including an assortment of scenes shot with stunning cinematography (won Oscar for cinematography) helped this epic feel lightweight. Sean Connery even makes an appearance as a jovial soldier with his James Bond smirk. Getting warmed up for Dr. No as he starred in that immediately after. This is a high quality war film with impressive effects with an engrossing screenplay.
CinemaClown Maintaining a close proximity with the real life landmark event, featuring a massive ensemble, and told on a grand scale, The Longest Day is one of the most ambitious productions of its time that's not only notable for rescuing its studio from bankruptcy but is also one of the rarest examples of its genre that narrates its tale from an objective viewpoint.The Longest Day chronicles the events leading up to the historic Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 during World War II, and tells it from both the Allied & German points of view. Supervised by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by multiple directors, the movie unfolds like a docudrama and is a 3- hour epic that remains compelling for the majority of its runtime.By allowing the British, American & German directors to handle segments of their own nationality, Zanuch is able to provide the film a much-needed impartiality, and even manages to evoke some sympathy from all the three parties. One can tell the extensive amount of research that went into its production, for some scenes that seemed too far-fetched to be true are surprisingly factual.A major portion of the movie is devoted to the wait, analysis & preparation of the Allied invasion, and Germans' response to prevent it from succeeding instead of the gruesome battle that unfolded on the Normandy beaches. Some moments are disturbing & upsetting, others brim with suspenseful vibes, and few even manage to squeeze in little laughter. All in all, it's a superbly executed effort.Its grand scope is reflected by the massive extras & huge ensemble that show up on the screen, and everyone play their part rather well, except John Wayne who's a tad too full of himself here. Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery & many more notable actors show up here n there but their presence never becomes bigger than the story itself, plus the roles they are assigned are cameos anyway.On an overall scale, The Longest Day is a comprehensively researched, brilliantly directed, deftly written, crisply photographed, patiently edited, thumpingly scored & finely performed account of one of the most memorable events that occurred during the Second World War, and is brought to cinematic life in a concise, controlled & calculated manner. One of the best examples of its genre that still carries elements of surprise, The Longest Day lives up to its legacy in splendid fashion.
JohnHowardReid Copyright 4 October 1962 by Darryl F. Zanuck Productions. Released through 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Warner Theater: 4 October 1962. U.S. release: 4 October 1962. U.K. release: 20 October 1963 (sic). 16,200 feet. 180 minutes.SYNOPSIS: D-Day, 6 June 1944.NOTES: Negative cost: $10.2 million, making it the most expensive black-and-white movie ever made by a commercial film studio. With an initial domestic rentals gross of $17.6 million, "The Longest Day" was second only to Fox's own "Cleopatra" at the U.S./Canadian box-office for 1963. Although it was not generally released in the U.K. until late October 1963, "The Longest Day" took more money at U.K. ticket- windows than any other movies in 1963 except "Cleopatra", "How the West Was Won" and "Lawrence of Arabia". Oddly, though the movie was well-liked, it did absolutely nothing like this sort of business in Australia. In fact, receipts barely covered the cost of a massive advertising blitz.Won two prestigious Hollywood awards: Best Black-and white Cinematography. (Through some indefensible miscarriage of justice, the award was given only to Bourgoin and Wottitz). And Best Special Effects, defeating "Mutiny on the Bounty". (Only Robert MacDonald and sound mixer Jacques Maumont shared the award. The official reason for this is that by Special Effects, the Academy means only Special Visual, namely Photographic Effects and Sound Effects. Dissolves, super-impositions, mattes, glass shots, irises, double exposures, process screen work and the like are all covered, but not necessarily miniatures, tank shots and definitely not explosions, stunts and choreographed action sequences. In actual practice, however, the lines of demarcation are somewhat blurred. Many Hollywood studios including M-G-M made a practice of nominating all the heads of their special effects departments, including miniatures. Other studios like Fox, RKO and Paramount included only camera personnel. So whether you received one of those prestigious Hollywood awards for your miniatures and painted backgrounds depended to some extent at which studio you worked at).Also nominated for prestigious Hollywood awards for Best Picture (won by "Lawrence of Arabia"); Black-and-white Art Direction (won by "To Kill a Mockingbird"); Film Editing (won by "Lawrence of Arabia").Best English-language Movie Release of 1962 — National Board of Review. 4th Best Motion Picture of 1962 — Film Daily poll of American film critics. Best Screenplay — The Film Daily. Best Direction — The Film Daily. Best Photography — The Film Daily. Tied with Lawrence of Arabia for Best Film of 1962 — The New York Daily Mirror. Number 2 on the N.Y. Daily News list and also on the Filmfacts composite list.COMMENT: Although not listed at all in the official credits, Gerd Oswald directed some of the most effective episodes, including the searingly unforgettable sequence with Red Buttons. Zanuck himself directed the interior ship-board, plane-board and barracks-board scenes, while Elmo Williams handled most of the battle footage, and Wicki did a lot of memorable German work including of course that stunning D-Day bombardment scene with Hans Christian Blech. Though the story structure is necessarily episodic, the film retains our firm interest, partly because of the inventiveness of the writing, particularly its sharply realistic dialogue and colorful characterization; partly because of the movie's spectacular scope and breadth, plus all the stunningly-staged action; and partly because of the constant star-spotting. So far as actual acting goes, I thought the German players creamed the rest. Wayne and Mitchum are wholly their usual selves, but it's good to see Richard Todd in uniform again. Burton, however, is moodily dull, even with Donald Houston along to stooge him his cues.OTHER VIEWS: The producer's actual battlefield experience is amply reflected in all phases of The Longest Day, for never before had Zanuck been so intimately involved in the making of any of his pictures. He worked with the writers, Ryan, James Jones and Romain Gary; spent long night hours planning camera angles and positions; talked "strategy" with the army and the navy; conferred with directors, sound men, special effects technicians, prop men and accountants. Even so, he was present, day after day, in good weather and foul. - Fox publicity.
gavin6942 The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.It seems that everyone is familiar with "Tora Tora Tora". I had to watch it in school, and I am sure many others did, too. It is a great look at both sides of the Pearl Harbor attack. Maybe not 100% accurate, but a serious attempt to see a global event from multiple angles.Fewer people probably know about "Longest Day", even though it has a similar premise and a great cast -- Robert Mitchum, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and many others. It looks at D-Day from multiple sides, and taught me that Hitler liked to take naps. It even had some humor (which may actually be inappropriate -- this seems like a very bloodless war).