The Longest Day (1962) Movie Main Page
With its all-star cast from all over the
world, The Longest Day attacked the theaters all over the world in 1962, a good
year for movies in general. The same year John Frankenheimer made his
masterpiece The Manchurian Candidate, and Lawrence of Arabia won for Best
Picture.
The “longest day” is D-Day, June 6, 1944. The
Allied Invasion at Normandy is covered in every detail in the film. It’s a very
historically accurate film. The story of D-Day is told through the eyes of the
Germans, the French, the Americans, and the British. Three separate directors
share credit for the film, and the languages are of the people involved, with
subtitles when necessary.
Certainly one of the best black-and-white war
films, though I don’t know if I’d say it’s necessarily better than All Quiet on
the Western Front (1930) or Stalag 17 (1953). I probably wouldn’t though. Based
on the book by Cornelius Ryan.
Related Links:
Trivia about The
Longest Day:
Quotes from The Longest
Day:
Flight Officer David Campbell:
The thing that's always bothered me about being one of the few is how we just
keep getting...fewer.
Coded radio message to the French
Resistance.
Radio announcer: There is fire at
the travel agency.
Brig. General Norman Coda: Two
kinds of people are staying on this beach: the dead, and those that are going
to die!
Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort:
Don't give the enemy a break. Send him to hell.
David Campbell: He's dead. I'm
crippled. You're lost. Do you suppose it's always like that... in a war?
Cast List
Eddie Albert ...Colonel
Tom Newton
Paul Anka ...United
States Army Ranger
Arletty ...Madame
Barrault
Jean-Louis Barrault
...Father Louis Roulland
Richard Beymer ...Private
Dutch Schultz
Hans Christian
Blech ...Major Werner Pluskat
Bourvil ...Mayor
of Colleville
Richard Burton ...Flight
Officer David Campbell
Wolfgang Büttner
...Major General Doctor Hans Speidel
Red Buttons ...Private
John Steele
Sean Connery ...Private
Flanagan
Ray Danton ...Captain
Frank
Irina Demick ...Janine
Boitard
Fred Durr ...Major
of the Rangers
Fabian ...United
States Army Ranger
Mel Ferrer ...Major
General Robert Haines
Henry Fonda ...Brigadier
General Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
Steve Forrest ...Captain
Harding
Gert Fröbe ...Sergeant
Kaffeekanne
Leo Genn ...Brigadier
General Parker
John Gregson ...British
Padre
Paul Hartmann ...Field
Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
Peter Helm ...Young
G.I
Werner Hinz ...Field
Marshal Erwin Rommel
Donald Houston ...Royal
Air Force Pilot
Jeffrey Hunter ...Sergeant
(later Lieutenant) John H. Fuller
Curd Jürgens ...Major
General Gunther Blumentritt
Alexander Knox ...Major
General Walter Bedell Smith
Peter Lawford ...Lord
Lovat
Fernand Ledoux ...Louis
Christian Marquand
...Commander Philippe Kieffer
Dewey Martin ...Private
Wilder
Roddy McDowall ...Private
Morris
Michael Medwin ...Private
Watney
Sal Mineo ...Private
Martini
Robert Mitchum ...Brigadier
General Norman Cota
Kenneth More ...Captain
Colin Maud
Richard Münch ...General
Erich Marcks
Edmond O'Brien ...General
Raymond D. Barton
Leslie Phillips ...Royal
Air Force officer
Wolfgang Preiss ...Major
General Max Pemsel
Ron Randell ...Joe
Williams
Madeleine Renaud
...Mother Superior
Georges Rivière ...Sergeant
Guy de Montlaur
Norman Rossington
...Private Clough
Robert Ryan ...Brigadier
General James M. Gavin
Tommy Sands ...United
States Army Ranger
George Segal ...1st
commando up cliff
Jean Servais ...Rear
Admiral Janjard
Rod Steiger ...Destroyer
Commander
Richard Todd ...Major
John Howard
Tom Tryon ...Lieutenant
Wilson
Peter van Eyck ...Lieutenant
Colonel Ocker
Robert Wagner ...United
States Army Ranger
Richard Wattis ...British
soldier
Stuart Whitman ...Lieutenant
Sheen
Georges Wilson ...Alexandre
Renaud
John Wayne ...Lieutenant
Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort
Patrick Barr ...Group
Capt. J.N. Stagg
Michael Beint ...Bit
Part
Lyndon Brook ...Lieutenant
Walsh
Bryan Coleman ...Ronald
Callen
John Crawford ...Colonel
Caffey
Jo D'Avra ...Naval
captain
Mark Damon ...Private
Harris
Eugene Deckers ...Nazi
officer
Frank Finlay ...Private
Coke
Harry Fowler ...Bit
Part
Robert Freitag ...Meyer's
aide
Harold Goodwin ...Bit
Part
Henry Grace ...General
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ruth Hausmeister
...Frau Rommel
Jack Hedley ...Briefing
officer
Michael Hinz ...Manfred
Rommel
Karl John ...Luftwaffe
General Wolfgang Hager
Til Kiwe ...Captain
Hellmuth Lang
Simon Lack ...Air
Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Christopher Lee ...Several
bits
Wolfgang Lukschy
...Colonel General Alfred Jodl
Howard
Marion-Crawford ...Doctor
Neil McCallum ...Bit
Part
John Meillon ...Rear
Admiral Alan G. Kirk
Kurt Meisel ...Captain
Ernst During
Louis Mounier ...Sir
Arthur William Tedder
Kurt Pecher ...German
commander
Rainer Penkert ...Lieutenant
Fritz Theen
Siân Phillips ...Wren
Maurice Poli ...Jean
Hartmut Reck ...Sergeant
Bernhard Bergsdorf
Trevor Reid ...General
Sir Bernard L. Montgomery
Heinz Reincke ...Colonel
Josef 'Pips' Priller
John Robinson ...Admiral
Sir Bertram Ramsey
Paul Edwin Roth ...Colonel
Schiller
Ernst Schröder ...General
Hans von Salmuth
Dietmar Schönherr
...Luftwaffe major
Heinz Spitzner ...Lieutenant
Colonel Hellmuth Meyer
Nicholas Stuart ...Lieutenant
General Omar N. Bradley
Alice Tissot ...Housekeeper
Serge Tolstoy ...German
officer
Vicco von Bülow ...German
officer
