Movie LONGEST DAY in French or German versions
JCDrews
As I recall from when the movie The Longest Day was debuitng, it was made in
three, if not four, versions: #1: English language, emphasizing the US and
British activities; #2: French language, emphasizing the French; #3: German,
for German, and maybe #4: emphasizing the British vice US part. IIRC there was
a lot of footage shot that would appear only in a single version/language --
potentially good stuff. QUESTION: Has anyone Out There SEEN these other
versions, ever? QUESTION: Might any of them be availble on video?
Lee Russell
jcd...@aol.com (JCDrews) wrote:
>As I recall from when the movie The Longest Day was debuitng, it was made >in three, if not four, versions:
I've never heard this and IMHO it seems very unlikely. I think the
versions differed only in subtitles. (There WAS a joke in the '60's that
there was a German version with a "surprise ending" - the movie was shown
backwards!)
frame313
JCDrews wrote:
> As I recall from when the movie The Longest Day was debuitng, it was
> made in
> three, if not four, versions: #1: English language, emphasizing the US
> and
> British activities; #2: French language, emphasizing the French; #3:
> German,
> for German, and maybe #4: emphasizing the British vice US part. IIRC
> there was
> a lot of footage shot that would appear only in a single
> version/language --
> potentially good stuff. QUESTION: Has anyone Out There SEEN these
> other
> versions, ever? QUESTION: Might any of them be availble on video?
I don't know about the other versions but I was surprised to find a 50th
anniversary colorized version at the local Best Buy store a few years
back. It has a lead-in of actual newsreel footage of the landings and
also of the festivities for the movie's release back in 196whatever. I
must say that for a colorized war movie it does look very good (unlike
Sands of Iwo Jima).
I mentioned this to a coworker who told me that he had heard the reason
the movie was filmed in b&w was because much of the movie was filmed on
location in France. Apparently, after the war France adopted a strict
policy of no nazi flags in their original forms on French soil for any
reason. So the nazi flags used in the filming were actually gray,
black, and white instead of red, black, and white.
This seems a little far-fetched to me but it would explain why such an
endeavor with an all-star cast would not be filmed in color. Anybody
know if this is true?
VeloNut
IRT to different versions of The Longest Day, I first saw the German language
version while stationed with the USAF in Germany in the early 60's. Later I
saw the standard English language version. Absolutely NO difference between
the two versions. I would be very surprised if there were significant
differences between the various language versions.
Dale Lally
CAPT-USNR-R (ret)
vel...@aol.com
Lee Russell
frame313 <reyn...@execpc.delete.com> wrote:
>This seems a little far-fetched to me but it would explain why such an
>endeavor with an all-star cast would not be filmed in color. Anybody
>know if this is true?
I think Otto Premminger filmed it in black and white (not so unusual back
in 1961) for the same reason "Shindler's List" was filmed in B/W: it
looked like WW II film footage. As I recall, the US invasion scene was
actually filmed in the south of France using 6th Fleet Marines. The sun
was so brilliant and the beaches so white that they had to bring in huge
piles of tires and set them on fire just to make things look gloomy
enough. Trying to shoot these kind of scenes in color ("The Big Red One")
now makes them look unrealistic.
Andrew Venor
According to a souvenir program from this film, the Longest
Day was filmed on the actual landing beaches, and towns of
Normandy.
ALV
JCDrews
The mass of US troops in the film were from the 8th Inf Div in Germany and the
Normandy beaches (same, actual) plus some others in the general area were used
as locations. It is no big trick to spot 8th Inf Div shoulder patches and
Specialist 4th Class (Spec 4)rank insignia, worn on M1951 green, zippered field
jackets. Further only a few of the troops wear any load-bearing equipment at
all -- the studioes didnt have great quantities of old-model, khaki stuff to
hand out with the M-1 rifles.
Digger
>
> I think Otto Premminger filmed it in black and white (not so unusual back
> in 1961) for the same reason "Shindler's List" was filmed in B/W: it
> looked like WW II film footage.
I've read that the film's producer and driving force, Daryl F. Zanuck,
(Premminger had nothing to do with it) shot the film in black and white
simply to save money. It was one of the most expensive films ever made
at the time.
Dion Osika
Digger <mi...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
Page 145..._Guts and Glory_ by Lawrence Suid claims that Zanuck and
Elmo Williams, associate producer and battle episode coordinator,
considered shooting the film in color. The lack of usable historical
color footage provided the opportunity to recreate the entire
production in color. They shot test footage in color but rejected
doing the entire film in color because "color would detract from the
gritty, documentary style in which they intented to shoot the film."
Best Regards
Dion Osika
Dion Osika
jcd...@aol.com (JCDrews) wrote:
>The mass of US troops in the film were from the 8th Inf Div in Germany and the
>Normandy beaches (same, actual) plus some others in the general area were used
>as locations.
And US Marines.... and French commandos.....
As with most film making, there were various locations used at
different times. The Longest Day , because of Zanuck's vision to
recreate the huge landing, had to resort to cooperation from many NATO
governments and armed forces.
The landing sequences used to depict Omaha Beach were shot in June,
1961 at Saleccia Beach in northern Corsica. Zanuck obtained the
cooperation of the US to film a landing exercise scheduled for the US
Sixth Fleet. The sequences shot on the two mile long beach, rigged
with period obstacles and explosives were shot using 1,600 men of the
3rd Battalion, Sixth Marine Division.
Earlier in May 1961, Zanuck shot footage of a British parachute
landing exercise in Cyprus. The British had also offered a flotilla of
WWII vintage ships, but when presented with a fuel bill of
$300,000.00, Zanuck rejected the offer. Zanuck would run into
serious problems later, when his use of American troops would be
scrutinzed by the Defense Dept and Congress.
The sequences filmed at Ponte du Hoc used members of a US Ranger
battalion and a unit called '505 Infantry Battle Group". Lawrence
Suid's book _Guts and Glory_ , mentions the British offering 150 men
of the East Anglia and Greenjackets brigade.
In late 1961, due to a special filmed by Jack Paar during the Berlin
Wall crisis, the military came under very close scrutiny in lending
men and equipment for 'free' to be used in films and other commercial
ventures. Zanuck still had major portions of the film to be shot and
his source of free US troops was being reviewed. From a promised 750
men from Germany, he now was only offered 250, and he had to pay for
them.
The French saved the project by providing over 1000 commandos to shoot
the Utah Beach sequences. This sequence was shot at the tiny islet of
Il de Rey, off the Brittany coast near la Rochelle.
Obvious actual locations used were Ste. Mere Eglise, Pegasus Bridge
and the Longues Battery above Arromanches. The spectacular French
commando attack on Ouistreham was filmed at Port-en Bassin, north of
Bayeux.
Zanuck continued to run afoul of Army cooperation when the Army brass
reviewed the film. They did not approve of the scene at Pte du Hoc,
when a group of Germans attempt to surrender, calling out 'Bitte,
bitte!' and was subsequently shot down. The military wanted the scenes
cut from the movie, but Zanuck allready had prints in release and did
not comply with the military demands.
sources..._Guts and Glory_ ..L. Suid
_Combat Films: 1945-1970_ S. Rubin
_After the Battle # 4_ Battle of Britain Prints
Best Regards....
Dion Osika
lin...@austin360.com
In <6dau72$pli$1...@nntp6.u.washington.edu>, Digger <mi...@sympatico.ca> writes:
>>
>> I think Otto Premminger filmed it in black and white (not so unusual back
>> in 1961) for the same reason "Shindler's List" was filmed in B/W: it
>> looked like WW II film footage.
>
>I've read that the film's producer and driving force, Daryl F. Zanuck,
>(Premminger had nothing to do with it) shot the film in black and white
>simply to save money. It was one of the most expensive films ever made
>at the time.
I read an interview with him in the booklet that I bought when i went to
see the film during its run in Boston and Zanuck said it was filmed in B&W
because the few scenes done in color just "didn't look right"
Digger
> The landing sequences used to depict Omaha Beach were shot in June,
> 1961 at Saleccia Beach in northern Corsica. Zanuck obtained the
> cooperation of the US to film a landing exercise scheduled for the US
> Sixth Fleet. The sequences shot on the two mile long beach, rigged
> with period obstacles and explosives were shot using 1,600 men of the
> 3rd Battalion, Sixth Marine Division.
And apparently the scene at the movie's climax where the cement barrier
is blown up and the troops come rushing from behind the sea wall and
dash up the bluff in a great charge didn't happen. Infantrymen actually
had to methodically work their way up the bluff and attack the
fortifications from the rear where they were most vulnerable.
> Obvious actual locations used were Ste. Mere Eglise, Pegasus Bridge
> and the Longues Battery above Arromanches. The spectacular French
> commando attack on Ouistreham was filmed at Port-en Bassin, north of
> Bayeux.
In the movie during the Pegasus Bridge scene engineers clamber
hand-over-hand over the girders to remove explosive charges and toss
them into the canal. On D-Day night however, engineers found no
explosives. They were stored in a nearby shed. But hey, these are only
trivial quibbles. The movie is a great classic! I'll watch it anytime.
Loren Cain
JCDrews wrote:
>
> The mass of US troops in the film were from the 8th Inf Div in Germany and the
> Normandy beaches (same, actual) plus some others in the general area were used
> Specialist 4th Class (Spec 4)rank insignia, worn on M1951 green, zippered field
> jackets. Further only a few of the troops wear any load-bearing equipment at
> all -- the studioes didnt have great quantities of old-model, khaki stuff to
> hand out with the M-1 rifles.
For the Omaha Beach scenes, the U.S. military had agreed to loan
Zanuck about 700 troops, but later reduced that number to 250
after complaints were voiced about the filmmakers being given
such lavish cooperation at taxpayer expense. In the event, Zanuck
had to pay all the expenses of the 250 troops he did receive from
the U.S. Army (for the Omaha scenes, at least). The French then
stepped in with an additional 1,000 commandoes, who were even allowed
to wear American uniforms, giving Zanuck enough soldiers to stage
a credible Omaha landing. The point du Hoc landing was staged using
real U.S. Army Rangers, and I believe British troops were also
loaned to the production company.
The Point du Hoc and Sainte-Mere-Eglise scenes were filmed in the
actual historical locations, but Omaha was restaged at Ile de Re,
about 200 miles south of the real Omaha, due to large D-Day
monuments and potential unexploded ordinance at the original beach.
I don't know where the other landings were filmed. Also, some of
the scenes of mass landing barges were actually filmed at Saleccia
Beach on Corsica, using U.S. Marines. The production company built
larges numbers of obstacles and gun emplacements which the Marines
then cheerfully invaded as part of an already-scheduled training
exercise.
Loren Cain