I saw this movie with my father and mother and cousin in 1962 in West L.A. at a really fancy theater there at the time. I was 14 and always a John Wayne fan most of my life already. I had seen all his cowboy movies all the way back to the 1930s by then on TV. And any recent ones after about 1958 I likely saw in the theaters when they first came out.
I think I liked John Wayne and the characters he played in movies because he reminded me of my father and grandfather and the way they were too.
I couldn't find it at netflix but it was at Amazon prime on Roku so I could put it in HD on my 60 inch flatscreen in my living room for about $3.99 for either 24 or 48 hours.
The Longest Day (1962) - IMDb
www.imdb.com/title/tt0056197/
Internet Movie DatabaseRating: 7.8/10 - 36,505 votesDirected by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki. With John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda. The events of D-Day, told on a grand...
The Longest Day (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longest_Day_(film)The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about D-Day, the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, ...
Wikipedia
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- NorthJersey.com - 13 hours ago"The Longest Day" (1962), on the big screen in a special commemorative showing at Fort Lee Historic Park Saturday, was for many years the ...
On D-Day's 70th, 'The Longest Day,' other movies provide a sense of the moment
June 5, 2014
Last updated: Thursday, June 5, 2014, 9:01 AM
The Record
John Wayne as Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoot in "The Longest Day."
Which means the rest of us, on the 70th anniversary Friday, have to get our impressions of that bloody, momentous day when 156,000 Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of France from a different theater of war: the movies.
This photo released by DreamWorks shows a scene form the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan."
It got a run for its money in 1998, when "Saving Private Ryan," directed by Steven Spielberg, gave a far more visceral, horrific picture of what it was like to be standing in a wave-tossed landing craft, about to hit Omaha Beach, and know that chances were good that within a few minutes you would be dead, gunned down by a German sniper in a pillbox.
Those are just two of the films that, over the years, dealt with the famous June 6, 1944, invasion.
"I remember my father taking me to see 'The Longest Day' in a theater in Closter," says Eric Nelsen, historical interpreter for Palisades Interstate Park, which is sponsoring Saturday's screening.
"He had been too young to fight in World War II, but he understood what a momentous thing that was, and he wanted me to be aware of it," Nelsen says.
Today many historians, not to mention many vets, give "Saving Private Ryan" the palm for realism, while praising the 178-minute "The Longest Day" for its meticulous overview of the planning and strategy of the campaign (including scenes – subtitled — from the German perspective).
And there are some who say that TV's "Band of Brothers" was better than either.
"In 'Ryan,' you see people get their limbs blown off and their faces shot off," Nelsen says. A big departure from how war had been depicted in the movies – even the best movies – of the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
"In a John Wayne movie, he just clutches his chest and falls down," says Nelsen, an Emerson resident. "You don't realize what a meat grinder modern war is."
This year's D-Day commemorations in France, held every five years, have been called a somber milestone: the last time that large numbers of Allied vets – most now in their late 80s and 90s – are likely to show up.
Some 2,000 are expected to attend this weekend's events, which will also include world leaders like President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin (controversially), French President François Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and a number of British royals.
Before you lift a glass Friday to the heroes of D-Day, here are some films to check out.
* "The Longest Day" (1962): "It's a hell of a war, but God willing, we'll do what we came here to do," barks John Wayne in this three-hour, all-star movie. And by golly, by the end of that three hours, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Kenneth More, Eddie Albert, Paul Anka, Fabian, Roddy McDowall, Sal Mineo, Robert Ryan and Red Buttons are cheerfully whistlin' their way to victory (literally – that's what's on the soundtrack).
This Darryl F. Zanuck-produced epic boasts spectacular aerial footage of combat: The cinematography by Jean Bourgoin and Walter Wottitz won a well-deserved Oscar. And it gives a broad overview of the whole campaign that the grittier "Saving Private Ryan" lacks. But the whistling? A bit much.
* "Saving Private Ryan" (1998): The bulk of Steven Spielberg's film is a conventional (well-directed) fictional drama about the rescue of the eponymous soldier. But for audiences, that was overshadowed by the horrific first 24 minutes, which documented D-Day – and war itself – with a grisly realism seldom seen in a Hollywood movie.
When Tom Hanks hits the beaches, he encounters a surreal scene of chaos and agony: severed limbs, severed torsos, men on fire, teenage boys crying "mama!" as their insides hang out. Compare this to "The Longest Day," which is rated "G." Seriously.
* "The Americanization of Emily" (1964): In these "Greatest Generation" days, any cynicism about D-Day, or World War II, seems almost unthinkable. But here it is: a comedy-drama about a cagey lieutenant commander (James Garner) who turns tail on D-Day – and the prim, patriotic British war widow (Julie Andrews) who in the end falls in love with his life-affirming cowardice. It's vets, not civilians, who are often the most skeptical about war: Paddy Chayefsky ("Network"), who wrote this, won a Purple Heart in World War II.
* "Red Ball Express" (1952): Jeff Chandler gets top billing in this drama about the truckers who undertook the dangerous mission of transporting ammunition from the Normandy beachfront to Patton's army. But it's Sidney Poitier, in his fifth film appearance, who is most recognizable today.
If you go
WHAT: "The Longest Day."
WHEN: 1 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Fort Lee Historic Park Visitor Center, Hudson Terrace, Fort Lee; 201-461-1776 or njpalisades.org.
HOW MUCH: Free admission ($5 parking fee).
Email: beckerman@northjersey.com
On D-Day's 70th, 'The Longest Day,' other movies provide a sense of the moment
June 5, 2014
Last updated: Thursday, June 5, 2014, 9:01 AM
The Record
John Wayne as Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoot in "The Longest Day."
Which means the rest of us, on the 70th anniversary Friday, have to get our impressions of that bloody, momentous day when 156,000 Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of France from a different theater of war: the movies.
This photo released by DreamWorks shows a scene form the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan."
It got a run for its money in 1998, when "Saving Private Ryan," directed by Steven Spielberg, gave a far more visceral, horrific picture of what it was like to be standing in a wave-tossed landing craft, about to hit Omaha Beach, and know that chances were good that within a few minutes you would be dead, gunned down by a German sniper in a pillbox.
Those are just two of the films that, over the years, dealt with the famous June 6, 1944, invasion.
"I remember my father taking me to see 'The Longest Day' in a theater in Closter," says Eric Nelsen, historical interpreter for Palisades Interstate Park, which is sponsoring Saturday's screening.
"He had been too young to fight in World War II, but he understood what a momentous thing that was, and he wanted me to be aware of it," Nelsen says.
Today many historians, not to mention many vets, give "Saving Private Ryan" the palm for realism, while praising the 178-minute "The Longest Day" for its meticulous overview of the planning and strategy of the campaign (including scenes – subtitled — from the German perspective).
And there are some who say that TV's "Band of Brothers" was better than either.
"In 'Ryan,' you see people get their limbs blown off and their faces shot off," Nelsen says. A big departure from how war had been depicted in the movies – even the best movies – of the 1940s, '50s and '60s.
"In a John Wayne movie, he just clutches his chest and falls down," says Nelsen, an Emerson resident. "You don't realize what a meat grinder modern war is."
This year's D-Day commemorations in France, held every five years, have been called a somber milestone: the last time that large numbers of Allied vets – most now in their late 80s and 90s – are likely to show up.
Some 2,000 are expected to attend this weekend's events, which will also include world leaders like President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin (controversially), French President François Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and a number of British royals.
Before you lift a glass Friday to the heroes of D-Day, here are some films to check out.
* "The Longest Day" (1962): "It's a hell of a war, but God willing, we'll do what we came here to do," barks John Wayne in this three-hour, all-star movie. And by golly, by the end of that three hours, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Kenneth More, Eddie Albert, Paul Anka, Fabian, Roddy McDowall, Sal Mineo, Robert Ryan and Red Buttons are cheerfully whistlin' their way to victory (literally – that's what's on the soundtrack).
This Darryl F. Zanuck-produced epic boasts spectacular aerial footage of combat: The cinematography by Jean Bourgoin and Walter Wottitz won a well-deserved Oscar. And it gives a broad overview of the whole campaign that the grittier "Saving Private Ryan" lacks. But the whistling? A bit much.
* "Saving Private Ryan" (1998): The bulk of Steven Spielberg's film is a conventional (well-directed) fictional drama about the rescue of the eponymous soldier. But for audiences, that was overshadowed by the horrific first 24 minutes, which documented D-Day – and war itself – with a grisly realism seldom seen in a Hollywood movie.
When Tom Hanks hits the beaches, he encounters a surreal scene of chaos and agony: severed limbs, severed torsos, men on fire, teenage boys crying "mama!" as their insides hang out. Compare this to "The Longest Day," which is rated "G." Seriously.
* "The Americanization of Emily" (1964): In these "Greatest Generation" days, any cynicism about D-Day, or World War II, seems almost unthinkable. But here it is: a comedy-drama about a cagey lieutenant commander (James Garner) who turns tail on D-Day – and the prim, patriotic British war widow (Julie Andrews) who in the end falls in love with his life-affirming cowardice. It's vets, not civilians, who are often the most skeptical about war: Paddy Chayefsky ("Network"), who wrote this, won a Purple Heart in World War II.
* "Red Ball Express" (1952): Jeff Chandler gets top billing in this drama about the truckers who undertook the dangerous mission of transporting ammunition from the Normandy beachfront to Patton's army. But it's Sidney Poitier, in his fifth film appearance, who is most recognizable today.
If you go
WHAT: "The Longest Day."
WHEN: 1 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Fort Lee Historic Park Visitor Center, Hudson Terrace, Fort Lee; 201-461-1776 or njpalisades.org.
HOW MUCH: Free admission ($5 parking fee).
Email: beckerman@northjersey.com
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