Tuesday, April 23, 2013

HISTORY OR HOLLYWOOD QUIZ: The Longest Day




            “The Longest Day” is a movie about D-Day that was based on the nonfiction book by Cornelius Ryan.  I thought it would be interesting to see what Hollywood added and altered from the book.  Here are some statements about events in the movie, try to determine if they also appear in the book.  You don't need to have seen the movie.

1.  Rommel said, "Believe me, Gentleman, the first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive. For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be "The Longest Day… The Longest Day"! 

2.  Dutch Shultz wins a lot of money in a crap game, but a rosary from his mother causes him to purposely lose it all before potentially dying.

3. “Pips” Priller complains about his squadron being withdrawn leaving only he and his wingman.

4.  Janine Boitard hides downed airmen in her basement.

5.  Capt. Ernst During puts his boots on the wrong feet.

6. A paratrooper lands in a well.

7. Steele’s parachute gets caught on a church steeple and he was hit in the foot.
 

8. A British chaplain goes bobbing for his mass kit.

9. A group of soldiers including Schultz pass by a group of Germans without either side noticing the other was the enemy.
 

10. Col. Vandervoort broke his ankle on landing.
 

11. Pluskat sights the armada and relays that it is coming “right for me!”

12. Private Flanagan (Sean Connery) stumbles and falls in the water and says “they’re trying to drown me before I even get on the beach!”
 

13. There was a bagpipe player with Lovat.
 

14. The beachmaster had a bulldog and started a stalled vehicle by hitting it with his cudgel.

15. The reporter yelled “damned traitors” when the carrier pigeons went the wrong way.

16. Janine Boitard helped blow up a train and was almost drowned by a German soldier.
 

17. Gen. Cota says “Two kinds of people are staying on this beach, those who are dead and those who are going to die.”

18. When two Germans try to surrender, a Ranger shoots them and then says “I wonder what ‘bitter, bitter’ means.”

19. Flight Commander Campbell (Richard Burton) was shot down, crippled, and shot During (who still had his boots on wrong).
 
 

20. Priller and his wingman made the only appearance by the Luftwaffe that day.

21. A British paratrooper landed at a German headquarters and told a German general “Awfully sorry, old man, but we simply landed here by accident.”

22. A group of nuns walk through the chaos of Ouistreham to care for the wounded French.

23. Fuller uses Bangalore torpedoes to blow a lane through the barbed wire and then blows a hole on the sea wall to open up Omaha Beach.
 


ANSWERS:

1. Rommel said, "Believe me, Gentleman, the first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive. For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be "The Longest Day… The Longest Day"! True.

2. Dutch Shultz wins a lot of money in a crap game, but a rosary from his mother causes him to purposely lose it all before potentially dying. True, except he had received the rosary earlier and remembering it caused him to reenter the game.

3. “Pips” Priller complains about his squadron being withdrawn leaving only he and his wingman. True, the squadron was needed for the defense of Germany.

4. Janine Boitard hides downed airmen in her basement. True.

5. Capt. Ernst During puts his boots on the wrong feet. True.

6. A paratrooper lands in a well. True, he climbed out by using the parachute shroud lines.

7. Steele’s parachute gets caught on a church steeple and he was hit in the foot. True, but he was hit in the foot on the way down.

8. A British chaplain goes bobbing for his mass kit. True, but it actually happened to an American chaplain.

9. A group of soldiers including Schultz pass by a group of Germans without either side noticing the other was the enemy. True, but both sides knew who the other was, they just did not do anything about it.

10. Col. Vandervoort broke his ankle on landing. True, but it was not a compound fracture.

11. Pluskat sights the armada and relays that it is coming “right for me!” True.

12. Private Flanagan (Sean Connery) stumbles and falls in the water and says“they’re trying to drown me before I even get on the beach!” True, except his name was McQuaid

13. There was a bagpipe player with Lovat. True.

14. The beachmaster had a bulldog and started a stalled vehicle by hitting it with his cudgel. Mostly Hollywood. Capt. Maud was actually on Juno Beach and his dog was an Alsatian. He did not cane start a vehicle. he did have a cudgel.

15. The reporter yelled “damned traitors” when the carrier pigeons went the wrong way. True.

16. Janine Boitard helped blow up a train and was almost drowned by a German soldier. Hollywood. The actress (Irena Demick) was the producer’s mistress so her role was expanded.

17. Gen. Cota says “Two kinds of people are staying on this beach, those who are dead and those who are going to die.” Actually said by Col. George Taylor of the 16thRegiment of the First Division.

18. When two Germans try to surrender, a Ranger shoots them and then says “I wonder what ‘bitter, bitter’ means.” Semi-true – actually happened on the bluff of Omaha Beach.

19. Flight Commander Campbell (Richard Burton) was shot down, crippled, and shot During (who still had his boots on wrong). Hollywood, the Campbell character was created for Burton.

20. Priller and his wingman made the only appearance by the Luftwaffe that day. True, although they might not have been the only appearance of the Luftwaffe and they were still drunk from the night before.

21. A British paratrooper landed at a German headquarters and told a German general“Awfully sorry, old man, but we simply landed here by accident.” True.

22. A group of nuns walk through the chaos of Ouistreham to care for the wounded French. Hollywood.

23. Fuller uses Bangalore torpedoes to blow a lane through the barbed wire and then blows a hole on the sea wall to open up Omaha Beach. Hollywood. There is no Fuller in the book and the egress from the beach was not that simple. It involved small groups of men fighting their way to the top and taking out the German positions.

6 comments:

  1. Read the book many years ago. Did not remember most of this. Wasn't the "Bitter Bitter" line used in Private Ryan? As in "Look I washed my hands...?

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  2. There is a very similar incident in SPR. Probably intentional.

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  3. Most of the Hollywood inventions you list are defensible but the Resistance subplot and the Ouistreham nuns don't serve the movie very well.

    For the former it is nice to show resistance activities, but why not show them damaging telephone wires to match the scenes where German generals have trouble connecting with their forward units? What we get instead has a tacked-on feel.

    In the latter case I'm sure they wanted a bit of filler to pad out the tension of the French attack apparently stalling out while they waited for tank support, and probably felt that a surreal, comical interlude would fit with the flavor of the other war stories told in the film, but they could have gone for something else - perhaps dialogue explaining why an allied tank was in the area but for some reason hadn't been incorporated into the initial attack plan.

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    1. The Resistance subplot was there to get the hot chick in, to give the Resistance its due, and to give them a good action scene. You are right about the nuns, but that is pretty standard Hollywood bull shit.

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  4. I have a comment about the clickers in the movie. One click is to be answered by 2 clicks. Then a paratrooper is shot. "I heard 2 clicks!" I am quite sure that is Hollywood. 1) A German soldier would already have a bullit loaded so when hearing a suspicious noise he would not need to reload (2 clicks). 2) How could this story be told if the one involved would be shot?

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    1. I agree. It was pure Hollywood, but effective because it sets up the next time a clicker is used.

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Please fell free to comment. I would love to hear what you think and will respond.