My dad took me to watch this when I was a kid. When the fleet broached the horizon, I’ve never forgotten that scene. 👍 Even today, knowing that war is seldom black and white, I see the invasion as nothing less than deliverance, planned and undertaken by incredibly brave and skillfull people to whom I’m forever grateful. 🇬🇧
My dad had me watch it with him when I was younger and the amazing single-take Ouistreham scene is the one that stuck with me. Even more since most of those guys actually participated in it during the war.
My dad landed at Omaha and went on to serve with 101st retired in 1962 God rest his soul. Myself and my son both served with 101st in Vietnam and Afghanistan. God bless these hero’s and All the men and Women that have served this great country USA 🇺🇸
In a 1964 CBS documentary, General Eisenhower spoke to Walter Cronkite about this very scene…from the actual German bunker where Pluskat was…fascinating
@@haitolawrence5986 yes, sorry that was actually what I meant🤦♂️. Either its my Danish spelling control or just me being sloppy but I did mean the man on the MULE.
@@jackaubrey8614 No, that's not what I was talking about. As I read the comment, it appeared that there were only 12 TOTAL men in his company. But now, re-reading it, I realize I interpreted this incorrectly. I now believe the commenter was merely expressing a FRACTION (1 of 12, 3 of 4, etc.). It probably would have been clearer if he had said _"1 OUT of 12,"_ but I guess that's on me. Sometimes the brain works funny...
@@Panda-gs5lt Except when the two German planes strafe Juno/Gold beaches. Even then you don't know which are the Canadian beaches. The film devotes a lot of screen time to Utah Beach where 12 Americans died versus the suffered 961 casualties including 340 dead at Juno. The bloodiest beach after Omaha.
Our High School History teacher took the class to see TheLongest Day. When this scene came on the whole audience cheered. It was 1962, only 17 years after W W II so many people went through the war.
Only the international version had Germans speak German, French speak French, etc. In the American version, everyone spoke English, including the Germans. You can tell by the short scene of the frustrated German radio operator who can't get a connection as the French Resistance has been blowing up the telephone poles. 'Hello!? Hello!? Damn!'
My Dad's cousin survived D-Day but was killed 6 days later as his regiment tried to move further inland. He is still resting there with some of the other Gordon Highlanders.
According to several period time witnesse /veteran, Major Pluskat was not in his bunker wen the invasion started. It is said he was acutally doing, a paid, horizontal tango with a French female in a therefore designated establishment. As, former, Major Pluskat must have realised this probably would not made it to the big screen. And as an advisor to this movie he kind off used some artistic license.
What always floored me was how they showed the concussion from the shells as they burst. If you're close enough to an artillery shell to feel the concussion it can kill you. Just crush your organs.
Sure. If you ever seen real artillery shells burst you know what you're seeing in "The Longest Day" and other films is strictly special effects work. That can't use REAL charges, it's not a good idea to kill the actors!
Not to mention the kill radius from the shrapnel from the shells. The radius for a 105 mm shell is 20 meters, 30 feet in every direction from the hit everything is dead. The Hollywood thing of guys running past explosions is good drama but not reality-- and the shells fired at Normandy were far larger. A 16 in shell from a battleship will leave a crater the size of a football field
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 Even a mortar, I went through 7 mortar attacks in 5 days. The Iraqi's had a Bongo truck with a plate welded to the bed, they would pull over, set up, aim and fire 4 or 5 shells and take off.
@@jerlewis4291 Good Lord. Thank you for your service! I don't know what branch you were in but it doesn't matter, this old Marine says "Semper Fidelis!" ( Always Faithful) to you!
@@jamesbutler8821 Unless I am not up to date on the size of a football field, while very powerful the 16 inch shells from the MO made craters around 50 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Still big, but nothing like the size of a football field.
My dad was a paratrooper who was the first wave. His mission was to secure pegasus bridges. I shed a few tears watching this. He was 19 on D Day. He was shot in the leg and a british penny deflected the bullet. 😁😁😁
The most amazing thing about this film is that the non-American actors - French, German and British - totally gave performances that blew their American counter-parts away!
It's probably the same thing going on as the actors and actresses singing La Marseillaise in Casablanca. They lived through it. They knew what it was like.
D-Day was an astonishing operation. I say that 80 years and 1 day after it took place, and the people who planned and took part are owed a huge amount of gratitude by those of us who have the good fortune to live in free democracies today.
Freedom is a subjective word! As for Democracy. Does it really stand for social equality? You would need to be blind, dumb, and plain stupid to believe that.
0:30-0:46 Probably the biggest Brown Pants Moment of that guy's life. You gotta love how he goes for the rifle, goes, "Wait, what am I thinking?", and then goes, "Sod this for a game of soldiers."
About 25 years ago, when I was a teen, I watched this movie with my mom. She told me a personal anecdote about it: It came out when she was 11, and back then she watched it with _her_ father. During this scene, she turns to her father in genuine confusion and asked, _"Daddy, why is that man in the house so happy when they're shooting at him?"_ She said her father (a WW2 vet) ignored her question. Whenever this movie gets mentioned, the first thing I remember is that anecdote and it always makes me chuckle. 😂 R.I.P. Mom.
This was a terrific three-hour movie, but it didn't have an intermission. I think the best place for an intermission would have been at 1:24 as he was waving the tri-color out his window, with the resumption occurring at 1:25 with the shot of the big guns firing.
Well it didn’t have an overture either so I don’t think it was really necessary. Plus this wasn’t in the scope of Ben hur or the Ten Commandments or Lawrence of Arabia which where I think 20 minutes or so short of 4 hours
Some interesting facts of Battleships used on D-day firing their guns USS Arkansas 12" guns, USS Nevada 14" guns, HMS Ramillies 15" guns, HMS Rodney 16" guns, USS Texas 14" guns, HMS Warspite 15" guns.
@@alanfangor It's not obsolete if it can participate in hostile action. Yes, even the USN Texas was a WW1 "relic" at the time, but she had ten 12 inch guns that scored hits on German positions. She even got hit herself by return fire.
I learned a few years ago that a destroyer with my last name, the U. S. S. Emmons, was one of the American destroyers that was in the invasion flotilla that day. She and the other destroyers, along with the larger ships, used their guns to try and take out the German guns on the cliffs. Not sure if the admiral for whom the ship was named had any connection to me, but it's the only U. S. Navy ship I know of which has ever had my last name, and I'm proud of her. The Emmons was later converted to a destroyer-mine sweeper and sent to the Pacific. She was lost at Okinawa; but I take consolation from the idea that she gave her life in the performance of her Naval duty.
I'm sure you've seen pics of her but just in case, here it is.. Looks like an awesome destroyer. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Emmons#/media/File:USS_Emmons_(DD-457)_at_anchor_c1942.jpg
@@raymondgoel4055 I have seen pictures and a painting or two, but I haven't seen THAT picture before; thank you. In my humble opinion, it WAS an awesome destroyer.
It's a great movie written by a great writer. All star cast and directed by Americans, Germans, and French directors. So many of the movie actors were Veterans of Wars.
The scene from 0:21 to 0:36 is truly a sight to behold. That German officer on horseback is truly terrified, staring out to sea and knowing that in a matter of minutes all hell is about to break loose. At 0:42, that's exactly what happens. Masterful.😯
I actually feel sorry for that soldier delivering coffee. His only job was as a commissariat and he stumbled into the biggest amphibious invasion in military history. His rifle was really only for show. He was utterly unprepared for what he saw. I wonder whatever happened to him.
These films about WW2 are sometimes good, but these films don't have the same flair or the panache that WW2 films had, that were made before 1980. The reason being is the people who either worked on those or were actually in them either served during world World Ward, served on the front and were actual war heroes. Only one who went through that experience can give a sense of realism to a film. Some of the actors in those films were actual war heroes. Alec Guinness, Scotty from Star Trek, Eddie Albert, Mr. Douglas, Steve McQueen, Earnest Borgnine, Clark Gable, Charles Durning, John Russell, Robert Ryan, Brian Keith, Lee Marvin, Tyrone Power, Ted Knight, Ted Baxter in Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Todd, Claude Rains, Telly Salvales, Kojak, Sterling Hayden, Jackie Coogan, Jimmy Edwards, William Hopper, from Perry Mason, David Niven, Donald Pleasence, Christopher Lee, Nigel Stock, Andre Morell, Jack Hawkins, Richard Todd, Percy Herbert, William Hartnell, Jimmy Hanley, Peter Ustinov, Denholm Elliot, Mickey Rooney, Jimmy Stewart, Red Skelton, Henry Fonda, Dennis Day, Richard Todd, Audrey Hepburn, John Warner, Bennie Hill, An actor who had never been in the military could never have the mannerisms of someone like Neville Brand. That only way one could have that would be from having gone through, at the very least, a stint in the service, but in his case he was on the front line.
While those films were very good with a great cast, films like Saving Private Ryan, Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, Hacksaw Ridge to name some, gave us a more realistic perspective with veterans giving high marks to the realism right down to the sounds of the squeaking tracks on the German tanks to the sounds of the bullets ricocheting off the metal hedgehogs. A lot of those old war films had such phony scenes of soldiers dying. I think Battle of the Bulge was the worst in that area but in all the old war movies, I never saw a scene like a soldier who reaches down and picks up his arm off the ground.
When Donald Pleasance appeared in The Great Escape, he kept giving the director, John Sturges, suggestions. Sturges finally lost patience and demanded to know why Pleasance thought he knew so much. "Well," replied Pleasance, "I spent two years in a POW camp just like this one." Sturges listened to him thereafter.
Reagan's eyesight was too bad to be in combat. But he genuinely did wear a uniform and contribute to the war effort. Not everyone helping is on the front line. I would defend Wayne, but I don't know his story.
Most time of wwll Gerd Fröbe was clown in soldiers entertainment. In late war he became medic. Most of his german movies showed him as comical criminal, but you should watch ,Es geschah am helllichten Tag.' Here he played a childs murderer. The detective in this movie, Heinz Rühmann, was also known as comedian.
I am a KongKonger. I watched this movie almost 50 years ago. At that time, HK was still under UK. Queen Elizabeth Il image was shown in the beginning & everyone in the cinema was stand up for people who died in D day. It was a serious matter to watch the longest day at that time.
The cool thing about filming in black and white is the special effects don't have to be as good. Probably the "explosions" would look kind of ridiculous in color, but in b&w they're just fine.
Always makes me think of Al Powell in Die Hard screaming into his radio while "under automatic rifle fire at Nakatomi! I need backup assistance now! NOW, GODDAMMIT, NOW!"
The German and French Actors in this scene are acting wonderful. Even for a German like me the scene is so hilarious. And so true - it lasted days until the German Upper Command stopped thinking this was only a diversion maneuver and the real landing would happen in Calais. The narrow-mindedness of Hitler and his staff helped some weeks again when the Red Army surrounded and crushed the Wehrmacht in the East. We can be glad that illiberality and Ignorance to reality made the Nazis loose the war - seems that Putin has the same problem.
[look at him, the pride of the german army] [they're here. the americans, they're finally here, look they e coming, hurray, hurray] [what's the matter pluscat?] [are you deaf? can't you hear them? yes! YES! the 5000 ships you said they didn't have? can you hear them?]
Jay Leno once asked James Stewart "You have probably made a 100+ films with some of Hollywoods most beautiful starlets, " Leno leans over and kind of whispers "did you fall in love with any of them?" Stewart took 3 minutes or more, silence, just stared out in the floor, he must been in his 90's He stuttered ""Al Al Al All All of them!" Perfect answer as some where still alive and if he had named 2 or 3 the others feelings may have been hurt And only took him 3 minutes to came up with it
Was in real life first soldiers entertainment clown, then medic. His german language movies had been mostly comedies , no surprise for a former Circus Clown, but watch ,Es geschah am helllichten Tag', here he was a childs murderer.
If anyone interested a good show on pbs called the d day weather forecast. Winds from blacksod Ireland are furthest point from Normandy. Weather there is first indication of weather to hit Normandy, hours later. Allies used this advance forecast to know brief period in minimal weather for invasion. Germans saw worst June storm and thinking allies would not invade. For history buffs, it’s awesome.
Both Churchill and the King wanted to witness the invasion from the deck of the HMS Belfast. They were adamant about it. It took some clever persuasion on the part of the Admiral Ramsay to convince them to stay in England. The Admiral's reasoning should have been obvious: if the King and Prime Minister were killed it would cause a constitutional crisis of epic proportions. Imagine a teenage Princess Elizabeth being made Sovereign on D-Day with neither a Regent nor a Prime Minister.
Does anyone know where this house is located? This scene was burned into my head as an 8 y/o back in the day. The overpressure blew me away!! Visiting Normandy from the USA in a couple of months and would love to see this location in person!
They should have shown the ships on the horizon. Then they should have shown the muzzle flashes. Then they should have shown the shells impacting. Sorry for nitpick. This is my favorite scene in the movie. Gert Frobe (Sgt Kaffeekanne) added unforgettable comic relief.
Good morning...yes..my Dad was a medic in the 3rd Army...I would wear his Ike jacket to school in the 5th grade in 1958..who would've thought I'd be a medic in the Army in 67...saw no action thank God...feel for those that did...
The greatest generation has passed on. My father and my wife’s among them. Please, with all the political animosity today do not forget the choices they made to challenge the evil of their time. My mother in law lost her first husband, from a prominent family from NYC as he was a glider pilot on D day.
My dad was in the navy during ww2. He told me that if i got drafted to join the navy. Eat good no marching nobody is going mess with you on that big ship. Told me he would never let me go to Vietnam. Join the navy or i will drive you to Canada. Because Vietnam is a money war. My dad was so right!!
The first German soldier to see the attack on Normandy beach called his boss immediately.Boss asked which way the ships are coming And the poor soldier answered"Right for me"😀😀
This scene reminds me of the French bombardment scene from the Patriot at the end of the movie during the Siege of Yorktown. I think it's safe to say we paid the French back with interest!
Sadly, D-Day bombardments cost a lot of French civilians their lives, as well. That was in the days of dumb bombs, limited intelligence, and inevitable collateral damage. ='[.]'=
Hard to believe that German Soldier riding the horse would survive the war and become GOLD FINGER!!!!
Should have used some thicker toilet paper.
@@Mishima505 He first made sure Paris didn't burn near the end of the war.
"I could use a bodyguard now that the war is over. Some Korean guy who is deadly with a bowler hat."
He was a Nazi in real life!
Fuck I knew that face was from somewhere.
Pluscat not having a good day, “those 5000 ships you say the allies dont have…well they got em!”
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Probably my favorite line in the whole movie!
Plus*k*at
Pluscat was in the battle off the bulge Robert shaws driver
not only did he survive d-Day but Major Pluscat was also at the Battle of Berlin and lived to a ripe old age passing in 2002
My dad took me to watch this when I was a kid. When the fleet broached the horizon, I’ve never forgotten that scene. 👍 Even today, knowing that war is seldom black and white, I see the invasion as nothing less than deliverance, planned and undertaken by incredibly brave and skillfull people to whom I’m forever grateful. 🇬🇧
In this movie the War was Black and White
My dad came ashore there and fought his way all the way into Germany
Totally agree with you!
Same sensations!
Stopped Stalin from communising western Europe
My dad had me watch it with him when I was younger and the amazing single-take Ouistreham scene is the one that stuck with me. Even more since most of those guys actually participated in it during the war.
My dad landed at Omaha and went on to serve with 101st retired in 1962 God rest his soul. Myself and my son both served with 101st in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
God bless these hero’s and All the men and Women that have served this great country USA 🇺🇸
Myself and my son both served in the 82nd. Me in Vietnam and he went to Haiti for Operation Democracy. God bless the USA
Other countries BLED and the USA got FAT on their blood!
In a 1964 CBS documentary, General Eisenhower spoke to Walter Cronkite about this very scene…from the actual German bunker where Pluskat was…fascinating
Now we know how Auric got his taste for nazi gold
I like the guy in the house. He looked out over the water and could literally see freedom on the horizon.
Its Goldfinger, the super vilan from the 007 movie "Goldfinger".
@@MichaelHagen1973 That was Gert Frobe and he was on the horse not in the house.
@@haitolawrence5986 yes, sorry that was actually what I meant🤦♂️. Either its my Danish spelling control or just me being sloppy but I did mean the man on the MULE.
@@haitolawrence5986 “Do you want me to apologize, no Mr. Idiot I want you to write horse, not house”
🇫🇷❤️
My father hit Omaha Beach in the first wave. He was 1 of 6 men to get out of the landing craft. Only 1 of 12 in his company to make it off the beach.
Only 12 men in your dad's company? What happened to the rest of them?
@@pcbacklash_3261 KIA
@@pcbacklash_3261 I would have thought it obvious - the rest DIDN'T make it off the beach....
@@jackaubrey8614 No, that's not what I was talking about. As I read the comment, it appeared that there were only 12 TOTAL men in his company. But now, re-reading it, I realize I interpreted this incorrectly.
I now believe the commenter was merely expressing a FRACTION (1 of 12, 3 of 4, etc.). It probably would have been clearer if he had said _"1 OUT of 12,"_ but I guess that's on me. Sometimes the brain works funny...
My father in law made 7 landings in the Pacific. Lived through them all. Never talked about them
One of the best memories I have as a kid (born 1993) is watching this with my dad when it came on AMC
And it still airs on TV. TCM on Memorial Day I think
Similar memories. Born in 91. First saw this movie with my dad. Such an epic movie!
Still my fav film about D-Day. It makes such an effort to involve everyone involved on both sides.
It completely excluded the Canadians at Juno Beach.
@@Panda-gs5lt Except when the two German planes strafe Juno/Gold beaches. Even then you don't know which are the Canadian beaches. The film devotes a lot of screen time to Utah Beach where 12 Americans died versus the suffered 961 casualties including 340 dead at Juno. The bloodiest beach after Omaha.
Maj. Pluskat survived and actually consulted on the movie.
I always wondered what happened to his dog.
@@thomasgalyen6757He surrendered 😆
@@Koekiepoekie not at d day he waS lucky or unlucky to go on to Arnhem and remagen bridge
Pluskat had the best lines in the film.
@@stevebarnes-oo7inwasn't it Pluskatt that failed to blow the Remagen bridge? I thought he was shot for failing to blow it?
I liked the part where the officer calmly sitting in Paris asks Pluskat "where are all these ships heading?", and Pluskat says "AT ME!!!"
DIREKT AUF MICH ZU!
Typical arrogance by people in charge
@@johnnyola8391 just shows how bad german intelligence was. It was very easy to say 5000 ships when you saw that every port in England was jam packed.
I don't think he's in paris but he's in.normandy away from the coast
@@DavidBroadley-tw7ks I think he's at Rennes as part of the War Games.
you know when Goldfinger is riding a mule things are gonna get tough.
Also Bond himself...Big Sean playing an Irishman!
Bidenomics
@@andydawson5587 As if there were no Scots at D-Day!
@@andydawson5587 Aye lad. Them Scots and their bleedin bagpipes.
@@frankgesuele6298 *pumps up the bagpipe*
COMING BACK TO THIS ON D-DAY 80 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇨🇦
There was poles and French and Indians there as well
@@DavidBroadley-tw7ks Hargest from invercargill- new Zealand.- who was a observer for new zealand.- He was in command off battlion
Thank you for the -liberation- multiculturalism
@@SlytherSnake blame the EU for that.
The horse going "NOPE NEIN NEIN NEIN" will always be a hoot.
Our High School History teacher took the class to see TheLongest Day. When this scene came on the whole audience cheered.
It was 1962, only 17 years after W W II so many people went through the war.
Sends shivers down my spine, tears in my eyes, when the ships open fire... we're here.
I guess you get the same reaction when the US Cavalry turns up and saves the poor white settlers from the nasty Indians.
"John has a long moustache!"
Who is we?
@@josephforest7605 The Allies.
I watched this movie first when it was premiered. Even today, watching this fellow’s elation brings tears to my eyes.
The first American film that had the good grace to have the Germans speaking in German.
If we want them to speak english they will speak english, they will do as commanded
The German general with the walking stick was using it on the wrong side.
Thats because
Germans sections were directed by a German director
as were the British, French and American sections
Only the international version had Germans speak German, French speak French, etc.
In the American version, everyone spoke English, including the Germans.
You can tell by the short scene of the frustrated German radio operator who can't get a connection as the French Resistance has been blowing up the telephone poles. 'Hello!? Hello!? Damn!'
There was the Disney cartoon ‘Education for Death’.
My Dad was there on his ship ! USS Oberon. He survived and returned home. God bless America, our allies and the US Navy !🇺🇸
Many MANY thanks to those that served. The greatest generation!
My Dad's cousin survived D-Day but was killed 6 days later as his regiment tried to move further inland. He is still resting there with some of the other Gordon Highlanders.
Love the German on the mule's reaction. Like yeah, that's exactly how you react in that situation. Just a big 'ol "oh...oh, shit."
....that guy was Goldfinger! From the 1960s Bond movie... no wonder he was so bitter
@@thunderhead180 Gert Frobe
@@jimmiller5600 ruclips.net/video/Mx9z99YJ_7s/видео.htmlsi=rGMqM-4gOsOat9Af
Him actually starting to draw his rifle before realizing how useless it would be adds to it.
@@jimmiller5600: Fröbe, not Frobe. Ö / Oe, Ü/ Ue, Ä/ Ae, ß/ ss is also correct german.
One of the great WW2 movies.
One of my favorite films. Thank you!
❤❤❤❤❤❤
It was showed in e movie in 1974 which my dad n mum brought me to watch it!!! Memories come back!!!😊😊😊
According to several period time witnesse /veteran, Major Pluskat was not in his bunker wen the invasion started. It is said he was acutally doing, a paid, horizontal tango with a French female in a therefore designated establishment. As, former, Major Pluskat must have realised this probably would not made it to the big screen. And as an advisor to this movie he kind off used some artistic license.
They should have included Pluskat’s horizontal tango! Nothing beats a bit or reality in a movie.
What always floored me was how they showed the concussion from the shells as they burst. If you're close enough to an artillery shell to feel the concussion it can kill you. Just crush your organs.
Sure. If you ever seen real artillery shells burst you know what you're seeing in "The Longest Day" and other films is strictly special effects work. That can't use REAL charges, it's not a good idea to kill the actors!
Not to mention the kill radius from the shrapnel from the shells. The radius for a 105 mm shell is 20 meters, 30 feet in every direction from the hit everything is dead. The Hollywood thing of guys running past explosions is good drama but not reality-- and the shells fired at Normandy were far larger. A 16 in shell from a battleship will leave a crater the size of a football field
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 Even a mortar, I went through 7 mortar attacks in 5 days. The Iraqi's had a Bongo truck with a plate welded to the bed, they would pull over, set up, aim and fire 4 or 5 shells and take off.
@@jerlewis4291 Good Lord. Thank you for your service! I don't know what branch you were in but it doesn't matter, this old Marine says "Semper Fidelis!" ( Always Faithful) to you!
@@jamesbutler8821 Unless I am not up to date on the size of a football field, while very powerful the 16 inch shells from the MO made craters around 50 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Still big, but nothing like the size of a football field.
"Those Five Thousand ships you say the Allies haven't got, Well, they've got them".
What a great line to speak. ✔️
.
This film was made 18 years after D Day. That's like making a film about someting that happened in 2006.
Great comment
Maybe, just maybe, the beaches, actors and crew were slightly unavailable at the actual time of the portrayed events?
@annoyed707
Maybe just maybe the op meant it the other way?
That is was very shortly after the events that the movie was made.
All Quiet On The Western Front came out 13 years after WWI ended and most of the actors(including extras) were WWI veterans
Black Hawk Down came out a mere 8 years after the incident.
My dad was a paratrooper who was the first wave. His mission was to secure pegasus bridges. I shed a few tears watching this. He was 19 on D Day. He was shot in the leg and a british penny deflected the bullet. 😁😁😁
Que valiente
The most amazing thing about this film is that the non-American actors - French, German and British - totally gave performances that blew their American counter-parts away!
On average they do produce better actors.
It's probably the same thing going on as the actors and actresses singing La Marseillaise in Casablanca. They lived through it. They knew what it was like.
It’incredible 🙏🏻
In a film featuring John Wayne, it's not difficult to look like a good actor.
America produces film stars. Europe produces actors.
"Those five thousand ships you say the allies haven't got..."
WELL! THEY'VE GOT THEM!
@@Tank50us Where are they headed?
@@HooDatDonDar STRAIGHT AT ME!
D-Day was an astonishing operation. I say that 80 years and 1 day after it took place, and the people who planned and took part are owed a huge amount of gratitude by those of us who have the good fortune to live in free democracies today.
Freedom is a subjective word! As for Democracy. Does it really stand for social equality? You would need to be blind, dumb, and plain stupid to believe that.
Those naval guns were something else
Imagine how it felt on the decks?
Oh yes very powerful
It was the DDs that did the most damage by getting in close and being accurate. The BBs pretty much made big kabooms and left huge potholes
0:30-0:46 Probably the biggest Brown Pants Moment of that guy's life. You gotta love how he goes for the rifle, goes, "Wait, what am I thinking?", and then goes, "Sod this for a game of soldiers."
What a moment in history to have lived through
About 25 years ago, when I was a teen, I watched this movie with my mom. She told me a personal anecdote about it: It came out when she was 11, and back then she watched it with _her_ father. During this scene, she turns to her father in genuine confusion and asked, _"Daddy, why is that man in the house so happy when they're shooting at him?"_ She said her father (a WW2 vet) ignored her question. Whenever this movie gets mentioned, the first thing I remember is that anecdote and it always makes me chuckle. 😂 R.I.P. Mom.
This was a terrific three-hour movie, but it didn't have an intermission. I think the best place for an intermission would have been at 1:24 as he was waving the tri-color out his window, with the resumption occurring at 1:25 with the shot of the big guns firing.
Well it didn’t have an overture either so I don’t think it was really necessary. Plus this wasn’t in the scope of Ben hur or the Ten Commandments or Lawrence of Arabia which where I think 20 minutes or so short of 4 hours
My all time favorite movie
I’ll be watching this film tonight.
The over pressure effects in the movie are great
Some interesting facts of Battleships used on D-day firing their guns USS Arkansas 12" guns, USS Nevada 14" guns, HMS Ramillies 15" guns, HMS Rodney 16" guns, USS Texas 14" guns, HMS Warspite 15" guns.
all obsolete and they expected to lose one or two of them thats why they were there and not the more modern ships
Rodney sank the Bismark,Warspite longest shot to hit another warship
@@alanfangor It's not obsolete if it can participate in hostile action. Yes, even the USN Texas was a WW1 "relic" at the time, but she had ten 12 inch guns that scored hits on German positions. She even got hit herself by return fire.
Texas had 14 inch guns, not 12 inch guns. Only the Arkansas had 12 inch guns at Normandy.
@alanfangor Wrong. The reason the newer battleships were not there was because they could operate with carriers and the older battleships couldn't.
I learned a few years ago that a destroyer with my last name, the U. S. S. Emmons, was one of the American destroyers that was in the invasion flotilla that day. She and the other destroyers, along with the larger ships, used their guns to try and take out the German guns on the cliffs. Not sure if the admiral for whom the ship was named had any connection to me, but it's the only U. S. Navy ship I know of which has ever had my last name, and I'm proud of her. The Emmons was later converted to a destroyer-mine sweeper and sent to the Pacific. She was lost at Okinawa; but I take consolation from the idea that she gave her life in the performance of her Naval duty.
I'm sure you've seen pics of her but just in case, here it is.. Looks like an awesome destroyer. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Emmons#/media/File:USS_Emmons_(DD-457)_at_anchor_c1942.jpg
@@raymondgoel4055 I have seen pictures and a painting or two, but I haven't seen THAT picture before; thank you. In my humble opinion, it WAS an awesome destroyer.
Watching on the 80th Anniversary of this happening ! hits different
It's a great movie written by a great writer. All star cast and directed by Americans, Germans, and French directors. So many of the movie actors were Veterans of Wars.
The scene from 0:21 to 0:36 is truly a sight to behold. That German officer on horseback is truly terrified, staring out to sea and knowing that in a matter of minutes all hell is about to break loose. At 0:42, that's exactly what happens. Masterful.😯
I actually feel sorry for that soldier delivering coffee. His only job was as a commissariat and he stumbled into the biggest amphibious invasion in military history. His rifle was really only for show. He was utterly unprepared for what he saw. I wonder whatever happened to him.
He got a cigarette from Speirs.
He went on to become Goldfinger in the James Bond movie.
@@lonniesides9302 😂😂😂
@@starcorpvncj Via Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (also written by Ian Fleming, by the way).
He was not there to bring coffee but to ‘collect’ milk for the garrison…..
These films about WW2 are sometimes good, but these films don't have the same flair or the panache that WW2 films had, that were made before 1980.
The reason being is the people who either worked on those or were actually in them either served during world World Ward, served on the front and were actual war heroes. Only one who went through that experience can give a sense of realism to a film.
Some of the actors in those films were actual war heroes. Alec Guinness, Scotty from Star Trek, Eddie Albert, Mr. Douglas, Steve McQueen, Earnest Borgnine, Clark Gable, Charles Durning, John Russell, Robert Ryan, Brian Keith, Lee Marvin, Tyrone Power, Ted Knight, Ted Baxter in Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Todd, Claude Rains, Telly Salvales, Kojak, Sterling Hayden, Jackie Coogan, Jimmy Edwards, William Hopper, from Perry Mason, David Niven, Donald Pleasence, Christopher Lee, Nigel Stock, Andre Morell, Jack Hawkins, Richard Todd, Percy Herbert, William Hartnell, Jimmy Hanley, Peter Ustinov, Denholm Elliot, Mickey Rooney, Jimmy Stewart, Red Skelton, Henry Fonda, Dennis Day, Richard Todd, Audrey Hepburn, John Warner, Bennie Hill,
An actor who had never been in the military could never have the mannerisms of someone like Neville Brand. That only way one could have that would be from having gone through, at the very least, a stint in the service, but in his case he was on the front line.
I’m glad you didn’t include two of the “Culver City Commandos”: John Wayne and Ronnie Reagan
While those films were very good with a great cast, films like Saving Private Ryan, Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, Hacksaw Ridge to name some, gave us a more realistic perspective with veterans giving high marks to the realism right down to the sounds of the squeaking tracks on the German tanks to the sounds of the bullets ricocheting off the metal hedgehogs. A lot of those old war films had such phony scenes of soldiers dying. I think Battle of the Bulge was the worst in that area but in all the old war movies, I never saw a scene like a soldier who reaches down and picks up his arm off the ground.
Charles Bronson tail gunner,
When Donald Pleasance appeared in The Great Escape, he kept giving the director, John Sturges, suggestions. Sturges finally lost patience and demanded to know why Pleasance thought he knew so much. "Well," replied Pleasance, "I spent two years in a POW camp just like this one." Sturges listened to him thereafter.
Reagan's eyesight was too bad to be in combat. But he genuinely did wear a uniform and contribute to the war effort. Not everyone helping is on the front line. I would defend Wayne, but I don't know his story.
I love this iconic movie of all time.
Gerd Fröbe....Goldfinger riding a horse :-)
also played a heavy in the movie Those Incredible Men in Their Flying Machines. 1968.
He was on that horse, looking for Oddjob to save his ample ass!
Most time of wwll Gerd Fröbe was clown in soldiers entertainment. In late war he became medic. Most of his german movies showed him as comical criminal, but you should watch ,Es geschah am helllichten Tag.' Here he played a childs murderer. The detective in this movie, Heinz Rühmann, was also known as comedian.
Not many people realised that Goldfinger rode a horse in WW2.
"Hello, Gen Eisenhower, we've been expecting you..."
Gerd Fröbe was medic in wwll.
He actually came to his senses that his rifle can't stop a bunch of warships.
I am a KongKonger. I watched this movie almost 50 years ago. At that time, HK was still under UK. Queen Elizabeth Il image was shown in the beginning & everyone in the cinema was stand up for people who died in D day. It was a serious matter to watch the longest day at that time.
The cool thing about filming in black and white is the special effects don't have to be as good. Probably the "explosions" would look kind of ridiculous in color, but in b&w they're just fine.
I was thinking about this film in the last couple of days leading up to the anniversary. For mine, better than Saving Private Ryan
Nice to know Auric Goldfinger survived D-Day only to be taken out by 007 twenty years later.
I'm not sure why, but the poor officer screaming into the phone never fails to be hilarious. Wouldn't be half as funny if it were in English.
Always makes me think of Al Powell in Die Hard screaming into his radio while "under automatic rifle fire at Nakatomi! I need backup assistance now! NOW, GODDAMMIT, NOW!"
The German and French Actors in this scene are acting wonderful.
Even for a German like me the scene is so hilarious.
And so true - it lasted days until the German Upper Command stopped thinking this was only a diversion maneuver and the real landing would happen in Calais.
The narrow-mindedness of Hitler and his staff helped some weeks again when the Red Army surrounded and crushed the Wehrmacht in the East.
We can be glad that illiberality and Ignorance to reality made the Nazis loose the war - seems that Putin has the same problem.
[look at him, the pride of the german army] [they're here. the americans, they're finally here, look they
e coming, hurray, hurray] [what's the matter pluscat?] [are you deaf? can't you hear them? yes! YES! the 5000 ships you said they didn't have? can you hear them?]
The guy ecstatic at liberation while the shutters are getting blown off his house 😂
Look at Goldfinger running around for a place to hide. Haha
Hey, what's Bond villain Goldfinger doing in this?
His name is Gerd Fröbe
well spotted - presumably he was dead by the time a very young Bond hit the beach :-)
It's the villain's origin story
actualy james bond himself (sean connery) is in this movie as well :p
Very true! And.. it turns out so is Curd Jurgens, who played the Bond villain Stromberg in The Spy who Loved Me ;) @@TOFMDrone
"How many ships are there?"
"All of them!"
Jay Leno once asked James Stewart
"You have probably made a 100+ films with some of Hollywoods most beautiful starlets, "
Leno leans over and kind of whispers
"did you fall in love with any of them?"
Stewart took 3 minutes or more, silence, just stared out in the floor, he must been in his 90's
He stuttered
""Al Al Al All All of them!"
Perfect answer as some where still alive and if he had named 2 or 3 the others feelings may have been hurt
And only took him 3 minutes to came up with it
Classic start of an epic battle.👍👏
What did you do in the war, Goldfinger?
Was in real life first soldiers entertainment clown, then medic. His german language movies had been mostly comedies , no surprise for a former Circus Clown, but watch ,Es geschah am helllichten Tag', here he was a childs murderer.
Goldfinger!!! Would have been great if he did a scene with Sean Connery in this movie.
Read "Invasion...They're Coming" by Paul Carrell. German story of D-Day. 😊 Carrell wrote a lot like Cornelius Ryan.
Not a camera phone to be seen, just people enjoying the moment
If anyone interested a good show on pbs called the d day weather forecast. Winds from blacksod Ireland are furthest point from Normandy. Weather there is first indication of weather to hit Normandy, hours later. Allies used this advance forecast to know brief period in minimal weather for invasion. Germans saw worst June storm and thinking allies would not invade. For history buffs, it’s awesome.
The ship that fired the opening salvo that began the invasion is none other than "The Maid" herself HMS Belfast
Both Churchill and the King wanted to witness the invasion from the deck of the HMS Belfast. They were adamant about it. It took some clever persuasion on the part of the Admiral Ramsay to convince them to stay in England. The Admiral's reasoning should have been obvious: if the King and Prime Minister were killed it would cause a constitutional crisis of epic proportions. Imagine a teenage Princess Elizabeth being made Sovereign on D-Day with neither a Regent nor a Prime Minister.
Blech and Froebe are 2 ex Wehrmacht veterans.
As I recall, Pluskat also shows up in Cornelius Ryan's book on the fall of Berlin, "The Last Battle".
I'm surprised to see such great action detail in this. Takes a lot of planning and risk by these performers.
Many war movies even today miss the effect of the wind caused by a shell of that size exploding
Does anyone know where this house is located? This scene was burned into my head as an 8 y/o back in the day. The overpressure blew me away!! Visiting Normandy from the USA in a couple of months and would love to see this location in person!
You could actually see the "pucker factor" go through the roof on that guys face, the one on the horse I mean. LOL🤣🤣🤣🤣
They should have shown the ships on the horizon.
Then they should have shown the muzzle flashes.
Then they should have shown the shells impacting.
Sorry for nitpick.
This is my favorite scene in the movie.
Gert Frobe (Sgt Kaffeekanne) added unforgettable comic relief.
I felt the same way Paul😊
Good morning...yes..my Dad was a medic in the 3rd Army...I would wear his Ike jacket to school in the 5th grade in 1958..who would've thought I'd be a medic in the Army in 67...saw no action thank God...feel for those that did...
The greatest generation has passed on. My father and my wife’s among them. Please, with all the political animosity today do not forget the choices they made to challenge the evil of their time. My mother in law lost her first husband, from a prominent family from NYC as he was a glider pilot on D day.
Went to bisit some of these bunkers ona day trip in Normandy, awesome 👊
"Now, Goldfinger...shtart looshing!"
The look on Pluscat when he seen 6000 Allied ships heading straight towards him and then 1200 Allied warships opening fire
My dad was in the navy during ww2. He told me that if i got drafted to join the navy. Eat good no marching nobody is going mess with you on that big ship. Told me he would never let me go to Vietnam. Join the navy or i will drive you to Canada. Because Vietnam is a money war. My dad was so right!!
Hard to believe we lost so many soldiers after that bombardment. Truly feel we could've been more ready.
Great opening barrage scenes✔️
Didn't Pluskat have the Shepherd dogs? Wonder if they survived the attack?
He did at least. He was an advisor for the movie.
1:10 this sums up France, even now
GIVE 'er, lads!
The man with the flag at his window...The most realistic scene in historical cinema!🤔
Most of the actors on both sides were actually WW2 soldiers. They was very little acting. Mostly we’re just reliving 1944.
Except John Wayne draft dodger
My Uncle landed with the Royal Ulster Rifles at Sword beach.
Great movie as a book👍
This was my favorite D Day movie until I saw Saving Private Ryan
Is that the guy with the Midas touch?
My FIL was there at Normandy, then later at the Battle of the Bulge.
The first German soldier to see the attack on Normandy beach called his boss immediately.Boss asked which way the ships are coming
And the poor soldier answered"Right for me"😀😀
Love how his first response was to grab his rifle
I still have the black and white doulbe video cassette. Grandpa landed on utah beach
This scene reminds me of the French bombardment scene from the Patriot at the end of the movie during the Siege of Yorktown. I think it's safe to say we paid the French back with interest!
Sadly, D-Day bombardments cost a lot of French civilians their lives, as well. That was in the days of dumb bombs, limited intelligence, and inevitable collateral damage. ='[.]'=
Yes the yanks and French smacked the brits in the patriot murdering red coats anyhow