50 Great War Films: A Bridge Too Far

 

Directed by Richard Attenborough - 1977 poster

Let's get one thing off my chest first: Richard Attenborough. Obviously, Oh! What A Lovely War! was meant to be part-theatre and, therefore, very stylised. But this all-action epic seems also to be made up of 'scenes', some of them very stylised indeed. Secondly, he seems in the business of 'collecting' big movies names for his pictures (and paying them reduced fees). I suppose he got his way by calling everyone 'Darling'.

Another poster

The above poster gives the game away slightly - the actors' faces are more important than the bridge[s]. It is well-known that Daphne du Maurier raged about the portrayal of her late husband. Lt. Gen. Sir Frederick "Boy" Browning (played by Dirk Bogarde), safely dead twelve years previously.  Two other officers, Major General Roy Urquhart (Sean Connery) and Lt. General Brian Horrocks (Edward Fox) acted as military advisers to the film, so they would hardly be featured unflatteringly. Michael Caine (Lt. Col. Vandeleur) still can't quite 'pull off' an officer class character; Anthony Hopkins (Lt. Col. Frost) was sound; and old favourites like Gerald Sim, Donald Pickering and Jeremy Kemp (recall Z-cars?!) did their bit. Laurence Olivier, another 'old pal' act for Attenborough, was his usual impressive self. As for the Germans, Maximilian Schell (General Wilhelm) and Hardy Kruger (Gen.Major Ludwig) were effective; and the American contingent - Ryan O'Neal (Brigadier-General Gavin) and Robert Redford (Major Cook) - provided the Box Office draw across the Atlantic. I was pleased to see a favourite of mine, Gene Hackman (playing a Polish officer Major-General Sosabowski) involved.

As for the film itself? Knowing the result of the foolhardy plan to drop 35,000 men, after being flown 300 miles from English air bases, behind German lines in the Netherlands, it was interesting to look out for the main reasons for the failure. Thinking only old men and boys would be the defenders rather than the actual SS infantry and Panzers; ignoring reconnaissance photos of partially hidden tanks; using a narrow single highway for the tanks and trucks backing up the airborne assault; the paratroopers dropping too far away from the bridge; the uselessness of the radio sets; all lead to disaster. 

The Nijmegen Bridge

This does not diminish the sheer bravery and guts of the various fighting forces. The attempt to stop the Germans crossing Nijmegen bridge is well done; the scenes of the wounded; the lunatics gaping through the trees - Do you think they know something we don't? says Sean Connery; a sky filled with descending parachutists; the collapsible boats being shelled on the river; all are powerful reminders of what a bloody thing war actually is.

The film was panned by some critics. Dear old Roger Ebert wrote: The movie's big and expensive and filled with stars, but it's not an epic. It's the longest B-grade war movie ever made. Gene Siskel said: More often than not, A Bridge Too Far isn't a story; it's a parade of famous faces. As for the battle footage, it is more often tedious than glamorous. The paratroop landing provides a spectacular five minutes. Other action footage is routine. Harsh, but some truth there. Others talked of a top-heavy complement of stars never allows for any focus of attention. But, I guess, that's Attenborough in a love-in with his mates. The movie was shunned by American critics and completely ignored at Oscar time. Another reason would have been that it criticised the Allied campaign. Americans don't 'do' failure.

2016 DVD