A Bridge Too Far 1977

     This film is based on a novel by Cornelius Ryan.  It is a portrayal of the true story of Operation Market Garden.  This was an attempt by the Allies in September 1944 to hasten the end of WWII.  American General Gavin and British General Urquhart are in charge of a combined British and American paratrooper force.  Soldiers also drove through Belgium and Holland into Germany.  The US airborne divisions were to take the towns of Eindhoven and Nijmegen.  A British airborne division reinforced by a Polish airborne brigade were to take the town of Arnhem.  The British XXX Corps, land-based and driving up from the British lines in the south were reinforcements.  Bridges were the key to the operation.  If the Germans held the bridges or blew them up, paratroopers could not be relieved.  Unfortunately, there was faulty intelligence!! Allied high command stuffed shirts and stubborn German resistance forces would be a huge complication. 
     This film seems like it could have been produced by the History Channel.  There are many maps, narrations and many tactical discussions.  The ensemble cast is great and the characterization is good.  One major weakness is that the film gives away the battle results too early.  The battles are a mixture of thrilling and terrifying.  They make you become involved in the film and what is happening.  The biggest fault of this film is the extended run time.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
    
160 min, directed by Richard Attenborough and written by William Goldman with Siem Vroom, Marlies van Alcmaer, Erik van’t Wout, Wolfgang Preiss, Hans von Borsody, Josephine Peeper, Dirk Bogarde, Paul Maxwell, Sean Connery, Ryan O’Neal, Gene Hackman, Walter Kohut, Peter Faber, Harmut Becker, Frank Grimes.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10 with 49,098 views, Rotten Tomatoes 63% with 24 critics 86% user score with 43,213 ratings, Roger Ebert 2*, empire online 3* out of 5* Ian Nathan, Amazon 4.4* out of 1,338 reviews, Goodreads gives the book 4.32 average with19,5050 ratings and published in 1959.

Special Note:  In order to keep high costs down, all star-name actors agreed to participate on a “favoured-nation” basis.  They would all receive the same weekly fee of $250,000 per week (the 2012 equivalent of $1,008,250 or 642,000 lire.  Shooting scenes on the Bridge at Nijmegen was dubbed the “Million-Dollar Hour.”  Due to heavy traffic, the crew could film only between 3 and 9 o’clock on October 3, 1976.  Failure to complete the scene would require rescheduling at a cost of one million dollars or more.  Attenborough insisted that all actors playing corpses keep their eyes closed!!  United Artists paid $6 million for US and Canada distribution rights.  It was a box office disappointment in North America but performed well in Europe.  American critics shunned and ignored this film during Oscar time because it dared to expose the fatal inadequacies of the Allied campaign?  Impressively staged and historically accurate but too long and too repetitive.  Others have stated that there are historical inaccuracies and the film should be viewed as a Hollywood interpretation of events?? 

Awards: Evening Standard British Film Award Best Film; 31st British Academy Film Awards, Best Sound, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edward Fox), Best Film Music (John Addison), Best Cinematography (Geoffrey Unsworth), 1977 Nat Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actor (Edward Fox).