Der längste Tag (1962)
20KDer längste Tag: Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck. With Eddie Albert, Paul Anka, Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault. The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
“The previous comments about Canadian participation in the Normandy invasion were significant – insofar as there werenu0026#39;t very many. One of the five Normandy beaches was Canadian (Juno), but there is almost no mention of this in The Longest Day, and Iu0026#39;m sure that one would be hard pressed to find many Americans (and not a whole lot more Canadians) who know this. Unfortunately, it is movies such as this and other popular media that shape the historic knowledge of people on both sides of the border. In the near absence of Canadian content, I find it ironic that a young Canadian (Paul Anka) not only played a part in the movie as an American soldier, but also wrote the theme music. I find it also ironic that the legendary rifle used by US soldiers during WW2 and shown in this movie was designed by a Canadian as well (Garand is a French Canadian name). The cruelest irony, of course, is the fact that thousands of Canadian soldiers were maimed or lost there lives on 6 June 1944 and the days thereafter, with virtually no acknowledgement in this movie. I have always enjoyed watching this movie, but it is unfortunate that I must use my imagination to see in it the heroic and selfless wartime effort of my fatheru0026#39;s generation, in similar fashion to viewers in the US and UK.”
