A documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen.A documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen.A documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 4 wins total
Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Self - Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force
- (as General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower)
Winston Churchill
- Self
- (archive footage)
Charles de Gaulle
- Self
- (archive footage)
Hermann Göring
- Self
- (archive footage)
Sam Levene
- Self - Commentator
- (voice)
Bernard L. Montgomery
- Self
- (archive footage)
George S. Patton
- Self
- (archive footage)
Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Self
- (archive footage)
Joseph Stalin
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (as Iosif Stalin)
Richard Attenborough
- Self - Commentator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Paddy Chayefsky
- Commentator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Richard Fallon
- Self
- (uncredited)
Joseph Goebbels
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Erwin Rommel
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- Garson Kanin(uncredited)
- Carol Reed(uncredited)
- Writers
- Harry Brown(uncredited)
- Paddy Chayefsky(uncredited)
- Frank Harvey(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to director Capt. Garson Kanin, when the movie won the 1945 Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature, the Oscar went to uncredited producer Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- Quotes
Commentator: This is our people's story, in their words.
- ConnectionsEdited into Dai-ni-ji sekai taisen (1954)
Featured review
........." a continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished."
Later documentaries and war films have combined to make this piece seem rather outmoded in manner and naively optimistic in tone whilst its powerful images now alas seem all too familiar.
At the time of course it must have packed quite a punch.
The editing of newsreel footage shared among others by co-directors Carol Reed and Garson Kanin, is superlative. Some of the front line cameramen of course would not have lived to see the film receive its Oscar as Best Documentary. Splendid score by William Alwyn.
Lots of familiar and uncredited voices here and the choice of Leslie Banks to declaim the somewhat purple prose is inspired following his role as Chorus in 'Henry V'.
An 'uncredited' name as cinematographer is that of Russ Meyer who went on to film 'action' of an altogether different sort!
The less successful aspects of the campaign are glossed over in keeping with its propogandist nature and the massive casualties are seen as the price to be paid for a job well done.
History has naturally overtaken the film and it is most unsettling now to see Joseph Stalin, who was handed millions of East Europeans on a plate at the Yalta Conference, being described as one of the 'architects of peace'! The following year another of those architects, Winston Churchill, delivered his 'Iron Curtain' speech. Well-intentioned and technically faultless this is a moving testament to human beings 'in extremis'.
helpful•30
- brogmiller
- Jul 15, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Den stora invasionen
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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