A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Operation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writers:

Cornelius Ryan (based on the book by), William Goldman (screenplay by)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal, Michael Caine

Won 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Siem Vroom	...	Underground Leader
Marlies van Alcmaer	...	Underground Leader's Wife (as Marlies Van Alcmaer)
Erik van 't Wout	...	Underground Leader's Son (as Eric Van't Wout)
Wolfgang Preiss	...	Field Marshal Gerd Von Rundstedt
Hans von Borsody	...	Gen. Blumentritt (as Hans Von Borsody)
Josephine Peeper	...	Cafe Waitress
Dirk Bogarde	...	Lt .Gen. Browning
Paul Maxwell	...	Maj. Gen. Maxwell Taylor
Sean Connery	...	Maj. Gen. Urquhart
Ryan O'Neal	...	Brig. Gen. Gavin
Gene Hackman	...	Maj. Gen. Sosabowski
Walter Kohut	...	Field Marshal Model
Peter Faber	...	Capt. 'Harry' Bestebreurtje
Hartmut Becker	...	German Sentry
Frank Grimes	...	Maj. Fuller

Storyline

The true story of Operation Market Garden, the Allies attempt, in September 1944, to hasten the end of World War II by driving through Belgium and Holland into Germany. The idea was for U.S. airborne divisions to take the towns of Eindhoven and Nijmegen and a British airborne division, reinforced by a Polish airborne brigade, to take the town of Arnhem. They would be reinforced, in due course and in turn, by the British XXX Corps, land-based and driving up from the British lines in the south. The key to the operation was the bridges, as if the Germans held or blew them, the paratroopers could not be relieved. Faulty intelligence, Allied high command hubris, and stubborn German resistance would ensure that Arnhem was a bridge too far.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1944 | nazi officer | bridge | allies | operation market garden | 

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Taglines:

Mothers would lose their sons, wives, their husbands, girls their lovers, children their fathers and thousands of gallant young men would perish fighting against impossible odds, for a mission that would change the meaning of the word courage for all time...and for a bridge. A lousy bridge.

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film includes an event in which a British staff officer brought a complete Corps-level operations order with maps and graphics, which was never supposed to leave Britain, with him on a transport glider and then inadvertently left it on the glider when it landed in Holland. The Germans eventually overran the glider landing zone and found the operations order. But the Germans were convinced that this was a set of fake documents planted for deception by the British, and actually maneuvered contrary to what the documents indicated for the first few days of the battle. This was a result of Operation Mincemeat, prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily 14 months earlier, in which British Military Intelligence prepared a corpse wearing a Royal Marine staff officer's uniform and lifejacket, and with a courier briefcase handcuffed to its wrist which contained documents indicating that the target of the impending Allied invasion was Sardinia and not Sicily. The corpse was dropped by submarine off a beach in Spain where the British knew that the pro-German Franco regime would likely find the corpse and documents and pass the information in the documents to the Germans. The plan succeeded in diverting several German divisions from Sicily to Sardinia, and was the subject of the film The Man Who Never Was (1956).

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Goofs

Lt. General Horrocks states during the drive up the road that "It'll be dark soon". However, the short shadows of vehicles and buildings clearly show that it is the middle of the day.

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Quotes

General Ludwig: Forgive me, but there is a battle. And we are in the process of winning it.
Dr. Jan Spaander: Winning and losing is not our concern - living and dying... is.

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Alternate Versions

German theatrical version was edited (violence and dialogue) by ca. 12,5 minutes to secure a "Not under 12" rating (an additional scene was removed in the TV version). This version was used for all home video releases before DVD. For the DVD release in 2003 MGM put back all the scenes cut for violence but not the dialogue scenes, which were not dubbed in 1977.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Military Operations Hollywood Got Right (2018)

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Soundtracks

3rd Movement
(from Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, BWV. 1051) (uncredited)
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Better than I Remember

Even a relatively bad Richard Attenborough movie is a classic.

The final scene with Liv Ulman and Lawrence Olivier evacuating their estate turned into a graveyard is practically worth the price of admission by itself.

This is a sweeping, big budget epic movie with a star-studded cast. Definitely unfocused, but Attenborough pulls it off with considerable historical accuracy and his signature deft touch retelling of this sprawling military debacle. He makes excellent use of his tremendous cast, instead of just having them making appearances. He has plenty of subtle touches like that final scene.

The reception of the movie was hurt I think by its proximity to the Vietnam war. But it has aged very well.

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English German Dutch Polish Latin

Release Date:

15 June 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Bridge Too Far

Filming Locations:

J.F. Gronoviusstraat, Deventer, Overijssel, Netherlands

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$50,750,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$50,750,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Joseph E. Levine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

175 min 160 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1