The Longest Day

Cornelius Ryan's 1959 nonfiction book of the same name was adapted into The Longest Day, an American epic war film of 1962. It recounts the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, following the operation from the American, British, French and German perspectives — from the invasion's planning through the airborne drops to the desperate fight to gain a foothold on the beaches. Its title echoes a remark attributed to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who warned before the invasion that the first twenty-four hours would decide Germany's fate and that it would be the longest day for both sides. Darryl F. Zanuck produced the picture for 20th Century Fox, while three directors divided the work: Ken Annakin handled the British and French sequences, Andrew Marton the American ones and Bernhard Wicki the German scenes, each shot in the appropriate language. Shot in black and white, the film assembles a vast international ensemble — John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Sean Connery and many others — often in little more than cameo roles. Hailed by critics and a major box-office success, it became the era's highest-grossing black-and-white film and won Academy Awards for black-and-white cinematography and special effects from five nominations, including Best Picture.