A Bridge Too Far (film)

A Bridge Too Far
original film poster
Directed by	Richard Attenborough
Written by	William Goldman
Produced by	Joseph E. Levine, Richard Levine
Starring	Dirk Bogarde James Caan Michael Caine Sean Connery Edward Fox Elliott Gould Gene Hackman Anthony Hopkins Hardy Krüger Ryan O'Neal Laurence Olivier Robert Redford Maximilian Schell Liv Ullmann
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	1977
Running time	176 min.
Language	English

A Bridge Too Far is a 1977 film based on the 1974 book of the same name.

The film tells the story of Operation Market Garden, a failed Allied attempt to break through German lines at Arnhem in the occupied Netherlands during World War II. It was directed by Richard Attenborough and featured an ensemble cast of many film stars. The name for the film comes from a comment made by British Lt Gen Frederick Browning, deputy commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, who told Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery before the operation, "I think we may be going a bridge too far."

Directed by Richard Attenborough and featuring an ensemble cast of many film stars, including Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Elliott Gould, Edward Fox, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Kemp, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Liv Ullmann, Maximilian Schell, Hardy Krüger and Ryan O'Neal with Special Guest Alan Tattershall as 'Private Sooty's Cousin', the music for the film was scored by John Addison, who was a soldier with the British XXX Corps during Operation Market Garden.

Template:Spoiler The film begins with a description of the state of affairs five years into the war. D-Day had come and gone and the allies were bogged down by overextended supply lines. Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had to decide between General Patton (U.S.) and Field Marshal Montgomery (UK), each of whom had competing plans for ending the war quickly. Under political pressure, Eisenhower chose Montgomery's Operation Market Garden.

In September, 1944, the Allies are advancing but have paused in Belgium. A family observes the German withdrawal and celebrates the arrival of Allied forces. A new German field marshal arrives and discovers he has few resources in men or equipment and morale is very poor. A local Dutch teenager keeps careful notes of German troops evacuating through his town, information he will later pass on to the Belgian resistance.

Operation Market Garden envisions 35,000 men being flown 300 miles behind enemy lines in the Netherlands, laying a "carpet of airborne troops" to seize the bridges with "thunderclap surprise" and holding them until they can be taken over by following allied ground troops. Arnhem is to be the final bridge, the bridge which turns out to be "too far".

Gene Hackman plays the Polish General who says nothing during the Market Garden command briefing, after which he voices his doubt that the plan can work. He is one of two dissident voices that are shuttled aside but correctly forecast defeat. American command worries about parachuting in daylight but note it is a "no moon period" anyway meaning a night drop would be difficult.

The Dutch teenager manages to pass through German lines and discover that German Field Marshal Walter Model is at the German command HQ, an important bit of information for the underground because Model is a prominent figure and is always accompanied by crack German troops.

A young British intelligence officer asks British command to allow another low level recon mission of the landing zone. Later, learning a German Panzer tank division (Model's unit) is near the drop zone, his concerns are also brushed off and he is actually removed from duty by a British doctor who claims he is too stressed to perform his duties.

British commanders planning the drop note they are badly short of landing aircraft and the area near Arnhem is ill-suited for a landing. They will have to land 8 miles from the bridge. Hackman gets his best line when he walks up to check the British officers uniform insignia and says "Just making sure whose side you're on" implying that the plan is so dangerous that it could only have been drafted by the enemy. The Dutch teen is on his bike when he sees the British Spitfire recon aircraft photographing the Panzer division and sees the tanks himself, hidden in the forest line. British officers briefing: everyone is surprised they are going to attempt a landing 8 miles from the bridge but of course they have to make the best of it, Brits are famous for keeping a "stiff upper lip".

British technical support preparing the portable radios for the mission note they are not likely to work for the 8 miles from the drop zone to Arnhem bridge. As with most others questioning the mission, they choose not to rock the boat and do not convey their concerns up the chain of command. But the young British intelligence officer does show the British commander the recon pictures and it is quite clear the Panzer division is staged at Arnhem. The British commander speculates the tanks are not operative and dismisses the photos, also ignoring the reports from the Dutch underground which were courtesy of the teenage boy.

At the ground forces (Thirty Corp) briefing, the overall plan is outlined, laying out the bridges that will be taken by the paratroopers, held and then secured by ground forces. Speed is the vital factor. Arnhem must be reached within 2-3 days. It is the crucial bridge, the last means of escape for the German forces and the last route to Germany for Allied forces who hope to finish the War by Christmas by virtue of Operation Market Garden. There is only a single highway for the advance.

The initial phases of Market Garden go as planned but the German Panzers cause heavy losses for Thirty Corp. The advance is also slowed by the single lane highway. The paratroopers do take and hold Arnhem in some exciting battle scenes, but can only hold so long. Thirty Corp never makes it to Arnhem and the paratroopers are forced to withdraw, Operation Market Garden has failed.

The scenes around the 'Arnhem' bridge were actually shot in Deventer, where a similar bridge over the IJssel was still available. The bridge at Arnhem, while still unchanged from 1944, was by the mid-1970s sitting in modern urban surroundings which could not be used to portray a 1940s city. A few scenes were shot in Zutphen, where the old municipality house (a white building which in the film featured the Nazi command center) and the main church can be seen.

Taken from DVD packaging: "An epic retelling of World War II's most tragic blunder, A Bridge Too Far meticulously depicts the ambitious plan which resulted in more Allied casualties than the entire Normandy landing. Painstakingly recreated on actual battlefield locations and boasting a remarkable all-star cast, A Bridge Too Far accurately recaptures the monumental scope, excitement and danger behind one of the biggest military gambles in history."

The movie's treatment of military history is somewhat misleading compared to the original book; in particular, the reasons for the delay in XXX Corps reaching the Arnhem bridge, which led to the failure of the attack, differ considerably from the book.

According to an episode of the Dutch TV history programme Andere Tijden (site in Dutch) (English: Different Times) about the making of this movie, the producer Joseph E. Levine told the Deventer town government that their town should get the world premiere for A Bridge Too Far, on June 14 1977. This never came to be, though, and Deventer even missed out on the Dutch premiere, which was held in Amsterdam.

The film was never intended to be a literal retelling of the book, and certain liberties were understandably taken. Nevertheless, it tried for an admirable degree of accuracy, presenting one of the most realistic portrayals of a World War II battle within the confines of the movie format.

• The biggest example of artistic license was having Robert Redford take the Nijmegen bridge. In reality, British troops captured it.
• During the conference between Model and von Rundstedt where they discuss moving II SS Panzer Corps to Arnhem, the marker designating that unit incorrectly reads, "II SS Panzer Div".
• German military policeman properly wear the appropriate gorget while on duty.
• The "such power at my disposal" dialogue attributed to General Bittrich as he watched the massive Allied air armada was actually only thought by German paratroop expert General Student.
• On the German side, there was no "Maj. Gen. Ludwig". He is a composite of Generals Harzer and Harmel of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions. In the film's meeting between "Ludwig" and Bittrich right after the initial British landings, Bittrich says he'll handle Arnhem and that Ludwig should deal with the Allied troops in Nijmegen. In reality, the 9th SS (Harzer) was ordered to deal with the British in Arnhem and the 10th SS (Harmel) was ordered to Nijmegen.
• British tanks are of the right color, and impressively, wear the appropriate divisional insignia of the Guards Armoured division. However, there are no short-barrelled 75 mm Shermans in evidence, which should still be the predominant type in service in late 1944.
• The anti-tank guns used by the Germans defending against XXX Corps' advance look like 75 mm PAK 40s, which would be correct. However, their light grey color is wrong and the muzzle for some pieces are incorrect.
• In a road clearing operation, a British Guards Armored division tankdozer pushes a knocked out M24 Chaffee out of the road - but the British did not use M24s during that period.
• Unusually for a film of this period, many actors representing Waffen SS soldiers wore their correct distinctive uniforms. However, by 1944, the party insignia on the helmets of Waffen-SS soldiers was usually not worn.
• For the attack by the 9th SS Aufklärungs Abt, commanded by SS-Hauptsturmführer Graebner, it was understandably impossible to accurately recreate that unit's armored cars and half-tracks, although a reasonable attempt was made. Vehicles that somewhat resemble Sdkfz 231s and Sdkfz 222s were built for the film. Also, authentic Sdkfz 7 prime movers (atlthough Graebner's unit did not deploy those) and Kübelwagens were also used. The actor portraying Graebner rides in what looks like a Sdkfz 251/3 command/communications half-track which was correctly used by his HQ company. But in reality Graebner reportedly rode in a captured British Humber armored car.
• The vehicles of the 9th SS Aufklärungs Abt bear the correct insignia of the "Hohenstaufen" division, and the correct tactical sign for the unit. But their dark grey color is incorrect for German vehicles of this period.
• In reality, the first few German armored cars of Graebner's column made it across the bridge unscathed due to the fact that they took the defenders by surprise. The British had laid mines on the bridge's approaches and these were expertly avoided by the speeding German drivers.
• Leopard tanks of the Dutch Army portrayed German armor (presumably intended to be German Tigers). Their light grey color was incorrect for any German armor of WWII.
• When the lone "Tiger" attacks the British at Arnhem, it attacks from the southern end of the bridge. In reality, after Graebner's failed attack, no more German armored attacks came from that direction.
• In the film, the British kill or disperse the resting crew of a German tank, thus allowing General Urquhart to return to his headquarters. In reality, while a number of German tanks (including Royal Tigers) were lost in the battle to British PIATs and 6-pounders, in this case, he just waited for them to move off.
• On the American side, there was no "Col. Robert Stout" of the 101st Airborne. The character is based on Colonel Robert Sink, commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment whose troops were about to seize the Son River bridge when it blew up in their faces, and who hastily built a temporary bridge in its place. (Sink was portrayed by Dale Dye in the TV miniseries Band of Brothers, which also covered Operation Market-Garden.)
• In a few scenes filmed in Nijmegen, the Sint Stevenskerk (Saint Stevenschurch) isn't partially destroyed, which it was, because of the bombardment of February 22, 1944 by the Americans.

• Joseph E. Levine financed the $22 million budget himself. During the production, he would show footage from the film to distributors who would then pay him for distribution rights. By the time the film was finished, Levine had raised $26 million, putting the film $4 million in the black before it had even opened.
• To tempt the distributors, Levine needed to assemble an all-star cast. The principal players were paid $250, 000 a week, though Sean Connery held out for a total of $750, 000. The part of Major Cook came down to a choice between the two biggest box office stars, Steve McQueen and Robert Redford. Attenborough pushed for McQueen, who he had worked with as an actor on The Sand Pebbles and The Great Escape. But McQueen wanted $3 million, plus $50, 000 for his entourage, $470, 000 to buy a house he couldn't sell and to have his part scheduled so he could immediately begin production on another film he was being paid $3 million for. Levine turned him down and Redford agreed to play the part for $2 million.
• Shooting of the American-led assault on the Bridge at Nijmegen was dubbed the “Million-Dollar Hour”. Because of the heavy traffic, they had permission to film on the bridge between eight and nine o'clock on the 3rd October 1976, and if they couldn't shoot the scene, they would have to reschedule at a cost - including Redford's overtime - of at least a million dollars. For this reason, Attenborough insisted all corpses keep their eyes closed.
• Michael Caine's scripted line to order the column of tanks and armored cars into battle, was "Forward, go, charge". Luckily for Caine, Lieutenant Colonel Joe Vandeleur was on the set, so he could ask him what the actual line was. Vandeleur told him "I just said quietly into the microphone, 'Well, get a move on, then.'" And that's the line Caine spoke.
• Steven Spielberg's idea for putting his "Saving Private Ryan" actors through boot camp was originally done by Attenborough for this film. Attenborough put many of the extras/soldiers through a mini-boot camp and even had them housed in a barracks of sorts during filming.

• War film
• Theirs is the Glory
• Piet J. Kroonenberg

• Cornelius Ryan (1974). A Bridge Too Far. Coronet Books. ISBN 0-340-19941-5.

• A Bridge Too Far at IMDb
• A Bridge Too Far at AllMovie
• A Bridge Too Far at the TCM Movie Database