A Bridge Too Far adapts Cornelius Ryan’s book about Operation Market Garden. Ryan also wrote a little book called The Longest Day that was made into one of my favorite movies. The screenplay was written by my favorite screenwriter, William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride). The movie features Michael Caine (Too Late the Hero, The Eagle Has Landed, Play Dirty, Victory) who may well be my favorite World War II movie actor.
Your favorite is probably in there too, unless it’s Lee Marvin (The Big Red One), who would be a really good choice, or Clint Eastwood (Where Eagles Dare, Kelly’s Heroes), who’s a perfectly good choice, or maybe John Mills (Dunkirk, Ice Cold in Alex)—okay, maybe your favorite actor isn’t in it, but a great many fine actors are in it, and Sean Connery (The Longest Day, The Hill), Edward Fox (The Battle of Britain) and Anthony Hopkins are among them and do a splendid job of acting.
Some people are a bit too enamored with PIATs, and I’m enabling them.
A Bridge Too Far is a splendidly crafted film. The music is appropriate, memorable and sometimes stirring, the action is realistic and exciting, and there are very few poor performances from the impressive cast. Some people say it is too long, but they are wrong.
It starts with a haunting and subdued voiceover read by Liv Ullmann, which ends,
In September 1944, Montgomery devised a new and spectacular plan code named ‘Market Garden.’ Eisenhower, under great pressure from his superiors, finally sided with Montgomery, and ‘Operation Market Garden’ became a reality. The plan, like so many plans in so many wars before it, was meant to end the fighting by Christmas, and bring the boys back home.
This introduction is economical and sets the tone for the whole movie because, of course, the fighting will not be over by Christmas. I mention the introduction because I despise most voiceover narration, but I like this for two reasons: it’s well written, it’s well performed, it’s short, and it’s only in the beginning of the movie.
Apparently, I like it for four reasons.
Though it is nearly three hours, the movie keeps moving and has very little extraneous material. There’s a small story with James Caan that could be safely cut out of the film, but it also has some great moments in it. Robert Redford gets more screen time than his role merits, but his role is important, and his performance is strong. He has to lead men (including Cliff from Cheers) on an extremely dangerous attack, and when asked by one of his captains what is coming, he says, “Well, someone’s come up with a real nightmare. A real nightmare.” The way he throws that line away, as if he’s talking to himself, is perfect.
It’s just well written. After the first battle, which helps establish how difficult it will be for ground troops to move as fast up the one road as the plan dictates, one officer asks Lt. Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur (Caine) “How the hell do they expect us to keep schedule on a road like this?”
Vandeleur replies, “You don’t know the worst. This bit we’re on now? . . . It’s the wide part.” Caine’s delivery here is great. And now I don’t know if I want to praise the writer, Goldman, or director Richard Attenborough, or just all the strong actors.
MIchael Caine and Edward Fox and a great many mechanized vehicles
This is the first battle, with Caine’s line and a walking artillery barrage, and German soldiers returning to their positions after artillery stops. Note also Caine gives an order into his radio that we have difficulty hearing because war is loud. This small touch seems very real.
Though I have a significant man crush on Michael Caine, Hopkins, as Lieutenant Colonel Frost, who commands the troops at the Arnhem bridge (the “too far” one), is the one to watch. The movement of his character throughout the film, where he begins wondering aloud if he should pack his dinner jacket for the parachute drop to holding the bridge for over a week under nearly constant attack, to silence in defeat, is the most important thematically, and his performance, while perhaps a little too British, is outstanding. He does make the mistake of running across a street while under fire, instead of walking like real leaders do. History Buffs mention this in their review of the film and its historical accuracy.
Hopkins in a later scene–without his dinner jacket.
Connery may be as important, and his performance is also strong.
The action is really good, but the talking parts are the best of any international war epic. To say the humor in this movie works far better than in most war movies is a bit of an understatement. It is quite funny at times, while still taking the situations seriously. This is, again, a credit to Goldman, Attenborough and the cast. In this clip they discuss drop zones and Connery and Jeremy Kemp (Operation Crossbow) are significantly more entertaining than John Wayne and Robert Ryan were in The Longest Day.
Gene Hackman plays a Polish General. I’m no expert—I just assume his Polish accent is bad. If someone can establish it’s a good one, I’ll apologize. He’s otherwise fine, and if that is an authentic Polish accent, he’s great.
This movie is long–all movies like this are long. I think this is the one that doesn’t feel long. I get more impatient for the action to start in Tora! Tora! Tora! and The Longest Day. But it is objectively longer. Wait–I just checked and The Longest Day is three minutes longer, but Tora! Tora! Tora! is over a half hour shorter and the 1976 Midway and The Battle of Britain are both a paltry two hours and twelve minutes.
These kind of movies are long and have parts where people talk about military matters. A Bridge Too Far has the best talking and combat that ranks with any of them, though the combat in The Longest Day is on a grander scale, and the action may be more exciting in Tora! Tora! Tora!
But look at these airborne troops landing. The scenes of the initial drops, from the gliders taking off, their towing cables slowly unraveling, until the men pack up their chutes after landing, is beautiful and grand. And look at this talky part, featuring Edward Fox and the movie’s jaunty theme. It’s entertaining and lays out the plan, so we can understand it.
These glider tow cables are just beautiful
I haven’t even mentioned Operation Market Garden veteran Dirk Bogarde’s (The Password Is Courage) performance as General Browning, so watch this clip.
Now I’m just doing a Chris Farley imitation. This movie is awesome–watch it.
Recommendation
I just learned it is available in steelbook, but it’s Region B/2, so buy a region-free player first.
Yikes! When I first posted this recommendation, the steelbook was at a price some would call reasonable. As I type this, it is listed at nearly fifty, which is a price I would not call reasonable.
I sold my DVD when I bought the basic Blu-ray, so I lost some special features that are kind of cool, so I might buy the Collector’s Edition before I bought the straight Blu-ray.