A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far
original film poster
Directed by	Richard Attenborough
Produced by	Joseph E. Levine, Richard Levine
Written by	Cornelius Ryan (book) William Goldman (screenplay)
Starring	Dirk Bogarde James Caan Michael Caine Sean Connery Edward Fox Anthony Hopkins Hardy Krüger Laurence Olivier Robert Redford Maximilian Schell
Music by	John Addison
Cinematography	Geoffrey Unsworth, BSC
Editing by	Antony Gibbs
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	June 15, 1977
Running time	176 min.
Country	United States language = English
Budget	$22 million

A Bridge Too Far is a 1977 American epic war film based on the 1974 book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, adapted by William Goldman. It was produced by Joseph E. Levine and Richard P. Levine and directed by Richard Attenborough.^[1]

The film tells the story of Operation Market-Garden during World War II, and its ultimate failure, the Allied attempt to break through German lines and seize several bridges, including the bridge over the Lower Rhine (Neder Rijn) River, in the occupied Netherlands, with the main objective of Allied armoured troops outflanking the Siegfried Line at its northern extremity.

The name for the film comes from an unconfirmed comment made by British Lieutenant-General Frederick A.M. Browning, deputy commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, who told Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, the operation's architect, before the operation, "I think we may be going a bridge too far."^[2]

The ensemble cast includes 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. The music for the film was scored by John Addison, who was a soldier with the British XXX Corps during Operation Market Garden.^[3]

Plot

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Introduction and planning

The film begins with a montage of actual archival film footage and narrated by a Dutch woman, Kate Ter Horst (Liv Ullmann), describing the state of affairs five years into the war. D-Day had come and gone and the Allies are bogged down by overextended supply lines. Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had to decide between U.S. General George S. Patton and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, each of whom had competing plans for ending the war quickly, and being the first to get to Berlin. Under political pressure, Eisenhower chose Montgomery's Operation Market Garden. In September, 1944, the Allies are advancing but have paused in Belgium, near Lommel.

A Dutch family, part of the Dutch resistance underground, observes the German withdrawal toward Germany and awaits the impending arrival of Allied forces. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt (Wolfgang Preiss) arrives in the Netherlands and discovers he has few resources in men or equipment and morale is very poor. The underground resistance leader (Siem Vroom), along with his 13-year old son (Erik van 't Wout), keep careful notes of German troops evacuating throughout Arnhem, information he will later pass on to the Dutch resistance.

Operation Market Garden envisions 35,000 men being flown 300 miles from air bases in England and being dropped as much as 64 miles behind enemy lines in the Netherlands. The largest airborne assault ever attempted, with Browning saying that "We're going to lay a carpet, as it were, of airborne troops, over which 30th corps can pass."^[4], and confidently suggests that "We shall seize the bridges - it's all a question of bridges - with thunderclap surprise, and hold them until they can be secured."^[5] by Allied mechanised units, the 20,000 vehicles led by XXX Corps. Arnhem's bridge crosses the Lower Rhine (Neder Rijn) River, the last major river between the Allies and the German heartland, and seizure of the bridge will allow vast Allied armies to turn east into Germany.

The plan is to begin in seven days time, and for XXX Corps to reach Arnhem two days after the drop. The U.S. 101st Airborne Division, under Major General Maxwell D. Taylor (Paul Maxwell), is responsible for the road and bridges from the north side of Eindhoven to the south side of the Maas (Meuse) River at Grave. The U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, under Brigadier General James M. Gavin (Ryan O'Neal) is responsible for the bridge crossing the Maas, and from the north side of the Maas to the north side of the Waal River bridge, just north of Nijmegen. The 1st British Airborne, under Major-General Robert E. Urquhart (Sean Connery) is to land northwest of Oosterbeek, and take and hold the north side of the Lower Rhine River to the bridge at Arnhem. The Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, Polish Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski (Gene Hackman), are to secure the south side of the Lower Rhine and make contact with Lieutenant-Colonel John Dutton Frost (Anthony Hopkins), and Second Battalion, who is to work his way east along the banks of the river. XXX Corps, lead by Lieutenant-General Brian G. Horrocks (Edward Fox), and spearheaded by Lieutenant-Colonel John O.E. Vandeleur (Michael Caine) on point, are to cross the Maas-Schelde Canal on the north side of Lommel and push up the road, as quickly as possible, to Arnhem. Hooking up, and linking, with the U.S. 101st, U.S. 82nd, and finally British 1st, at the Lower Rhine River bridge.

Field Marshal von Rundstedt and Field Marshal Walter Model (Walter Kohut) agree that American General Patton will be chosen to invade the Netherlands. SS-Lieutenant General Wilhelm Bittrich's (Maximilian Schell) II SS Panzer Corps (includes 9th SS and 10th SS Panzer divisions) is due for a rest, off the front lines. Rundstedt suggest they be pulled back to Arnhem and Model agrees.

Polish Major General Sosabowski (Gene Hackman) remains silent during the Market Garden command briefing, after which he voices his deep doubts 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 (no major drop had been previously attempted) 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 Field Marshal 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 German troops.

A young British intelligence officer, Major Fuller (in the film; actually Brian Urquhart; played by Frank Grimes), asks the British commander, Lieutenant-General Frederick A.M. Browning (Dirk Bogarde), to allow another low level reconnaissance mission of the Arnhem area. This follows after he disagrees with the general consensus among the British top brass that resistance will consist entirely of "Hitler Youth or old men".^[6] His request is granted.

British commanders planning the drop note that they are badly short of transport aircraft and the area near Arnhem is ill-suited for a landing. They will have to land in an open area eight miles (13 km) from the bridge. Sosabowski walks up to check the R.A.F briefing officer's (Jeremy Kemp) uniform insignia and says "Just making sure whose side you're on."

In a briefing led by General Urquhart (Sean Connery), describing 1st British Airborne plan at Arnhem, tells that the key for the eight mile distance from the drop zone to the bridge, is the use of gliders to bring in a special reconnaissance squadron with Jeeps, and mounted with twin Vickers machine guns. Everyone at the briefing is surprised they are going to attempt a landing so far from the bridge, but of course they have to make the best of it. Browning lays out that if any one group fails, the entire operation fails. As British officers, they keep a "stiff upper lip" and do not question their orders. Sosabowski thinks about asking for a letter from General Browning (Dirk Bogarde), stating that he is being forced to act under Browning's order in case his men are massacred.

British technical support preparing the portable radios for the mission note they are not likely to work for the long distance from the drop zone to the Arnhem bridge. Lieutenant Cole (Peter Settelen) who used the radio equipment in the desert of North Africa, had no trouble with it. But, Cole's superior, Major Robert Steele (Stephen Moore) thinks that the water and trees of Holland will cause the radios not to work. As with most others with doubts about the mission, they choose not to rock the boat and do not convey their concerns up the chain of command.

Learning a German armoured (Panzer) division might be near the Arnhem area, intelligence officer Major Fuller (Frank Grimes) brings the reconnaissance photos to General Browning and it is quite clear German tanks are present at Arnhem. Browning speculates the tanks are not in fully serviceable condition, dismisses the photos, and also ignores the confirmation reports from the Dutch underground. Browning does not want to be the one to tell Montgomery of any doubts because 16 consecutive previous airborne drop operations have been cancelled. Major Fuller's concerns are brushed off and he is actually removed from duty, and informed by a British doctor (Gerald Sim) whose diagnosis is that the officer is too stressed to perform his duties.

At the ground forces (XXX Corps) 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 in the Netherlands and an excellent route to Germany for Allied forces who hope to finish the war by Christmas. The major road that connects Lommel with Arnhem (Lommel-Valkenswaard-Eindhoven-Son-Veghel-Uden-Grave-Nijmegen-Elst-Arnhem) is only a single highway linking the various key bridges. It is passable for two regular cars, but trucks and tanks have to squeeze to the shoulder to pass. The road is also elevated, approximately three to six feet, causing anything moving on the road to stand out.

Operation begins

The initial phases of Market Garden go as planned, the airborne drops catch the Germans totally by surprise, and there is little to no resistance. Additionally there are no Axis aircraft to push the troop transports off their landing zones. Most of the men come down in soft, ploughed fields, and assemble quickly. The drop for the 101st was the best they had during the war. The men were more likely to get hit by falling equipment than get shot by the Germans. Model, thinking that the Allies must be trying to capture him personally, doesn't think about the bridge, but panics and retreats from Arnhem. General Gavin (Ryan O'Neal) breaks two discs in his back during his landing. However, soon after landing, troubles beset Urquhart's division. Much of the special reconnaissance squadron, lead by Freddie Gough, with the special Jeeps (with Vickers machine guns), either doesn't arrive by gliders at all or are shot up in an ambush. Their radio sets are also useless, meaning no contact can be made with either paratroopers moving into Arnhem or XXX Corp. Meanwhile, Bittrich and his subordinate, General Ludwig (Hardy Krüger), realise the situation and send forces to reinforce Nijmegen and Arnhem. When a German soldier captures the actual plans for Market Garden from an abandoned glider, Model brushes them off as fake, but still knows they will be able to repel the paratroopers.

Expected German resistance begins slowing XXX Corps' progress immediately, and they do not arrive in Eindhoven when planned. The advance is also curtailed by the narrow highway. As the 506th of the 101st, led by Colonel Robert Stout (Elliott Gould), approaches the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal, at Son (Zon), German 88 mm guns blow the bridge up in their face. It takes 36 hours to bring up Bailey bridging equipment and construct a bridge. XXX Corps meets up with the 82nd Airborne Division, who have taken the Grave bridge, allowing XXX Corp to progress, but not the Waal Bridge at Nijmegen. There, part of the division, led by US Major Julian Cook (Robert Redford), is forced to perform a dangerous daylight river crossing in flimsy canvas-and-wood assault boats. As the British cross the bridge, the Germans attempt to destroy it, but the demolition charges do not go off. However, it makes no difference: the XXX Corps' progress is still slow and the Germans close in on the 1st Airborne, as they were not expecting to fight two SS Panzer Divisions. Frost's British paratroopers do take and occupy part of Arnhem around the bridge, but are isolated can only hold so long. To make matters worse, Urquhart is separated from his men, and the supply drop zones are overrun by the Germans. The initial German attack on the paratroopers at the bridge is repelled with many German casualties, but they are still hard-pressed, and forced to ward off a second, more devastating attack. British Armour continues to fight its way up the corridor, but is hopelessly delayed by various events.

Operation ends

After securing Nijmegen Bridge, XXX Corps waits several hours for its infantry forces to finish securing the town, much to General Gavin's disappointment. Finally Sosabowski's troops enter the battle. They attempt to rescue the British in Arnhem, but fail. With the Germans fully alert, they gun down several Polish troops during their drop. They are only able to get a few men across to reinforce the British. After days of house-to-house fighting in Arnhem, with paratroops versus crack SS infantry and Panzers, many of the paras are either captured or forced to withdraw. The dialogue between Frost and Model's adjutant requesting surrender, and getting a reply the paras do not have the facilities to accept German surrender, never took place. Instead Obersturmbannführer Heinz Harmel, commander of the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg, selected a British prisoner, Sergeant Stanley Halliwell ^[7], and sent him into the British perimeter to request that Frost surrender his forces. After arriving, Halliwell explained what Harmel wants; Frost gave Halliwell a message for Harmel to “Go to hell.”, as is portrayed in the movie. Halliwell then told Frost, “If it’s all the same to you, Colonel, I’ll stay. Jerry [the Germans] will get the message sooner or later.”^[8] Operation Market Garden has failed. Urquhart manages to escape capture with less than two thousand of his troops, the remainder are forced to stay behind and give themselves up. Urquhart confronts Browning about his personal feeling about the operation, which was determined to have been 90% successful by a satisfied Montgomery. Browning replies "I always felt we tried to go a bridge too far."

Cast and roles (Allies)

Source: A Bridge Too Far at the Internet Movie Database||

Cast and roles (Germans)

Source: A Bridge Too Far at the Internet Movie Database

Cast and roles (Dutch)

Source: A Bridge Too Far at the Internet Movie Database

Military consultants

• Colonel John Waddy
• Major General John Dutton Frost
• General James M. Gavin
• Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks
• Major General Roy Urquhart
• Brigadier J.O.E. Vandeleur

Source: Goldman, William Goldman's Story of a Bridge Too Far

Production

Air filming was done in the first weeks of September 1976, culminating in a series of air drops of a total of 1,000 men, together with the dropping of supplies from a number of Dakota aircraft. The Dakotas were gathered by the film company Joseph E. Levine Presents Incorporated. All aircraft were required to be CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) or FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) registered and licensed to carry passengers. An original deal for the purchase of ten fell through when two airframes were rejected as passenger configured without the necessary jump doors. Eleven Dakotas were procured. Two Portuguese, ex-Portuguese Air Force, 6153, and 6171, (N9984Q and N9983Q), and two Air International Dakotas, operating from Djibouti in French Somaliland, F-OCKU and F-OCKX, (N9985Q and N9986Q) were purchased by Joseph E. Levine. Three Danish Air Force, K-685, K-687, and K-688, and four Finnish Air Force C-47s, DO-4, DO-7, DO-10 and DO-12, were loaned for the duration of the parachute filming.

Aircraft 6171 doubled as the camera ship on most formations, with a camouflaged Piper Aztec, G-AWDI. A camera was mounted in the astrodome, one on the port upper mainplane surface, with a third camera on the outside of the forward port cabin window and a fourth under the aircraft centre section. In addition, centre escape hatches were removed to make additional camera ports available, provided that no troops were aboard during filming. A second Aztec, G-ASND, was a back-up camera ship on some shots, but it was not camouflaged. An Alouette, G-BDWN, was also employed. After a mishap with G-AWDI, two locally-hired Cessna 172s, PH-GVP and PH-ADF, were also used. Ten Horsa glider replicas were built, but a wind storm damaged almost all of them. Seven or eight were hastily repaired for the shoot. The replica gliders were tail-heavy and required a support post under the rear fuselage, with camera angles carefully chosen to avoid revealing this. Dakota 6153 was fitted with tow gear and Horsa replicas were towed at high speed, though none went airborne. A two-seat Blaník sail-plane, provided by a member of the London Gliding Club, Dunstable, was towed aloft for the interior take-off shots.

Four Harvards portrayed American and German fighters. Their original identities were PH-KLU, PH-BKT, B-64 and B-118, the latter two aircraft loaned by the Royal Netherlands Air Force. These were flown by members of the Gilze Rijen Aero Club, which also provided an Auster III, PH-NGK, which depicted an Auster V, RT607, in wartime camouflage. Spitfire Mk. IX, MH434, depicting a photo reconnaissance variant, coded AC-S, was lent by the Hon. Patrick Lindsay, and was flown by aerobatic champion Neil Williams.^[28]

The scenes around the 'Arnhem' bridge were actually shot in Deventer, where a similar bridge over the IJssel was still available. Although the original bridge in Arnhem still existed, it was by the mid-1970s sitting in a 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 centre) and the main church can be seen.

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 differ considerably from the book, which led to the failure of the attack.

An episode of the Dutch TV history programme Andere Tijden (site in Dutch) (English: Different Times) about the making of this movie stated that producer Joseph E. Levine told the Deventer town government that their town should host 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.

Facts and figures

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (May 2009)

• 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, with whom he had worked 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 for which he was being paid $3 million. Levine turned him down and Redford agreed to play the part for $2 million.^[1]
• 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 3 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 that all actors playing corpses keep their eyes closed.^[1]
• Michael Caine's scripted line to order the column of tanks and armoured 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'", which is what Caine says in the film as released. Vandeleur was apparently enamoured of Caine playing him, telling him that he was taller and more handsome than in reality.
• Edward Fox had known General Horrocks before working on the film, and considered him a friend; thus, Fox took great care to portray him accurately. Years later, he would cite his portrayal of Horrocks as his favorite film role.^[29]
• Dirk Bogarde had known General Browning personally, from his time on Field Marshall Montgomery's staff during the war, and took issue with the film's largely negative portrayal of the General.
• Sean Connery initially turned down his role, fearing that the film would glamorize a military disaster, but changed his mind after reading the finished screenplay.
• Audrey Hepburn (who had lived in Holland during Market-Garden) was the first choice to play Kate Ter Horst, but declined due to low salary. Roger Moore was the first choice to play Horrocks but his contractual commitment to The Spy Who Loved Me prevented him from taking the part.
• Steven Spielberg's idea for putting his Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers 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.

Reception

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Reviews of A Bridge too Far have been mixed, but it holds a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a 2 out of 4 stars. Dennis Schwartz of Ozus World Movie Reviews graded the film C+ and wrote "Though overlong, muddled, ponderous and overbaked, it's not without some impressive moments." Steve Crum of Video-Review Master gave the film a 3 out of 5 stars, and wrote "Dozens of stars do not a classic WWII flick make. James Caan fares the best of them all in a memorable sequence." Emanuel Levy of Emanuel Levy.com gave a negative review of 2 out of 5 stars. However James Rocchi of Netflix gave the film a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. Peter Canavese of Groucho reviews gave the movie a positive review of 3.5 out of 4 stars.

See also

• War film
• Theirs is the Glory
• A Bridge Too Far (book)
• Operation Market Garden

Notes

References

• Arthur, Max, Forgotten Voices of the Second World War: A new history of world war two in the words of the men and women who were there, Ebury Press, 2004
• Goldman, William (1977). William Goldman's Story of a Bridge Too Far. Coronet Books. ISBN 0-340-22340-5.  [NB: Book has no page numbers]
• Ryan, Cornelius (1974). A Bridge Too Far. Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-340-19941-5. 
• Waddy, Colonel John (1977). "The Making of a Bridge Too Far". After the Battle (London: Plaistow Press) (17): 10-34. 
• Ambrose, Stephen E. & Immerman, Richard H., Ike's spies: Eisenhower and the espionage establishment, University Press of Mississippi, 1999

External links

• A Bridge Too Far at the Internet Movie Database
• A Bridge Too Far at Allmovie
• A Bridge Too Far at the TCM Movie Database
• A Bridge too far at http://www.britishcinemagreats.com/films_page/a_bridge_too_far/a_bridge_too_far_page_one.htm"