A Bridge Too Far

I nicknamed this Richard Attenborough film An Hour Too Long as length is one of its problems.

The other is the assemblage of stars – Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Lawrence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, Liv Ullmann, Robert Redford, James Caan, Elliot Gould, Maximilian Schell, Hardy Kruger, Edward Fox and the controversial depiction of General Browning by Dirk Bogarde.

You can picture every star emerging from his trailer to do his turn and Michael Caine and Sean Connery are unconvincing as officers.

You really need a Jack Hawkins or Robert Mitchum who both looked resplendent in uniform and had authority.

By the second hour it’s difficult to identify the battle zone though the theme of British officers as upper class ninnies is consistent.

Generally war movies reflect successful conflicts not failures.

The failure was not so much planning as intelligence as that received from Dutch resistance was flawed.

Consequently the Allies underestimated the Wehrmacht forces in calibre and resolve. It was a valiant but deeply flawed operation.

The film was not much better.