224 LONGEST DAY, THE
begin and German troops man fortifications and open fire. Gen. Roo se velt discov-
ers that his troops have landed at the wrong beach, a mile and a half south of their
intended destination but decides to proceed anyway. Two German fighter pilots—
Col. Josef “Pips” Priller (Heinz Reincke) and his wingman— strafe Gold- Juno
beaches, one of the only Luftwaffe sorties on D- Day. Allied fighters strafe a German
column, and Pluskat is wounded. Point de Hoc, 7:11 hours: U.S. Army Rangers use
ladders and ropes attached to grappling hooks to successfully scale the supposedly
impregnable 100- foot cliffs of Point du Hoc and take the German bunkers, but dis-
cover that the big guns they were supposed to take out were never installed. Lord
Lovat (Peter Lawford), accompanied by his personal bagpiper, leads reinforcements
to isolated British paratroopers at the Orne River Bridge. Cmdr. Kieffer and his Free
French commandos attack the seaside town of Ouistreham but meet heavy re sis -
tance. A group of nuns shows up in the middle of the battle to nurse the French
wounded. Then a U.S. Army tank appears on the scene and blasts the German
position to ruins, allowing the French to win the battle. Troops advance on the
beaches— except for Omaha Beach, where the assault falters, held back by a cement
wall that prevents the troops from advancing, but Brigadier General Cota rallies his
men. Sgt. John H. Fuller ( Jeffrey Hunter) blasts a clear path from the beach with a
dynamite charge. An American paratrooper comes across a dead German officer
who has been shot by Flying Officer David Campbell (Richard Burton), a downed
and wounded RAF pi lot. Burton concludes, “He’s dead. I’m crippled. You’re lost.
I suppose it’s always like that, war.” The G.I. asks wistfully, “I won der who won.”Reception
The Longest Day had its world premiere at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris on 25
September 1962, a six- hour gala event that was likely the most extravagant film
opening ever staged. Detachments of British, French, and American troops stood
ceremonial guard for the arrival of 2,700 guests, some of whom paid as much as $70
($583 in 2017 dollars) for a ticket. After the screening, there were fireworks at the
Eifel Tower, where Edith Piaf gave a free concert. There was also a champagne sup-
per for 400 of the guests, which included lots of Hollywood celebrities and 10
French cabinet ministers. The film had its U.S. opening in New York on 4 October
and its London opening a week later. Luckily for Darryl Zanuck and 20th Century
Fox, The Longest Day proved to be a box office smash, grossing $39.1 million domes-
tically and $11 million in foreign markets for a total of $50.1 million against a
$10 million production bud get. Reviews tended to be adulatory, like Bosley
Crowther’s: “The total effect of the picture is that of a huge documentary report,
adorned and colored by personal details that are thrilling, amusing, ironic, sad...
It is hard to think of a picture, aimed and constructed as this one was, doing any
more or any better or leaving one feeling any more exposed to the horror of war
than this one does” (Crowther, 5 October 1962). Later assessments have been more
discerning and insightful, for example, Scott Macdonald’s: “Despite its multiple
threads, it is overlong, with too much fat hanging off the narrative, becoming
bogged down early in tedious exposition, when it should be pushing forward
relentlessly, as the tension and drama builds... since it has multiple directors