A largely historically accurate depiction of the failed Operation Market Garden, this is a thrilling and engrossing epic war film which explores the absolute necessity of a great deal of preparation in staging a major military operation. Based on the 1974 book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, it concerns an attempt by the Allied Forces to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines. Had it been successful, it was hoped that World War II in Europe would be over by the end of 1944. However, as Kate ter Horst observes during her opening narration, victory by Christmas was a frequently expressed but seldom achieved hope in many previous wars and, sadly, this one was no different. Almost all of the participants' real names are used and several of them even served as military consultants. The film benefits from an absolutely fantastic script by William Goldman and first rate direction by Richard Attenborough in both the quieter character scenes and the hugely impressive battle scenes. The score by John Addison, himself a veteran of Market Garden appropriately enough, adds a great deal to the film. This is my 15th favourite film of all time and my second favourite World War II film after "The Great Escape" (in which Attenborough starred).
There are many reasons for the failure of Market Garden but the general consensus among historians seems to be that the major one was that Field Marshal Montgomery's plan was inherently flawed and poorly thought out. Monty is not depicted as a character but there is a great of criticism, albeit most of it implicit, levelled against him throughout the film. In reality, he died the year before the film was released. I imagine that he would have certainly taken issue with it otherwise. What is depicted in the film is an extreme reluctance to question his plan. This is best illustrated when a Cassandra-esque young officer named Major Fuller, played by the great Irish character actor Frank Grimes, is forced to take a leave of absence for "rocking the boat" when he points out its numerous inconsistencies and elements which are more reminiscent of wishful thinking than sound strategic planning.
Much of the blame in the film is assigned to General Frederick Browning, who is wonderfully played by Dirk Bogarde. He is depicted, very negatively, as an arrogant and shortsighted man who refuses to entertain the suggestion that the plan will not work. At least not until after it has already failed when he comments, in one of the film's final lines, "Well, as you know, I always felt we tried to go a bridge too far." Prior to that, Browning took great pride in the fact that the planning and organisation of the operation, the largest airborne offensive ever attempted up to that time, took one week. As the film develops, it becomes clearer and clearer that more time should have been taken in the planning stage. As in reality, it was surprisingly slapdash. All I kept thinking was, "Someone had blundered / Theirs not to make reply / Theirs not to reason why / Theirs but to do and die." Like Monty, Browning was dead by 1977 but his widow, the author Daphne du Maurier of "Rebecca" and "The Birds" fame, unsurprisingly took huge exception to his depiction in the film.
The film has an all star cast but Sean Connery probably has the biggest role as Major General Roy Urquhart, the commander of the 1st British Airborne Division which finds itself cut off from the outside world due to useless radios and far fewer jeeps than were promised. This leads to his forces being besieged in Arnhem, the site of the most important bridge, for nine days instead of two. As a result, they suffer an 80% casualty rate. Connery gives a great performance as Urquhart, who becomes increasingly frustrated by the problems besetting his men but manages to keep his cool throughout. Anthony Hopkins is excellent as Colonel John Frost of the 2nd Parachute Battalion. In his first scene, he is depicted as being overly confident as to the prospect of victory as he tells his batman Private Wicks to pack his golf clubs and even his dinner jacket. However, his forces suffer the brunt of the German assaults at the Battle of Arnhem in some of the film's best scenes which unhesitatingly depict the brutality of war. I thought that Hopkins gave the film's best performance in an array of very talented actors.
James Caan likewise gives a great performance as Staff Sergeant Eddie Dohun, whose loyalty to his critically wounded superior Captain Glass (played by Nicholas Campbell) is touching. The only major cast member who does not speak a full sentence in English in the film, Maximilian Schell is brilliant as General Wilhelm Bittrich of II SS Panzer Corps, who leads the attack on Arnhem. He displays a glimmer of decency when he orders a three hour ceasefire to allow for the evacuation of the wounded. Liv Ullman, the only woman to receive star billing, has very little screen time but she is wonderful as Kate ter Horst, the Dutchwoman who helped care for the wounded.
The film also features strong performances from Laurence Olivier as Dr. Jan Spaander, Michael Caine as Colonel J. O. E. Vandeleur, Edward Fox as General Brian Horrocks, Hardy Krüger as General Karl Ludwig, Wolfgang Preiss as Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Robert Redford as Major Julian Cook, Elliott Gould as the cigar chomping Colonel Robert Stout (the closest thing that the film has to comic relief), Christopher Good as the umbrella carrying eccentric Major Harry Carlyle, Paul Copley as Private Wicks, Denholm Elliott as the RAF meteorological officer, Stephen Moore as Major Robert Steele, Peter Faber as Captain Arie 'Harry' Bestebreurtje, Arthur Hill as the US Army doctor threatened by Sgt. Dohun, Jeremy Kemp as the RAF briefing officer, Michael Byrne as Colonel Giles Vandeleur, Schell's brother-in-law Walter Kohut as Field Marshal Walter Model, Hans von Borsody as General Günther Blumentritt, Donald Pickering as Colonel C. B. MacKenzie, Siem Vroom as the Dutch underground leader and Erik van 't Wout as his 13-year-old son, among many others in a film with dozens of speaking parts. Although Gene Hackman's Polish accent leaves a great deal to be desired, he is nevertheless excellent as the sceptical and world-weary General Stanislaw Sosabowski. The weakest link is Ryan O'Neal, who seems a bit lost, as General James Gavin.
Attenborough has a one second cameo as an escaped mental patient, his only appearance in a film that he directed. Unlike many actors turned directors, he clearly had no interest in directing star vehicles for himself. As is often the case with Attenborough's films, his brother-in-law Gerald Sim has a small role, playing the medical officer Colonel Sims who was named after him. The film also features appearances from several actors who would later become well known such as John Ratzenberger, Ben Cross and Alun Armstrong.
Overall, this is an absolutely brilliant film which does not hesitate to portray the Allies in a less than flattering light. I suspect that this is the reason that, like Attenborough's classic anti-war film "Oh! What a Lovely War", it was completely ignored by the Oscars. I think that it deserved a Best Picture nomination, again among many others. In particular, Anthony Hopkins should have received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his standout performance as the besieged Colonel Frost. The film serves as a companion piece to the 1962 epic "The Longest Day" concerning D-Day, which was also based on a book by Cornelius Ryan, included several of the same historical figures as characters and featured Sean Connery and Wolfgang Preiss in the cast.
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