A Bridge Too Far

[clearview]

Hi Everyonei Really Would Welcome Any Information Please As To The Locations Used For The Battle Sequences In This Film And In Particular Where The Scenes Of Pegasus Bridge Were Recorded.



Kind Regards To You All

[Marky B]

The Pegasus Bridge incident happened prior to the D-Day landings.

Ta Ta

Marky B

[Steve Crook]

(clearview @ May 7 2006, 02:56 PM)

HI EVERYONEI REALLY WOULD WELCOME ANY INFORMATION PLEASE AS TO THE LOCATIONS USED FOR THE BATTLE SEQUENCES IN THIS FILM AND IN PARTICULAR WHERE THE SCENES OF PEGASUS BRIDGE WERE RECORDED.



KIND REGARDS TO YOU ALL

Don't shout. We can hear you.



The scenes at Arnhem bridge were really filmed at Deventer, Overijssel, Netherlands.

Arnhem bridge having been rebuilt since the war - and renamed "John Frost Bridge" to honour Frost and those other gallant men. The whole area around Arnhem has been reveloped quite a bit and was too modern looking to be used for the filming. But Deventer was still quite suitable.



As Marky B said, Pegasus Bridge was the bridge over the Caen canal that 6th Airborne took and held in the early hours on D-Day. They landed their gliders almost on top of it and held it until relieved by Lord Lovat's commandos later on D-Day.



BTW: In The Longest Day, Maj. John Howard, the leader of the group that took Pegasus Bridge, was played by Richard Todd. In real life, Capt. Richard Todd was one of the paras that landed nearby to support the glider borne troops in their defence of the bridge. So he was very close to playing himself.



Steve

[plasticjock]

(Steve Crook @ May 7 2006, 04:38 PM)

Don't shout. We can hear you.



As Marky B said, Pegasus Bridge was the bridge over the Caen canal that 6th Airborne took and held in the early hours on D-Day. They landed their gliders almost on top of it and held it until relieved by Lord Lovat's commandos later on D-Day.



BTW: In The Longest Day, Maj. John Howard, the leader of the group that took Pegasus Bridge, was played by Richard Todd. In real life, Capt. Richard Todd was one of the paras that landed nearby to support the glider borne troops in their defence of the bridge. So he was very close to playing himself.



Steve

Coo...my ears are ringing....!



A further bit of info is that the original Pegasus Bridge was replaced in 1993 with a sturdier version to cope with modern traffic.

The original languished, rusting slowly in a field nearby for 6 or 7 years but has now been refurbished and is is located in the grounds of the Mémorial Pégasus (Airbourne Museum , Pegasus Bridge) at Ranville in France.

Normandy 1944 - Mémorial Pégasus



Pedant alert!! Sorry about this

It should also be noted, for historical accuracy, that there was another bridge 750 yards away, over the Orne, which became known as Horsa Bridge and a second force of 3 gliders captured that bridge within a few minutes of Pegasus falling into Allied hands. One of the gliders was released too late and landed by the bridge over the River Dives and took no part in the initial assault but eventually joined up with the main party. One of the glider troops drowned in the Dives and it is now thought that he was the FIRST casualty of D-Day.

[Rob Compton]

If you're ever in the area, the museum mentioned by plasticjock is very well worth a visit. As he says, the original bridge is in the grounds - complete with bullet and shrapnel holes! - and there is a replica Horsa glider there too.



The new bridge looks almost exactly like the old one, so you can still get an impression of the terrain and surroundings (mainly marshland)



Madame Gondre's cafe is on the other side of the bridge - the first place to be liberated in France.



rgds

Rob

[mark-b]

(clearview @ May 7 2006, 02:56 PM)HI EVERYONEI REALLY WOULD WELCOME ANY INFORMATION PLEASE AS TO THE LOCATIONS USED FOR THE BATTLE SEQUENCES IN THIS FILM AND IN PARTICULAR WHERE THE SCENES OF PEGASUS BRIDGE WERE RECORDED.



KIND REGARDS TO YOU ALL

Hi There,

Try and find a copy of "After the Battle" Special Edition , Prelude to Market Garden The Battle of Arnhem, It has 20 pages dedicated to the making of the film, it gives some very good info, such as the assault gun attacked by the South Staffs as Sean Connery escapes from hiding did not happen. there is no ISBN number on the copy I have so I cant help there, But I do have a video you can have for free, its called Theirs is the glory- Men of Arnhem, the survivors went back a year later and recreated the battle for film, using live ammo tanks and flame throwers, send me your address via email> Forum mod to help here I suppose and I will post it.



Its my favorite film



Cheers Mark

[Marky B]

There was a book written by the film's screenwriter William Goldman,about the making of the film. More than likely to be out of print,but it is worth looking it up on the internet.

Ta Ta

Marky B

[plasticjock]

(Marky B @ May 11 2006, 01:07 PM)

There was a book written by the film's screenwriter William Goldman,about the making of the film. More than likely to be out of print,but it is worth looking it up on the internet.

Ta Ta

Marky B

There are a few copies on AbeBooks: New Books, Secondhand Books, Rare Books, Out-of-Print Books starting at £1.26 plus p&p.

There is also a detailed site about the battle and the aftermath at Refer

although this is only one of many sites about the battle.

[clearview]

(mark-b @ May 11 2006, 12:45 PM)

Hi There,

Try and find a copy of "After the Battle" Special Edition , Prelude to Market Garden The Battle of Arnhem, It has 20 pages dedicated to the making of the film, it gives some very good info, such as the assault gun attacked by the South Staffs as Sean Connery escapes from hiding did not happen. there is no ISBN number on the copy I have so I cant help there, But I do have a video you can have for free, its called Theirs is the glory- Men of Arnhem, the survivors went back a year later and recreated the battle for film, using live ammo tanks and flame throwers, send me your address via email> Forum mod to help here I suppose and I will post it.



Its my favorite film



Cheers Mark

Thanks Mark for the kind offer of a copy of the video. I really would appreciate it. You can email me (John) and I will give you my mailing address. My interest in A Bridge Too Far was prompted because I meet a chap some time ago who 'was there' at the original battle. Brave guy, like all of them.



By the way everyone, I am really sorry for my original enquiry being posted in large bold letters. Bit of a finger problem when setting up my message. Sorry to all those who had to take paracetamol as a rseult of my 'shout'!



Toodle pip

[Nick Dando]

After the Battle are at www.afterthebattle.com. They've now handed over the distribution of their books and magazines to www.motorbooks.co.uk - but it's worth having a look at http://www.afterthebattle.com/ab-con1.html for details of the A Bridge Too Far edition of the magazine, issue number 17. There's also a compilation magazine combining all of the previous articles on Operation Market-Garden, issue B001.



Nick

[markrgv]

Does anyone know the filming location for the airfield used in this film? It is seen a lot early on, with a number of the different stars there, and with shots of the troop aircraft lined up and departing.

Thanks.

[tavistock]

On a site on the internet one site mentions 'Filmed at Deelen AB, Netherlands'

[markrgv]

On a site on the internet one site mentions 'Filmed at Deelen AB, Netherlands'

Yes, since googled it and this was definitely the place they used. Thanks for the info

[ayrshireman]

There was a book written by the film's screenwriter William Goldman,about the making of the film. More than likely to be out of print,but it is worth looking it up on the internet.

Ta Ta

Marky B

There is also a book by Iain Johnstone about the making of the film. I had a copy, but sold it on ebay last year.

[Rick C]

In behind-the-scenes features promoting 'Bridge too Far" in ABC Film Review and Photoplay of July 1977 (both shelved on the Rick C bookcase here in Birmingham) the text quotes that as far as possible the original battlefields were brought back into action (Eindhoven, Grave, Nijmegen) The still-then (still is?) olde worlde town of Deventer took the place of Arnhem, by then (1977) a fully modernised city.

Have the articles, and all the review and daily newspaper cuttings of the day which can Photobucket in some time if required.

[Steve Crook]

In behind-the-scenes features promoting 'Bridge too Far" in ABC Film Review and Photoplay of July 1977 (both shelved on the Rick C bookcase here in Birmingham) the text quotes that as far as possible the original battlefields were brought back into action (Eindhoven, Grave, Nijmegen) The still-then (still is?) olde worlde town of Deventer took the place of Arnhem, by then (1977) a fully modernised city.

Have the articles, and all the review and daily newspaper cuttings of the day which can Photobucket in some time if required.

Not only that but all the people and events portrayed were real people and as accurate events as the film-makers could make them. The only made-up character was the one played by Donald Sutherland who was the amalgam of a few real characters. A lot of the actors also looked uncannily like the people they were portraying

It's rare for any war film to be as accurate as this one was

Steve

[WarFilmBuff]

Yes defintely Deventer and the airfield at Deelen.

One note to add about the casting, in most cases it was superb, especially with the British cast - Michael Caine as Vandeleur, Edward Fox as Horrocks, Sean Connery as Urquhart. It's on the American side things weren't so good. Ryan O'Neal was the right age to play James Gavin, who at 37 was the youngest General since the Civil War, and Gavin was a good looking guy, but Ryan O'Neal just didn't have the presence and strength of character of the real Gavin. The Eddie Dohun (James Caan) story is also a bit off. In reality he was really called Charlie and was a runner for his Company Commander Captain LeGrand King "Legs" Johnson, who is the guy he rescues in the film and orders the doctor to save on the operating table. Now in the film Legs Johnson is potrayed as a young nervous greenhorn, but he has actually got the Silver Star on June 13th 1944 in the battle of Bloody Gulch southwest of Carentan, Normandy (a battle I am writing a book about BTW) and was an experienced leader of men. Dohun actually pulled a Luger on the doctor not a Colt .45 and had gone to the hospital only to check on a large quantity of cash he knew Legs was carrying that Dohun did not want to be stolen by a man on another unit. Legs was in hospital for weeks and had to have a steel plate added to his skull. I can't recall his date of death but think it was 2009.

The last bit of trivia about casting is concerning Elliott Gould as Bobby Stout. He is clearly based on Colonel Robert F Sink of the 506th (played by Dale Dye in Band of Brothers) who was in all the places the Stout character is shown in the movie, smoked cigars and had the bridge blow up in front of him. Now I am friends with Margaret - one of Colonel Sink's daughters and as I understand it from biits and pieces she has told me, the Sink family were unhappy with Elliott Gould and asked to have the Sink name removed from the film.

I could tell you more things, but I have to go and work

Paul

[Steve Crook]

One note to add about the casting, in most cases it was superb, especially with the British cast - Michael Caine as Vandeleur, Edward Fox as Horrocks, Sean Connery as Urquhart. It's on the American side things weren't so good. Ryan O'Neal was the right age to play James Gavin, who at 37 was the youngest General since the Civil War, and Gavin was a good looking guy, but Ryan O'Neal just didn't have the presence and strength of character of the real Gavin. The Eddie Dohun (James Caan) story is also a bit off. In reality he was really called Charlie and was a runner for his Company Commander Captain LeGrand King "Legs" Johnson, who is the guy he rescues in the film and orders the doctor to save on the operating table. Now in the film Legs Johnson is potrayed as a young nervous greenhorn, but he has actually got the Silver Star on June 13th 1944 in the battle of Bloody Gulch southwest of Carentan, Normandy (a battle I am writing a book about BTW) and was an experienced leader of men. Dohun actually pulled a Luger on the doctor not a Colt .45 and had gone to the hospital only to check on a large quantity of cash he knew Legs was carrying that Dohun did not want to be stolen by a man on another unit. Legs was in hospital for weeks and had to have a steel plate added to his skull. I can't recall his date of death but think it was 2009.

As I said - as accurate events as the film-makers could make them
and a lot more accurate than most war films

Steve

[Elaine]

I liked this film ever before my following of Dirk Bogarde. I have a preference for British war films, and although this was an American financed film, I like this movie too. It is a glimspe into the amazing cockups that the leaders of the civilized world lead our soldiers, sailors, and airmen into in WW2. Thinking of all of those lives lost because some stupid pratt was afraid to speak up about the radio's, and going just that bridge too far although it had been pointed out beforehand that maybe it was too ambitious a plan, makes me as an onlooker seethe. My opinoin of this movie is it makes great viewing, it tells the story, with a great deal of embroidery. Which is usual with most films. Just to say I think Dirk Bogarde played a good General Brownlow? He acted as a General in the British army might, and as Dirk had been part of Operation Market Garden, he had been in contact in a small small way with him so knew a little of the man himself at the time.

[tigerace]

Last time i was at Arnhem there was a BASF factory where frost and his mob held out. Also as we found out it is quite a hike from the bridge to the Hartenstien/Airborne museum in Oosterbeek - er if you go, take the trolly bus!
Loved the film as a kid, lost some of its pizaz now.

Might i also suggest a book, "It never snows in September". found it quite an eyeopener.