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A Bridge Too FarOverlong, over-ambitious and even ponderous, A Bridge Too Far is nevertheless a remarkable, star-studded attempt to commit to celluloid Montgomery's ill-fated Operation Market Garden.
As the opening voiceover explains, Generals Montgomery and Patton were vying for the glory of initiating the decisive defeat of Nazi Germany after D-Day. Commander-in-Chief of Allied Operations Eisenhower was eventually won over by the unprecedented plan Monty concocted - to drop thousands of airborne troops into Arnhem, behind enemy lines, where they must hold key strategic positions (notably bridges) until the arrival of the main force. It could then push into German territory and destroy key industrial sites.
Nothing like this had ever been attempted, so many of the players involved were understandably anxious - after all, a paratrooper is only lightly equipped, so if the tight schedule is not kept to, the plan could fail. Which, of course, is exactly what happened.
Arguably, no other film of the 20th Century united such an array of big names. Key among them were Dirk Bogarde, as Lt Gen Frederick 'Boy' Browning, the high-ranking advocate of Monty's plan; James Caan, as Eddie Dohun, a robust US sergeant; Michael Caine as Lt Col Joe Vandeleur, an Irish Guards tank commander desperately trying to fulfill his part of the operation against the odds; Sean Connery, as Major General Roy Urquhart, a Para who falls victim not just to useless communications equipment but also an unexpected Panzer division; Elliot Gould as Yugoslav-born Col Robert Stout, who has to contend with the fact that the bridge he's been ordered to take is blown up just as he arrives at it; Gene Hackman, as Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski of the Polish Brigade whose misgivings are bolstered by the farce of falling victim to fog; and Anthony Hopkins as the prim Brit Lt Col John Frost, a Para who faces the fiercest of the fighting in the film while trying to hold a position in central Arnhem.
There's also Ryan O'Neal as Brigadier General James Gavin, who must send Robert Redford's Major Julian Cook on a hellishly hazardous mission across the river in rubber boats in broad daylight. Laurence Olivier and Liv Ullman play locals attempting to help the ever-mounting casualties. The Germans, meanwhile, are eloquently portrayed by Maximilian Schell and Hardy Kr??ger (who thankfully speak subtitled German).
Attenborough has his work cut out for him holding together this enormous, rambling work, which lacks even the focus of 1962's The Longest Day, its predecessor also based on a book by Cornelius Ryan (and featuring Connery in a significantly smaller role). The amount of incident, the interconnected and disconnected action (covering a large swathe of northeast Europe), the huge cast: it's all too much to result in an entirely satisfactory film.
However, the actors, despite the paucity of their comparative screen presences, almost all create memorable presences. They ably portray the disbelief of the soldiers sent into such a precarious scenario while holding onto their professionalism and determination. Caan, Hopkins, Caine, Hackman, Kr??ger and others all bring a pathos to their roles, just about sustaining audience empathy as the film runs on and on.
It's also a supremely well-crafted film. The logistical challenge for Attenborough and his crew must have been extraordinary. Yet without falling back on flashy effects (and not having the luxury of CG), the filmmakers create a sense of the scale of the battle and the technical challenges involved with the operation. Veteran cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth captures some incredible imagery - the sky filled with paratroopers, troops exposed to gunfire while in the middle of the river, lines of armoured vehicles crossing moorland amid shelling and smoke.
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