The Longest Day (1962)

On the 6th of June 1944, 71 years ago today (the day of writing),  Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. British, Canadian, American, Free French and Dutch, troops from every corner of the Commonwealth and beyond had come to wrestle Europe and the world from the grip of Nazi oppression and for many this star studded extravaganza is the definitive movie of that action.

Rather than there being one or two staring roles the direction team of five led by Darryl F. Zanuck, the man who founded Twentieth Century Fox, filmed it as a series of cameos. Henry Fonda, Richard Todd, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum all take a turn along with a handful of extremely good German actors on the other side.

The production was lavish to say the least. 23,000 active troops along with 22 ships from the US 6 fleet and 2 Spitfires from the Belgian Air Force all took part in filming meaning that Zanuck was in charge of more troops than any single General during the real landings.
Richard Todd, who had been at the D-Day landings as part of the British 6th Airborne Division, was asked if he would like to play himself in the film but ended up playing his commanding officer. The beret he wore was his own old uniform.

For a film with 5 directors, 6 writers and a dozen or more massive stars it all works very well. It's nearly 3 hours long but it has to be, it was a long day (the longest) and there's a lot to get in.
This is one of the last true epics and in honour of the day I recommend your watching it.

I'll leave you with some lines from the poem The Fallen, written by Laurence Binyon for the casualties of the British Expeditionary Force in 1914:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056197/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt