Six Films For the Sixth of June

June 6, 2022 By Brason Jacak

 

This Monday marks the 78th anniversary of the Allied landings of Operation Overlord -- a good opportunity to share my June tradition. That is, I watch a rotation of classic World War 2 movies. Saving Private Ryan will not be on this list, see Andrew Klavan for why. This list deals exclusively with films about the Western Allies in the European Theater of Operations. There will be no Eastern Front or Pacific Theater movies (although you should check out Tora Tora Tora if you have never seen it).

The Longest Day - The classic among classics. This one really needs no introduction, it is a reasonably accurate re-telling of the Normandy landings with many touches of authenticity. This was based on Cornelius Ryan’s definitive history of the same name, which also demands a place in any World War 2 library. The cast is absolutely star-studded and a list of who’s who for this era in Hollywood. If you have never seen this one before then there will never be a better time to do so.

A Bridge Too Far - The venerable Cornelius Ryan (an Irish born correspondent who was attached to Patton’s 3^rd Army) is back with the follow up to The Longest Day. This one covers Operation Market Garden, the infamous attempt to seize the bridge crossing the Rhine and into Germany’s industrial heartland.............

To Hell and Back - Audie Murphy’s own story, starring the man himself. This one is a bit more old-fashioned in storytelling than the aforementioned films, but was always a favorite of mine...........

The Big Red One - Sam Fuller’s masterpiece is The Big Red One. Sam Fuller and star Lee Marvin both served in the war, and once again this helps lend authenticity to the storytelling...........

Kelly’s Heroes - This is a very close second for my favorite film of all time. Though this movie is set in war and the action is serious with people getting killed, this movie is actually a bit of a comedy............

Hell is for Heroes or Go for Broke - All right, I lied, there are seven movies on the list, but I wanted to stick with the 6 motif. Either one of these is equally worth watching (although Go for Broke is free on YouTube)...........To Read More...

My Take -  The armies of the world are made up of kids, we call them young men, but most of them are kids just out of high school.  On D-Day those young men risked their lives to preserve America.  Please allow me to pose this question.  Would they have done so if they knew what America was becoming?  Probably, because that's who they were, and that's who we were, and their hope would have been we would be better than we are.   But.... I still wonder.