The Longest Day is a mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, personally orchestrated by Darryl F. Zanuck. Whenever possible, the original locations were utilized, and an all-star international cast impersonates the people involved, from high-ranking officials to ordinary GIs. Each actor speaks in his or her native language with subtitles translating for the benefit of the audience (alternate "takes" were made of each scene with the foreign actors speaking English, but these were seen only during the first network telecast of the film in 1972). The stars are listed alphabetically, with the exception of John Wayne, who as Lt. Colonel Vandervoort gets separate billing. Others in the huge cast include Eddie Albert, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Gert Frobe, Curt Jurgens, Peter Lawford, Robert Mitchum, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Jean Servais, Rod Steiger and Robert Wagner. Paul Anka, who wrote the film's title song, shows up as an Army private. Scenes include the Allies parachuting into Ste. Mere Englise, where the paratroopers were mowed down by German bullets; a real-life sequence wherein the German and Allied troops unwittingly march side by side in the dark of night; and a spectacular three-minute overhead shot of the troops fighting and dying in the streets of Quistreham. The last major black-and-white road-show attraction, The Longest Day made millions, enough to recoup some of the cost of 20th Century Fox's concurrently produced Cleopatra. Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Genre: Military & War
- Category War Epic
- Theme: Great Battles
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Run Time: 02 hr 58 min
- Language: French, English, Spanish
- Subtitle Language: Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, English
- Picture Format: widescreen
- Format: Blu-ray
- Release Date: June 3, 2008
- Lead Actor: Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, Henry Fonda, John Wayne
- Supporting Actor: Simon Lack, Maurice Poli, Ruth Hausmeister, Richard Beymer, Allen Swift, John Crawford, Dewey Martin, Mark Damon, Henry W. Grace, Ray Danton, Tommy Sands, Alexander Knox, Tom Tryon, Red Buttons, Fabian, Edmond O'Brien, Eddie Albert, Stuart Whitman, Roddy McDowall, Sal Mineo, Paul Anka, Mel Ferrer, Jean Servais, Georges Riviere, Madeleine Renaud, Arletty, Jeffrey Hunter, Robert Wagner, Richard Burton, Richard Todd, Heinz Spitzner, Fred Durr, Dietmar Schoenherr, Donald Houston, Wolfgang Preiss, Til Kiwe, Richard Wattis, Rainer Penkert, Patrick Barr, Michael Medwin, Alice Tissot, Bryan Coleman, Vicco Von Buelow, Robert Freitag, George Segal, Ernst Schroeder, Fernand Ledoux, Eugene Deckers, Frank Finlay, John Robinson, Peter Helm, Sian Phillips, Steve Forrest, Wolfgang Lukschy, Wolfgang Buttner, Leslie Phillips, Norman Rossington, Karl John, Howard Marion-Crawford, Michael Hinz, Trevor Reid, Lyndon Brook, Kurt Meisel, Heinz Reincke, Peter Van Eyck, Hans-Christian Blech, Paul Hartmann, Werner Hinz, Georges Wilson, Christian Marquand, Jean-Louis Barrault, Bourvil, Irina Demick, Jack Hedley, Sean Connery, John Gregson, Leo Genn, Peter Lawford, Kenneth More, John Meillon, Nick Stuart, Ron Randell, Gert Fröbe, Curd Jürgens, Richard Münch
- Director: Andrew Marton, Ken Annakin, Bernhard Wicki
awards
- Awards: Academy Awards (2), Golden Globe Awards (1)
- Winner: Academy Awards, Best Special Effects, 1962, Robert MacDonald, Jacques Maumont
- Winner: Golden Globe Awards, Best Cinematography - Black and White, 1962, Jean Bourgoin, Walter Wottitz, Henri Persin, Pierre Levent
- Winner: Academy Awards, Best Black and White Cinematography, 1962, Jean Bourgoin, Walter Wottitz
- Nominations: Academy Awards (3)
- Nominee: Academy Awards, Best Picture, 1962, Darryl F. Zanuck
- Nominee: Academy Awards, Best Editing, 1962, Samuel E. Beetley
- Nominee: Academy Awards, Best Black and White Art Direction, 1962, Léon Barsacq, Edward S. Haworth, Gabriel Bechir, Vincent Korda
