Home / A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far

Year:

1977

Duration:

175 min | Finland:158 min

Genres:

Drama | History | War

IMDB rate:

7.4

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Awards:

Won 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1977-06-15

Filming Locations: Bemmel, Lingewaard, Gelderland, Netherlands

Earnings

Budget: $26,000,000

Gross: $50,800,000 (USA)SEK 5,280,644 (Sweden)

Cast

Actor

Character

Colin Farrell

A Bridge Too Far

Anthony Pullen Shaw

Siem Vroom

Underground Leader

Marlies van Alcmaer

Underground Leader's Wife

Erik van 't Wout

Underground Leader's Son

Wolfgang Preiss

Field Marshal Von Rundstedt

Hans von Borsody

General Blumentritt

Josephine Peeper

Cafe Waitress

Dirk Bogarde

Lieutenant General Browning

Paul Maxwell

Major General Maxwell Taylor

Sean Connery

Major General Urquhart

Ryan O'Neal

Brigadier General Gavin

Gene Hackman

Major General Sosabowski

Walter Kohut

Field Marshal Model

Peter Faber

Captain 'Harry' Bestebreurtje

Hartmut Becker

German Sentry

Frank Grimes

Major Fuller

Jeremy Kemp

R.A.F. Briefing Officer

Donald Pickering

Lieutenant Colonel Mackenzie

Donald Douglas

Brigadier Lathbury

Peter Settelen

Lieutenant Cole

Stephen Moore

Major Steele

Edward Fox

Lieutenant General Horrocks

Michael Caine

Lieutenant Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur

Michael Byrne

Lieutenant Colonel Giles Vandeleur

Anthony Hopkins

Lieutenant Colonel Frost

Paul Copley

Private Wicks

Nicholas Campbell

Captain Glass

James Caan

Staff Sergeant Dohun

Gerald Sim

Colonel Sims

Harry Ditson

U.S. Private

Erik Chitty

Organist

Brian Hawksley

Vicar

Christopher Good

Major Carlyle

Norman Gregory

Private Morgan

Alun Armstrong

Corporal Davies

Anthony Milner

Private Dodds

Barry McCarthy

Private Clark

Lex van Delden

Sergeant Matthias (as Lex Van Delden)

Maximilian Schell

Lieutenant General Bittrich

Michael Wolf

Field Marshal Model's Aide

Hardy Krüger

Major General Ludwig (as Hardy Kruger)

Sean Mathias

Irish Guards Lieutenant

Tim Beekman

German Private

Edward Seckerson

British Padre

Liv Ullmann

Kate Ter Horst

Tom van Beek

Jan Ter Horst (as Tom Van Beek)

Bertus Botterman

Dutch Villager

Henny Alma

Dutch Villager

Elliott Gould

Colonel Stout

Ray Jewers

U.S. Radio Operator

Geoffrey Hinsliff

British Wireless Operator

Keith Drinkel

Lieutenant Cornish

Mary Smithuysen

Old Dutch Lady

Hans Croiset

Hans, Her Son

Fred Williams

Captain Grabner

John Peel

German Lieutenant

John Judd

Sergeant Clegg

Ben Cross

Trooper Binns

Hilary Minster

British Medical Officer

David English

Private Andrews

Ben Howard

Sergeant Towns

Michael Graham Cox

Captain Cleminson

Johan te Slaa

Elderly Dutch Couple (as Johan Te Slaa)

Georgette Reyevski

Elderly Dutch Couple

Pieter Groenier

Young Dutch Couple

Adrienne Kleiweg

Young Dutch Couple

Denholm Elliott

R.A.F. Met. Officer

Peter Gordon

U.S. Sergeant

Arthur Hill

U.S. Medical Colonel

Garrick Hagon

Lieutenant Rafferty

Brian Gwaspari

U.S. Engineer

Stephen Rayment

Grenadier Guards Lieutenant

Timothy Morand

British Corporal (as Tim Morand)

James Wardroper

Private Gibbs

Neil Kennedy

Colonel Barker

John Salthouse

Private 'Ginger' Marsh

Jonathan Hackett

Glider Pilot

Stanley Lebor

Regimental Sergeant Major

Jack Galloway

Private Vincent

Milton Cadman

Private Long

David Auker

'Taffy' Brace

Laurence Olivier

Doctor Spaander

Richard Kane

Colonel Weaver

Toby Salaman

Private Stephenson

Michael Bangerter

British Staff Colonel

Philip Raymond

Grenadier Guards Colonel

Myles Reithermann

Boat Truck Driver

Robert Redford

Major Cook

John Morton

U.S. Padre

John Ratzenberger

U.S. Lieutenant

Patrick Ryecart

German Lieutenant

Dick Rienstra

Captain Krafft

Ian Liston

Sergeant Whitney

Paul Rattee

Private Gordon

Mark Sheridan

Sergeant Tomblin

George Innes

Sergeant Macdonald

John Stride

Grenadier Guards Major

Niall Padden

British Medical Orderly

Michael Graves

British Medical Orderly

Simon Chandler

Private Simmonds

Edward Kalinski

Private Archer

Shaun Curry

Corporal Robbins

Sebastian Abineri

Sergeant Treadwell

Chris Williams

Corporal Merrick (as Christopher Williams)

Andrew Branch

Flute Player

Anthony Garner

British Staff Major

Feliks Arons

Dutch Priest

Stuart Blake

Soldier

Ray Boyd

Soldier

Stephen Churchett

Soldier

Jon Croft

Soldier

Patrick Dickson

Soldier

Adrian Gibbs

Soldier

Jason Gregory

Soldier

Stewart Guidotti

Soldier

Patrick Hannaway

Soldier

Brian Haughton

Soldier

Anthony Howden

Soldier

Frank Jarvis

Colonel Frost's Aide

David Killick

Soldier

Dan Long

Soldier

Gerald Martin

Soldier

Edward McDermott

Soldier

Tony McHale

Soldier

Jack McKenzie

Soldier

Francis Mughan

Soldier

Richard Ommanney

Soldier (as Richard Ommaney)

Peter Quince

Soldier

Robin Scobey

Soldier

Farrell Sheridan

Soldier

James Snell

Soldier

Michael Stock

Soldier

David Stockton

Soldier

Paul Vaughan-Teague

Soldier

Jason White

Soldier

Mark York

Soldier

Richard Attenborough

Lunatic Wearing Glasses (uncredited)

Omar N. Bradley

Himself - Plans for D-Day (archive footage) (uncredited)

John Careless

British Paratrooper (uncredited)

Winston Churchill

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Charles de Gaulle

Himself - In Car with Churchill (archive footage) (uncredited)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Himself - Plans for D-Day (archive footage) (uncredited)

Gerard Franken

Soldier (uncredited)

Adolf Hitler

Himself - Salutes Parade (archive footage) (uncredited)

Alfred Jodl

Himself - Beside Hitler (archive footage) (unconfirmed) (uncredited)

Trafford Leigh-Mallory

Himself - Plans for D-Day (archive footage) (uncredited)

Bernard L. Montgomery

Himself - Plans for D-Day (archive footage) (uncredited)

George S. Patton

Himself - Shakes Hands (archive footage) (uncredited)

Bertram Ramsay

Himself - Plans for D-Day (archive footage) (uncredited)

Erwin Rommel

Himself - Below Hitler (archive footage) (uncredited)

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Walter Bedell Smith

Himself - Plans for D-Day (archive footage) (uncredited)

Arthur Tedder

Himself - Plans for D-Day (archive footage) (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

According to the DVD edition, the real-life Col. John Frost chided Anthony Hopkins during the filming for running from house to house during the battle for Arnhem. According to Hopkins, Frost told him that a British officer would never have run but would have shown disdain for enemy fire by walking from place to place. Hopkins claims he tried but as soon as the firing started, instincts took over and he ran as fast as he could.

Share this

In the opening post-invasion scenes, shot in black and white and matted, a column is briefly shown of A27M Cromwell tanks, one the more effective British armoured vehicles of the Second World War. Elements of the Cromwell's design were incorporated within the later A34 Comet, arguably the best British tank of the Second World War. A Bridge Too Far may have been both the cinematic debut and sole appearance of the A27M in a major post-1945 war film production.

Share this

Special effects supervisor John Richardson was injured driving his BMW and his girlfriend was killed in the accident during production.

Share this

Goofs

Most of the C-47 aircraft in the movie are incorrectly painted a yellowish-brown. The actual color would have been olive drab.

Share this

Major Cook's (Robert Redford) hair extends below the rear edge of his helmet. This is longer than was allowed by U.S. Army World War II regulations.

Share this

When von Rundstedt is deciding where to send his armoured reserves in order to rest them before meeting the expected attack by Patton rather than Montgomery he decides to send them to Arnhem. The map counter which is moved clearly shows "II SS Panzer Div (division)" when the correct name of the unit at Arnhem was the II SS Panzer Corps (consisting of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions). The 2nd SS Panzer Division at that time was fighting on the Eastern Front.

Share this

Quotes

Lt. Col. John Frost: Hello, Harry.

Share this

Lt. General Frederick "Boy" Browning: Hello, Roy. How are you?

Share this

Lt. Gen. Frederick Browning: Only the weather can stop us now.

Share this

Faq

Chicago Opening Happened When?

The Chicago opening of Joseph E. Levine's film, A Bridge Too Far, occurred on Wednesday, June 15, 1977, at the Woods theatre in the Loop, and nine other area theatres; an ad reads: "Out of the sky comes the screen's most incredible spectacle of men and war!" The film was rated PG

Does that dreadful road still exist?

The answer is 'sort of'.The route taken by 30 Corps as they tried to get from Eindhoven to Arnhem via the bridges is still there but there are a couple of places where you have to use an OS map and drive across a few fields to keep true to the task.

If the Allies are so close at the end why don't they just keep going and take the Arnhem bridge?

At the end of the film the German's have the bridge and will just destroy it if they try. Whilst it has been largely regarded as a defeat the Allies have actually liberated vast swathes of Holland and inflicted grevious losses on the Germans. However without the bridge at Arnhem they cannot cross the River Rhine into Germany's industrial heartland of the Rhur which would allow them to destroy the German's ability to make weapons and end the war within a few months. Monty's assessment that Operation Market Garden was overwhelmingly 90% successful is correct but without the bridge at Arnhem they cannot achieve their ultimate objective.

Share this