Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The Real Stories | WW2 Bridge Films

The Bridge at Remagen is a war film released in 1969, directed by John Guillermin and starring George Segal, Ben Gazzara and Robert Vaughn. The film is based on the book by Ken Hechler, adapted for screen by Richard Yates and William Roberts, which describes the real life events surrounding the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen on March 7, 1945 by the U.S. 9th Armored Division.

Actual Story: Its capture allowed American units to form a bridgehead on the right bank of the Rhine in advance of the main Allied crossings. The psychological impact of losing the bridge had a devastating impact on German morale. Five officers were court-martialled, four of whom were executed on Hitler's personal orders. Eisenhower, meantime, claimed the capture of the bridge was 'worth its weight in gold.'Due to the weakening of the steel structure, the bridge collapsed on 17th March 1945, killing twenty-eight American soldiers. Pontoon bridges had already been built alongside so the loss of the bridge had relatively little impact. It was never rebuilt. MORE »



A Bridge Too Far is a 1977 epic war film based on the 1974 book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, adapted by William Goldman. It was produced by Joseph E. Levine and Richard P. Levine and directed by Richard Attenborough.

The film tells the story of Operation Market-Garden, and its ultimate failure, the Allied attempt to break through German lines and seize several bridges, with the main objective the bridge over the Lower Rhine (Neder Rijn) River, in the occupied Netherlands during World War II. The name for the film comes from a comment made by British Lieutenant-General Frederick A.M. Browning, deputy commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, who told Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery before the operation, "I think we may be going a bridge too far."

The ensemble cast includes Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Elliott Gould, Edward Fox, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Kemp, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Liv Ullmann, Maximilian Schell, Hardy Krüger and Ryan O'Neal. The music for the film was scored by John Addison, who was a soldier with the British XXX Corps during Operation Market Garden.


The Real Bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem
The ultimate 'Boys Own' adventure as portrayed in 'A Bridge Too Far', the real Operation Market Garden was a disaster for the Allies. The main objective, to secure a series of bridges across the Rhine in advance of a major armoured offensive into Germany, was initially successful with the capture of the bridges at Waal and Nijmegen. It was at Arnhem, however, that things went badly wrong. In a week of bitter street fighting between 17th - 25th September 1944, British forces suffered over 11,000 casualties and a further 6,000 taken prisoner from a force of 35,000. German losses were comparatively light.MORE »

The Bridge on the River Kwai is a British 1957 World War II film by David Lean; based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai by French writer Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942-43 for its historical setting. It stars Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, Jack Hawkins and William Holden.

The largely fictitious film plot is based on the building in 1943 of one of the railway bridges over the Mae Klong—renamed Khwae Yai in the 1960s—at a place called Tha Ma Kham, five kilometers from the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand, to Rangoon, Burma, to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. About a hundred thousand conscripted Asian labourers and 12,000 prisoners of war died on the whole project. MORE »

The bridge over the Kwai River in June 2004.

The Bridges at Toko-Ri is a 1954 film based on a novel by James Michener about a naval aviator assigned to bomb a group of heavily defended bridges during the Korean War. It was made into a motion picture by Paramount Pictures and won the Special Effects Oscar at the 28th Academy Awards. It follows the book of the same title emphasizing the lives of the pilots and crew in the context of a war that seems remote to all except those who fight in it. The goal of the mission is set above everything else and the heroes perish as victims of fate. The novel and film are a composite of actual missions flown against bridges at Majon-ni and Changnim-Ni, North Korea, in the winter of 1951–1952, when Michener was a correspondent aboard the aircraft carriers Essex and Valley Forge, and with a pair of rescue missions on February 8, 1952, one of which involved the shoot-down of a plane off the Valley Forge. However, in the rescue incident referenced the downed airmen survived the crash and rescue attempt but were captured by North Korean soldiers. (At the time Michener believed the men to have been killed.)

THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI: The Real Story by CAPT Paul N. Gray, USN, Ret,
USNA '41, former CO of VF-54. MORE »

Behind The Bridges at Toko-ri - true facts behind fictional book by James A. Michener MORE »

Detour | Watch Full Movie Online | Ipod Download


Detour (1945) is a film noir cult classic that stars Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, and Edmund MacDonald. The movie was adapted by Martin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney (uncredited) from Goldsmith's novel, and was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. The 68-minute film was released by the Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), one of the so-called "poverty row" film studios.

Although made on a small budget and containing only rudimentary sets and camera work, the film has garnered substantial praise through the years and is held in high regard. The film has fallen into the public domain and is freely available from online sources. There are also many DVD editions.

Watch Full Movie Online or Ipod Download »


Worth Retweeting | Harold and Maude | Recommended 1st Date Movie!

Harold and Maude is a cult classic film directed by Hal Ashby in 1971. The film, featuring slapstick, dark humour, and existentialist drama, revolves around the exploits of a morbid young man – Harold (played by Bud Cort) – who drifts away from the life that his detached mother prescribes for him, as he develops a relationship with septuagenarian Maude (played by Ruth Gordon).

The film is number 45 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Funniest Movies of all time,[1], number 69 in its list for most romantic [2], and number 42 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies. In 1997, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Worth Retweeting

Harold and Maude | Recommended 1st Date Movie!

drwalker_rph Posted at 12:09am from Web
drwalker_rph

anybody remember the movie "Harold and Maude" circa 1971? It was the 1st date movie that I took my future wife to....watching now on TCM

zrecsmom Posted at 12:09am from TweetDeck
zrecsmom

Thanks to @cheeseslave I'm watching Harold & Maude on TCM. Saw it for the 1st time at 16 on a 1st date. Love. it. so. much.


xxfftlxx Posted 34 minutes ago from txt
xxfftlxx

Watching Harold and Maude.. this kid is crazy.

witchiepoo Posted 37 minutes ago from web
witchiepoo

@firepile I love Harold and Maude. I think it might be my favorite movie of all time.

guerciotti Posted 47 minutes ago from Ping.fm
guerciotti

, Harold and Maude is still a very beautiful film. Thanks TCM.

lexicola Posted 47 minutes ago from web
lexicola

just watched 'harold and maude' and now on to 'troop beverly hills.' cable is worth every penny.

billybonney Posted 52 minutes ago from web
billybonney

*sniffles* Harold and Maude is truly a timeless love story. God I love that movie!

sebhar Posted at 1:15am from txt
sebhar

Watching Harold and Maude. :]

00Syd Posted at 1:15am from TweetDeck
00Syd

The end of Harold and Maude always makes me cry a little. You know he regretted not just celebrating her birthday for the rest of his life.

Norinja Posted at 1:15am from web
Norinja

harold and maude is good and weird all at the same time. i love all the shots of home with cat stevens though

Zymu Posted at 12:58am from Ping.fm
Zymu

Watching harold and maude. Woo fuckin' hoo! Best movie ever!

DonaBogart Posted at 12:54am from web
DonaBogart

Harold and Maude is on TCM.

shannondotcom Posted at 12:52am from txt
shannondotcom

OH MY GOD! HAROLD AND MAUDE ON TCM! Life is now complete! :)

jewellbsorry Posted at 12:49am from web
jewellbsorry

Home, and harold and maude.

amys_bus_ticket Posted at 12:45am from web
amys_bus_ticket

@DryerBuzz oh....Harold and Maude!!! wrong film vs series!!

DryerBuzz Posted at 12:39am from TweetDeck
DryerBuzz

@SweetPeaKC @leland222 @drwalker_rph @cadencequick @t_kougar @rthefish also watching Harold and Maude - ya'll are missing it

ChulaVistaRes Posted at 12:39am from web
ChulaVistaRes

Watching Harold and Maude, 1971.

firepile Posted at 12:38am from twhirl
firepile

Harold and Maude on TCM. My hands down, all-time favorite film. I'm likely to buy a banjo if someone doesn't change the channel.

DryerBuzz Posted at 12:38am from TweetDeck
DryerBuzz

@sherenevismaya @datrixta @00Syd @melissa_combs @chatteringlass @madsuncaribou and i are watching harold and maude

DryerBuzz Posted at 12:38am from TweetDeck
DryerBuzz

All the "Harold and Maude" fans http://tinyurl.com/adgvrh

DryerBuzz Posted at 12:37am from TweetDeck
DryerBuzz

Harold and Maude is such a classic

sherenevismaya Posted at 12:34am from mobile web
sherenevismaya

Amazing Monday-read Tarot cards for a party at Bayards, met the legend-Robin Wagner, now watching Harold and Maude.



Related Posts with Thumbnails

Who is the mysterious TCManiac?

First, I'll tell you who I am not. I am not affiliated with TCM. I am not some superbot created by software developers. I am not being paid by TCM or anyone else to dedicate my time to tweeting. I am a real flesh and blood human being. I am a real maniac for TCM. I really do keep my TV tuned to TCM 24-7. I created the TCManiacs twitter as a result of my sincere passion for watching Turner Classic Movies.

How I got started?
Well, I've been a fan of TCM since its inception. As I lay flat on my back recovering from a disabling health crisis unable to do little more than watch TV and surf the internet, I found refuge watching TCM round the clock. I soon developed an obsessive habit of keeping a browser tab open for the TCM schedule and beating Robert Osbourne's introductions to finding out facts for upcoming movies. My entire day and night became defined by the TCM line-up. At the beginning of 2009 I decided to check out twitter and lucked up on some fellow TCM fans to friend. During the 31 days Oscar I decided to dedicate a twitter just to share my TCM obsession by tweeting about every movie every day of February. I was totally overwhelmed by the number of fellow TCM maniacs that became my following. Its been a WIN WIN in everyway for me. I have had the opportunity to share fun stuff with some incredible fellow classic movie lovers and bloggers. With so many followers I became committed to maintaining the twitter schedule and finding fun stuff for upcoming TCM movies.
How may followers show appreciation?
As I mentioned before, I am not employed by anyone nor being paid for my time maintaining tweets and blog. However, you may express your appreciation for my labor of love by dropping a token of your appreciation in the hat. Simply click the Donate button below. Any amount your heart moves you to give no matter how small will be graciously accepted.
What you mean to me?
Even if you decide to skip tipping the hat, please take the time to comment or send a message with your thoughts and suggestions. Send ideas on more fun stuff you would like featured. Send me links to your own classic movie websites. I just want to hear from you! Let me know what sharing my little obsession is worth to you. Every follower is priceless to me!

Total Pageviews

Web Graphic Design by designables.net. Header background image compliments of MERiCG.DEViNART.com
 
View blog top tags