In the last days of World War II, the Allied Army desperately searched for a bridgehead across the impenetrable Rhine River, in order to launch a major assault into the center of Germany. "Bridge at Remagen" tells the true story of the battle for this last bridgehead, from both the German and American perspective. As the Allied armies close in, the Germans decide to blow up the last Rhine bridge, trapping their own men on the wrong side. But will it happen? I was actually pleasantly surprised by this WWII film. Why I decided to watch it I am uncertain, but I am positive it is NOT because of my Leonard Maltin guide–whose review was, at best, mediocre. Well, because the review prepped me to dislike it so much that my sights were pretty low, I was amazed to find it kept my interest throughout. The film was pretty good–even when the action became bogged down at the bridge. And, the cast did a good job as well (Maltin also agreed with this assessment). While it certainly won't rank among the best war films, it is very very good and not as overly "familiar" a plot as I had expected. At times I have to force myself to ask: Is a movie good just because it involves some memorable event from World War II, is loaded with impressive battle scenes and shot in Europe in beautiful 1960's DeLuxe color? Of course not. But still I enjoy movies like "Battle of the Bulge" and "The Bridge at Remagen", and 70's epics like "A Bridge Too Far" and "Midway" (all though the last one is streaching it) not because the story-line is very coherent or even remotely interesting, but because it manages to capture the feeling of grandeur, that you are witnessing a re-creation of something massive, the type of movies where you see every buck spent up there on the big screen (either put into gasoline for a dozen Sherman tanks, or blocks of buildings being blown to bits).<br/><br/>In many of these movies there is also quite often a rare chance to see more movie-stars in one movie then you normally see in ten movies! This last bit is not the case when it comes to "The Bridge at Remagen". Sure, Robert Vaughn was a star, so was George Segal and Ben Gazzara, but they were far from international superstars. Still, the casting is very entertaining, giving the WW2-genre a bit of fresh air, all though Bradford Dillman seems almost wasted as an ***hole of a major who cares more about his own career than his men. And you know you won't be riddled with superstars in a movie that announces E. G. Marshall as the big "guest star." Sure, he was a great actor, but he wasn't exactly the Henry Fonda of "guest stars".<br/><br/>In many ways Ben Gazzara steals the show with his complex character, but I still personally enjoyed Robert Vaughn even more. From his opening scene - when he enters in his cool major-outfit and the type of sunglasses that never go out of style - to the final poignant scene, Vaughn delivers one of the most memorable German officers ever portrayed on-screen by an American actor. Apart from Vaughn, what sticks in my mind is Hans Christian Blech's portrayal of Capt. Schmidt who in one scene towards the end (that includes a brief conversation with a uniformed child) reveals his true background and very effectively sums up the sickness of war. Damn, come to think about it "The Bridge at Remagen" left me with more sympathy for the Germans than for the allies which is something you don't see every day (at least not in the 1960's)!<br/><br/>The plot of "The Bridge at Remagen" feels somewhat aloof and it takes time to really get involved, maybe because of it's weird (true) story: Germans need to blow up bridge, Germans trying to hold bridge for as long as possible, Americans wanting to blow up bridge too, Germans trying to blow bridge, Americans then wanting to save the bridge and… oh… well, as history has proven time and time again: real life is weirder than any fiction.
The World War II drama, from David L. Wolper, The Bridge at Remagen ,opened in Chicago on Thursday, June 26, 1969, at the Woods theatre (Randolph and Dearborn). Panavision, Color by DeLuxe, and rated M; and an ad reads: "The Germans forgot one very important bridge . . . Sixty-one days later they lost the wqr." While the general film story is based on the original historical book The Bridge at Remagen by Ken Hechler (an Army officer and historian at the time of the battle and later a US congressman), the characters are all fictionalized with fictional names. The American characters do wear the shoulder patch and the vehicles bear the markings of the 9th Armored Division, and the lead unit is mentioned as the 27th Armored Infantry which actually seized the bridge, and several of the characters can easily be matched to the real-life figures they were based upon.<br/><br/>2nd Lieutenant Phil Hartman (played by George Segal) is analogous to 2nd Lieutenant Karl H. Timmermann, who was promoted to command of Able Company 27th Armored Infantry Battalion when the previous commander was wounded the day before the attack on the bridge. Ironically, Timmermann, whose father was a member of the US Army occupation forces at the end of World War I, was born less than a hundred miles from Remagen after his father deserted his post to marry a local Rhineland girl. The family eventually returned to the elder Timmermann's home town of West Point, Nebraska. His father's dishonorable discharge motivated Karl Timmermann to excel as a soldier and restore honor to the family name. Rather unlike Hartman, Timmermann is described in Hechler's book as a good-humored "Mister Roberts" kind of officer.<br/><br/>Sergeant "Angel" Angelo (played by Ben Gazzara) is a composite of Sergeants Joseph DeLisio of New York City and Alex Drabik of Toledo, Ohio; DeLisio was a platoon sergeant and Drabik, a squad leader, was actually the first American across the bridge. Angelo's depiction as looting the bodies of almost every dead German he encounters is an exaggerated extrapolation of a comment in Hechler's book that the members of Able Company half-jokingly said that DeLisio was so aggressive because he "wanted first crack at the loot!"<br/><br/>2nd Lieutenant Pattison (played by Tom Heaton) is analogous to 2nd Lieutenant Emmett James "Jim" Burrows of Jersey City, New Jersey, platoon leader and acting executive officer of Able Company. While Lt Pattison is killed in the movie, Burrows and his platoon seized the guns on the cliffs over the railroad tunnel; he survived the war and went on to command an infantry battalion in the NJ National Guard.)<br/><br/>Major Barnes (played by Bradford Dillman) is analogous to Major Murray Deevers, commanding officer of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion.<br/><br/>Brigadier General Shinner (played by E.G. Marshall) is analogous to Brigadier General William M. Hoge, commanding general of Combat Command B (what today is called an armored brigade) of the 9th Armored Division.<br/><br/>Major Paul Krueger (played by Robert Vaughn) is analogous to Major Hans Scheller, overall German commander responsible for defense of Remagen and the bridge. Like Krueger, Scheller went for reenforcements after he learned the telephone line to higher headquarters was cut, and was court-martialed and executed for allowing the bridge to be captured and for deserting his post. In a photo in the 1993 edition of Hechler's book, Scheller bears a strong resemblance to a young Arnold Schwarzenegger.<br/><br/>Captain Karl Schmidt (played by Hans Christian Blech) is analogous to Captain Willi Bratge, commander of the troops actually defending the bridge. Like Schmidt, Bratge was a schoolmaster in civilian life, although not at Remagen. Bratge was court-martialed by the Germans in absentia and sentenced to death for his failure to prevent the capture of the bridge, his life being spared by his capture by the Americans. 497e39180f download full movie Femzilla in hindiPhishing movie in hindi hd free downloadtamil movie dubbed in hindi free download ReconquistaChrono's Memory full movie online freeBen 10: Alien Swarm full movie download in hindi hdZombie 3 movie free download hdA Blind Eye movie in hindi free downloadUnderground full movie hd 1080pthe Elite Squad hindi dubbed free downloadFull Disclosure song free download
Pennibrid replied
292 weeks ago