Actors playing THEMSELVES in war films...

Phylo -
Richard Todd played Major Howard who held the bridge until Lord Lovatt arrived.

Yes, and at one point is seen standing next to an actor playing Richard Todd.

Didn't piper Bill Millin play himself in the longest day?

See that's what I say, but wikipedia disagrees, personally I believe myself more... I'll check the credits

Joseph Lowe has a minor role scaling the cliffs at Point Du Hoc, a role he was made for having been there on the day, 17 years earlier.

 

Actor Richard Attlee (aka 'Kenton' in 'The Archers') plays his grandfather Clement in the BBC Drama Documentary series 'Dunkirk'. An American Civil War re-enactor acquaintance who appeared as an extra in the T Movie 'Gettysburg' in 1992 told me that quite a number of the thousands of re-enactors involved were direct descendants of original participants and in several cases effectively played them in the film by being in the same unit etc..

 

Slightly different but who can forget Tom Cruise’s hugely convincing portrayal of six foot five ex MP Major Jack Reacher? Up there with Sir Michael Caine’s creation of Captain Colby (West Ham and England) in John Huston’s masterwork Escape to Victory.

 

Howard took the bridges, 7 Para held them until the following day.

 

Bill Foxley's character in Battle of Britain was a 1940 fighter pilot who was badly burned.

Bill Foxley - Wikipedia

 

There is a very interesting account by a veteran of 7 Para who witnessed Lovatt's arrival. It is rather different from that shown in the film. Lovatt's force were not the first terrestrial unit to reach the bridge and the advancing across with bagpipes playing is not quite what happened. It is based on his diary at the time. I'll dig out the reference in the morning.

 

Donald Pleasence played the camp forger in The Great Escape - he was in fact in the camp at the time but neither a forger or one of the escapees

 

This is not strictly in line with the thread, but you may remember that the actor who played Eisenhower in The Longest Day looked extraordinarily like him. His name was Henry Wootton Grace and he was not an actor but a highly successful Hollywood set designer whose credits included North by Northwest and Gigi. Grace was famous for his resemblance to Ike, so when Zanuck needed somebody for the part there he was right in Hollywood. Grace was also famous within Hollywood circles as one of movieland's most prominent queers. He gave big parties for the showbiz queer and lesbian crowd at his big house, and even had pictures taken at and of them--a risky thing to do in those days, since such photos would have been worth millions to blackmailers.

 

At least Sir Mike did know how to play football...

 

You learn something new every day. A gay Ike character would have hurt the box office in the sixties but would be celebrated today.

 

As far as I know, it was the Royal Warwickshire Regiment that got there and helped secure Benouville with 7 Para. The Commandos came a few hours later.

 

There was also a bridging company sent in case the Germans had managed to blow the bridge,they also arrived before Lovatt

 

That’s not obvious from the film...

 

Lovat is spelt with one “t”

 

The account I refer to was written by a member of 7th Para based on his diary of the time and is contained in Robin Nellands' The Battle of Normandy Cassel Military Paperbacks 2003 Pages 29-34. The first terrestrial troops to reach the bridge were the advance party of an RE bridging unit that arrived in a Carrier and a White Scout Car. Lovat and Howard did not shake hands on the bridge not did Lovat march across the bridge with his piper playing. He started to walk across the bridge when a bullet past the ear caused him and the piper to "scamper" across. And so on the film is somewhat romanticised.

 

Didn't know there were any Scout Cars in Normandy. Makes sense. Kind of like a Dodge WC with armor.

 

"Theirs is the glory" - supposed to be all the soldiers playing themselves.

Think there was also an interesting case where the Church Door with instructions written on it was put in the Museum but was actually a prop from the movie.

Andy

 

Andy,

Some good info on "Dickie's Door" from member Jonathon's site "Nine Days in September".

Dickie’s Door

Apparently during the filming Major Dickie Lonsdale kept flubbing his lines so they wrote them out on a door found in the debris of the Oosterbeek Church.



Regards ...

 

There were lots of White Scout Cars in use in Normandy, many of them in use with RE units. They also had very specific mods in British service; changes to the headlights, removal of unditiching roller, POL Rack on rear left and spare wheel on rear right. Removal of rear bumper and step