Making a Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far, released in 1977, proved to be the last epic WWII movie made in the Hollywood studio system. Its ambitious goal: to recreate the doomed Allied plan called Operation Market-Garden in September 1944. Market-Garden' s goal was to surprise the Germans with a mammoth parachute drop behind their lines and bring a quick end to the war, but the plan became a disaster for the Allies, with the battle for the Arnhem bridge vicious as the " Red Devils" of British First Airborne held out against overwhelming odds. Producer Joseph E. Levine packed his cast with the top stars of the 1970s, including Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Sean Connery, James Caan, Michael Caine, Elliott Gould, Dirk Bogarde, and Laurence Olivier and shot the film on location in and around Arnhem. Making ' A Bridge Too Far' answers all the questions WWII buffs have had about the production, as author Simon Lewis interviewed many in the cast and crew and uncovered a genuinely entertaining story about bringing WWII to life in sleepy 1976 Holland with vintage tanks and aircraft, legions of stunt men and paratroopers, all led by determined director Sir Richard Attenborough. Making ' A Bridge Too Far' will prove a delight for armchair generals and lovers of old Hollywood. Fun facts: Dutch survivors of the war had no patience for actors dressed as German soldiers; Dirk Bogarde was a British war veteran who had participated in Market-Garden and bore the mental scars to prove it.