Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors. He produced three films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture during his tenure.
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Europe, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes is a 1965 British epic period comedy film that satirizes the early years of aviation. Directed and co-written by Ken Annakin, the film stars an international ensemble cast, including Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, Robert Morley, Terry-Thomas, James Fox, Red Skelton, Benny Hill, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Gert Fröbe and Alberto Sordi.
La Pointe du Hoc is a promontory with a 35-metre (110 ft) cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy in the Calvados department, France.
Sainte-Mère-Église is a commune in the northwestern French department of Manche, in Normandy. On 1 January 2016, the former communes of Beuzeville-au-Plain, Chef-du-Pont, Écoquenéauville and Foucarville were merged into Sainte-Mère-Église. On 1 January 2019, the former communes of Carquebut and Ravenoville were merged into Sainte-Mère-Église.
The Longest Day is a 1959 book by Cornelius Ryan telling the story of D-Day, the first day of the World War II invasion of Normandy. It details the coup de main operation by gliderborne troops, which captured the Caen canal and Orne river bridges before the main assault on the Normandy beaches. It sold tens of millions of copies in eighteen different languages. It is based on interviews with a cross-section of participants, including U.S., Canadian, British, French and German officers and civilians.
The Longest Day is a 1962 American epic war film based on Cornelius Ryan's 1959 non-fiction book of the same name about the D-Day landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox, and is directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, and Bernhard Wicki. The screenplay was written by Ryan, with additional material written by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall and Jack Seddon.
The Visit is a 1964 drama film directed by Bernhard Wicki, adapted by Ben Barzman and Maurice Valency from Friedrich Dürrenmatt's 1956 play of the same name. It stars Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, who also produced. Irina Demick, Paolo Stoppa, Hans Christian Blech, Romolo Valli, Valentina Cortese and Claude Dauphin play supporting roles.
Werner Pluskat was a major, commanding the 1st Battalion of the 352nd Artillery Regiment of the German 352nd Infantry Division during the Allied invasion in Normandy.
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings. A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.
Major General Raymond Oscar "Tubby" Barton was a career officer in the United States Army and combat commander in World War I and World War II. As commander of the 4th Infantry Division during World War II, most notably during the Normandy landings in June 1944, Barton is one of only eleven U.S. Army general officers who commanded their divisions for the duration of their combat service. He commanded the 4th Infantry Division from 3 July 1942 to 26 December 1944 and led them into battle from D-Day at Utah Beach, to the Battle of Normandy, the Liberation of Paris, and into the Battle of Hürtgen Forest before leaving the command due to health problems on December 27, 1944.
D-Day the Sixth of June is a 1956 American DeLuxe Color CinemaScope romance war film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Henry Koster and produced by Charles Brackett from a screenplay by Ivan Moffat and Harry Brown, based on the 1955 novel, The Sixth of June by Lionel Shapiro. The film stars Robert Taylor, Richard Todd, Dana Wynter, and Edmond O'Brien.
Irina Demick, sometimes credited as Irina Demich or Irina Demik, was a French actress with a brief career in American films.
Heinrich "Hein" Severloh was a soldier in the German 352nd Infantry Division stationed in Normandy in 1944. He became famous for a memoir WN 62 – Erinnerungen an Omaha Beach Normandie, 6. Juni 1944, published in 2000. In the book, the authors claim that as a machine gunner, Severloh inflicted over 1,000 and possibly over 2,000 casualties to the American soldiers landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day. However, Severloh's claim is not viewed as credible by either US or German historians. Total US casualties from all sources along the five-mile length of Omaha Beach on D-Day are estimated at 2,400.
Hello-Goodbye is a 1970 British comedy film starring Michael Crawford, and was the final film directed by Jean Negulesco.
Commodore Colin Douglas Maud, DSO & Bar, DSC & Bar was a Royal Navy officer who during the Second World War commanded the destroyers Somali and Icarus and acted as beach master of Juno beach at the D-day landings. With a heavy black beard, he "possessed the outward appearance of a latter-day buccaneer and was endowed with exceptional boldness and tenacity to go with it". His blackthorn stick and bulldog Winston provided an image when portrayed by Kenneth More in the film The Longest Day. He was described as "one of the most popular officers in the British Navy".
Leonard G. "Bud" Lomell was a highly decorated former United States Army Ranger who served in World War II. He is best known for his actions in the first hours of D-Day at Pointe du Hoc on the coast of Normandy, France.
The Provisional Ranger Group was a provisional regiment of U.S. Army Rangers that was formed for the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, in World War II.
La Métamorphose des cloportes is a 1965 French and Italian comedy crime film comedy directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre.
Geneviève Gilles is a French-Romanian chef turned actress. In her early life she sold Superman figurines outside serial movies in Norwalk, Connecticut. She acted in one film and three 1980s era sitcoms. She was the mistress of film producer Darryl Zanuck, from 1965 to 1973.
