D-Day the Sixth of June (1956)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Copyright 1956 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 29 May 1956. U.S. release: June 1956. U.K. release: 15 October 1956. Australian release: 6 September 1956. Sydney opening at the Regent. 9,560 feet. 106 minutes. SYNOPSIS: American army captain falls in love with an English girl who is engaged to his commanding officer. NOTES: Fox's 55th CinemaScope release did rather well at all ticket windows, despite extremely negative reviews. COMMENT: I'm tempted to say that this is one of the few war films that's suitable for children, mainly because it's so boring. "D-Day the Sixth of June" should have been an epic, but it emerges not just as a damp squib but as a bore. Yes, this "great love story of the great war" is a plain bore. For a while there, the director and the screenwriters do battle to see who can come across as the dullest. On his record, Koster would not seem to offer much opposition, but it says much for the lack of quality and incredible dullness of the writing, that Messrs Moffat and Brown win handsomely. The Dana Wynter/Richard Todd/Robert Taylor triangle must be one of the least interesting, most predictable and grandly tedious romances in film history. Miss Wynter's frosty personality just can't help being bland. But Robert Taylor's lethargic performance is unexpected and thus doubly disappointing. By way of contrast, Richard Todd and in particular Edmond O'Brien really throw themselves into their roles. Unfortunately they have little to work on or with, but they certainly make the most of the sparse material they're handed. John Williams manages to make some impression, despite being miscast, but the rest of the support players are little help. Photographer Lee Garmes tries hard to give the picture's lighting a bit of style, but is ultimately defeated by very moderate production values, especially the use of lots of stock footage which is supremely obvious in CinemaScope blow-ups.

D-DAY THE SIXTH OF JUNE is a slightly nauseating gung-ho Hollywood version of the famous battle, bogged down in a bog-standard love triangle which occupies much of the running time. The British forces, in the form of Richard Todd, are shown as heroic but slightly stiff, while the Americans, in the form of Robert Taylor, are down to earth and affable. Dana Wynter is the girl caught between the two but the love triangle material couldn't be any less interesting if it tried. The battle scene at the climax is badly handled and staged in the dark for the most part, and the most fun I got out of this was John Williams' (DIAL M FOR MURDER) wry turn as the brigadier. If you want the definitive D-Day picture, look no further than THE LONGEST DAY.

This movie is on my list of ones not to bother with. Among my many peeves are movies that are mislabeled, that use an enticing title-"Battle of the Bulge" is another-and then portray little if any of the events the title implies. "Lafayette Escadrille" is another. Saw this one 40 years ago on the tube, as a 14 year old I was annoyed at the lack of action and real history. One incident stands out in my memory. At the end when the landings finally occur and newsreel footage is spliced in, the soundtracks plays the songs of the various armed forces, the Marine Corps hymn is played, my mother (born in 1913) said to me (the precocious history buff) "They didn't have Marines at D-Day, did they?" The answer of course is no, the ETO was a strict Army-Navy operation. I would call this a "bait and switch" movie, you are lured in by an enticing title, the actual movie is a scam.

...and that's just Robert Taylor. There is a style of acting that was in vogue in the 1950's called "dead from the neck down" and that describes Taylor to a T. The film is excruciatingly plodding, and the plot is quite morally vacant. Taylor and Wynter are both cheating on their partners and it's hard to see what they see in each other: He indulges in so much Brit-bashing and bitches about the US allies throughout the movie you would think he wouldn't want to become contaminated by them, and once Richard Todd, Wynter's former love, appears on the scene, the little Englishman just acts Taylor off the screen...even when we, finally, get to the war action, it's Todd who is all testosterone and wins the battle. I actually found the film somewhat offensive and almost a complete waste of time.