Longest Day

The Longest Day is a 1962 epic war film based on Cornelius Ryan's 1959 book The Longest Day (1959), about the D-Day landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944, during World War II. It is filmed in the style of a docudrama. Beginning in the days leading up to D-Day, it concentrates on events on both sides of the channel, such as the Allies waiting for the break in the poor weather and anticipating the reaction of the Axis forces defending northern France. The film pays particular attention to the decision by Gen. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of SHAEF, to go after reviewing the initial bad-weather reports as well as reports about the divisions within the German High Command as to where an invasion might happen or what the response to it should be. Maurice-Alexis Jarre was a French composer and conductor, whom Dennis McLellan described as being "one of the giants of 20th-century film music" who was "among the most sought-after composers in the movie industry" and "a creator of both subtle underscoring and grand, sweeping themes, not only writing for conventional orchestras... but also experimenting with electronic sounds later in his career