D-Day the Sixth of June ** (1956, Robert Taylor, Richard Todd, Dana Wynter) – Classic Movie Review 9034

Director Henry Koster’s 1956 D-Day the Sixth of June stars Robert Taylor and Richard Todd as married US officer Captain Brad Parker (Taylor) and British colonel Lt. Col. John Wynter (Todd) are both in love with the same chilly ice maiden, Valerie Russell (Dana Wynter).

Koster’s brittle, icky, frosty wartime romance is set around the World War Two invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. The impressive production with its exciting big battle sequences and Koster’s careful, painstaking direction make up for the stilted dialogue, flat star performances, trembling stiff upper-lips and 20th Century Fox’s stereotyping attitudes towards the English. The battle is a long time coming, though, confined to the last 15 minutes, so it is mainly all about the romance. And it is in its favour that, at a surprisingly compact 106 minutes, it does not run to epic length. It is attractively filmed by cinematographer Lee Garmes in CinemaScope and Color by Deluxe.

Ivan Moffat and Harry Brown’s screenplay is based on the novel by Lionel Schapiro. But, with its wartime Brief Encounter-style theme, you feel Noël Coward could have written a good script for this one.

Also in the cast are Edmond O’Brien, John Williams, Robert Gist, Dabbs Greer, Jerry Paris, Richard Stapley, Ross Elliott, Alex Finlayson, Cyril Delevanti, Marie Brown, Rama Bai, Geoffrey Steele and George Pelling.

D-Day the Sixth of June is directed by Henry Koster, runs 106 minutes, is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Ivan Moffat and Harry Brown, based on the novel by Lionel Schapiro, is shot in CinemaScope and Color by Deluxe by Lee Garmes, is produced by Charles Brackett and is scored by Lyn Murray.

Richard Todd was a parachutist during World War Two and took part in the Normandy invasion. He later played his former commanding officer Major John Howard in another film of the Normandy landings, The Longest Day (1962).

Taylor became a flying instructor in the US Naval Air Corps to help the war effort.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9034

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