History Trivia / TheLongestDay

* CastTheExpert: Richard Todd, who plays Major Howard of the British Airborne, was a British paratrooper during the war and actually took part in the D-Day landings -- in fact, he was initially approached to play ''himself'' in the film.
* DawsonCasting: John Wayne as Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort. The real Benjamin Vandervoort was 12 years younger than Wayne, and on D-Day he had been just 27, while Wayne was '''54''' when the movie was filmed.

** Roddy [=McDowall=] asked for a small role to spare his boredom after ''Film/{{Cleopatra}}'' was delayed... AGAIN.

** Another almost with former President DwightEisenhower. Eisenhower actually would have played himself except he looked too old for his younger self from two decades before so the idea was scrapped.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Besides the ones mentioned below, there's Red Buttons, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Eddie Albert, Paul Anka, Fabian, Robert Wagner, Richard Dawson...
** Also cartoonist and comedian Creator/{{Loriot}} in an uncredited bit part as a German staff officer.
** Two German actors were future ''Film/JamesBond'' villains:
*** Gert Fröbe -- best known for playing the title role in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' -- as the German sergeant [[KnownOnlyByTheirNickname "Kaffeekanne"]] (coffee-pot), who rides his horse to the beach every morning to bring coffee to the troops.
*** Curd Jürgens (credited here as Curt Jürgens) -- who played Karl Stromberg in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' -- as Major General Günther Blumentritt.
*** The first Film/JamesBond himself, Sean Connery, is one of the British soldiers landing on Sword beach.
** Wolfgang Preiss as General Pemsel. He became almost ubiquitous in WWII films, appearing in ''The Train'', ''Film/VonRyansExpress'', ''Film/IsParisBurning'', ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'' and ''[[Literature/TheWindsOfWarAndWarAndRemembrance The Winds of War]]'', among others. Of course, European audiences at the time probably recognized Preiss as [[Film/Die1000AugenDesDrMabuse Dr. Mabuse]].
** André Bourvil playing the Mayor of Colleville. Bourvil was a popular French comedy star, though he occasionally [[PlayingAgainstType played against type]] in dramatic roles. International viewers might recognize him best from ''Film/TheRedCircle''.
** Austrian actor Dietmar Schönherr, best known as Major [=McLane=] from ''Series/{{Raumpatrouille}}'', has a small part as a Luftwaffe major.

** Almost. Actor Richard Todd plays John Howard, the Major whose unit secures Pegasus Bridge. One of the relief units coming to their aid was led by Captain Richard Todd!

* Engineers are seen removing explosives from the Orne Bridge. In reality they hadn't been placed in their slots when the gliders landed. Zanuck chose to ignore Howard's telling him this for the sake of drama.
** However, a scene where German soldiers are seen running out of the cafe near that bridge wasn't done, as one of the owners insisted vehemently she had never allowed Germans to sleep there.

* LifeImitatesArt: The code names given to some of the objectives (Pegasus Bridge, Utah, Omaha, Juno, and Sword Beaches) have been retained to this day.

* DawsonCasting: John Wayne as Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort. The real Benjamin Vandervoort was 12 years younger than Wayne when the movie was made. He was actually just 27 during D-Day, when Wayne was '''54''' when the movie was filmed.

*** Curd Jürgens (credited here as Curt Jürgens) -- who played Karl Stromberg in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' -- as Major General Gunther Blumentritt.

* However, a scene where German soldiers are seen running out of the cafe near that bridge wasn't done, as one of the owners insisted vehemently she had never allowed Germans to sleep there.

** Wolfgang Preiss as General Pensell. He became almost ubiquitous in WWII films, appearing in ''The Train'', ''Film/VonRyansExpress'', ''Film/IsParisBurning'', ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'' and ''[[Literature/TheWindsOfWarAndWarAndRemembrance The Winds of War]]'', among others. Of course, European audiences at the time probably recognized Preiss as [[Film/Die1000AugenDesDrMabuse Dr. Mabuse]].
** Andre Bourvil playing the Mayor of Colleville. Bourvil was a popular French comedy star, though he occasionally [[PlayingAgainstType played against type]] in dramatic roles. International viewers might recognize him best from ''Film/TheRedCircle''.

*** Gert Fröbe -- best known for playing the title role in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' -- as the German sergeant Kaffeekanne, who rides his horse to the beach every morning to bring coffee to the troops.

** This was made just after DwightDEisenhower's presidency and the producers very nearly '''cast Eisenhower to play himself'''. They abandoned the idea because he was too old, though.

* However, a scene where German soldiers are seen running out of the cafe near that bridge wasn't done as one of the owners insisted vehemently she had never allowed Germans to sleep there.

* AsHimself

* BackedByThePentagon: About 23.000(!) real US, British and French soldiers were used as extras in the movie. They also rented 2 Messerschmitts from the Spanish air force and 4 Spitfires from the Belgian air force.

* HeyItsThatGuy

* RealLifeWritesThePlot

** SeanConnery, on the other hand, also has a small role because he was eager to get off to Jamaica and begin filming ''Film/DrNo''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ChristopherLee, who fought in the War as an intelligence officer with the RAF, auditioned for any role he could get. He was turned down because the producers felt [[{{Irony}} he didn't look like a military officer]].

* LifeImitatesArt: The code names given to some of the unnamed structures (like Pegasus Bridge) and the beaches (Utah, Omaha, Juno, Sword) are now known by those names.

*** Gert Fröbe -- best known for playing the title role in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' -- as the German soldier who rides his horse to the beach every morning.

** SeanConnery, on the other hand, also has a small role because he was eager to get off to Jamaica and begin filming ''Film/DrNo''. But the funniest thing is, that Sean Connery is quasi fighting two of his future villains from James Bond (Film/{{Goldfinger}} and [[Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe Stromberg]]) in this movie (Sergeant Kaffeekanne a.k.a. Gert Fröbe, and General Blumentritt aka Curt Jürgens) respectively.

*** Gert Fröbe -- best known for playing the title roll in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' -- as the German soldier who rides his horse to the beach every morning.

*** Gert Fröbe -- best known for playing the title roll in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' -- as the German soldier who rides the donkey to the beach every morning.

*** The first Film/JamesBond himself, Sean Connery, is one of the soldiers landing on the beach.

* AllStarCast: If you were an A-List male actor in Hollywood in 1962, you have at least a bit part in this film. Plus a couple well-known British, French and Germans actors.

* AllStarCast: If you were an A-List male actor in Hollywood in 1962, you have at least a bit part in this film. Plus a couple well-known French actors for the locals.

** SeanConnery, on the other hand, also has a small role because he was eager to get off to Jamaica and begin filming ''Film/DrNo''. [[HilariousInHindsight But the funniest thing is, that Sean Connery is quasi fighting two of his future villains from James Bond (Film/{{Goldfinger}} and [[Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe Stromberg]]) in this movie (Sergeant Kaffeekanne a.k.a. Gert Fröbe, and General Blumentritt aka Curt Jürgens) respectively.]]

** However, a scene where German soldiers are seen running out of the cafe near that bridge wasn't done as one of the owners insisted vehemently she had never allowed Germans to sleep there.