15-056 Garand Picture of the Day

[Bill Hollinger]

How was the vehicle accuracy in A Bridge Too Far?

It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. Considering what they had to work with it was quite good. IIRC there was an M37 in it as a German troop truck and of course the tanks were all wrong. I'll have to dig it out now and watch it

[Bob Womack]

Other than the C-47s the aircraft were all wrong. There were eleven C-47s from around the world used to film the movie. Interestingly, they couldn't get airworthiness certificates for their gliders, even though they were either actual Horsas and Wacos or exact replicas. Seems the British Air Ministry finally came to the conclusion that neither were airworthy! Then a windstorm damaged the lot so it was all done on the ground. The Spit is a period-acurate Mk.IX. The fighters are simply T-6 Texans modified to look a little like P-47 Thunderbolts but the result actually looks more like Brewster Buffaloes. A Taylorcraft Auster III played itself as the liaison plane.

Someone else can answer for the ground vehicles. There are shots where you can see tanks moving but the tracks aren't moving at the speed they are moving (or at all) so you look closer and see tires underneath. Clearly some fiberglass replicas mixed in. The German tanks were later German Leopard I tanks.

Bob

[SA M1Dom]

A Bridge Too Far is one of my favorite movies. Miss the days of the epic war film where almost all the major stars in Hollywood were in it. The only problem is every time I see it. The musical score dances in my head for like a week.