Arnhem film ‘the biggest'

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34127, 13 April 1976, Page 24

Arnhem film ‘the biggest '

Famous cinema names becoming collectively known as “Dickie’s Dozen” have signed up for a new war epic directed by Sir Richard Attenborough about the 1944 airborne assault on Arnhem. It is the film of the book, "A Bridge Too Far,” by the late Cornelius Ryan, and Sir Richard says that with the star cast and about 35,000 Dutch soldiers as extras, it will be the biggest movie ever made, reports the N.Z.P.A. The "superstars” have been picked to represent the three main sides — for Britain, Dirk Bogarde, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, and Sir Laurence Olivier; for America, James Caan, Elliot Gould, Gene Hackman, Ryan O’Neal, and Rober Redford; and for Germany, Hardy Kruger and Maximillian Schell. “This must be the most distinguished cast ever assembled for a film, “Sir Richard said. “And with a budget of about $24.25m, it could be the most expensive.” The Dutch town of Arnhem has been too extensively redeveloped for the film to be shot on exact location, but 15 miles further along the Rhine there is an identical bridge. "The miracle is that the bridge is surrounded by a huge car park on which the townspeople are allowing us to build our Arnhem sets, which will be destroyed during the battle scenes,” Sir Richard said. Construction of the set has already begun, and 470 vehicles and tanks and 31 fully operational aircraft have been assembled ready for the start of shooting in April. It is expected the film will be in cinemas in Britain by the middle of next year.