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==Introduction==
The war movie ‘A Bridge Too Far’’ was one of the hits of 1977. It was a much-anticipated extravaganza that was well received by the public if not all the critics. The movie tells the story of Operation Market Garden. This was an attempt by the allies to seize several key bridges over the Rhine in the Netherlandsin 1944. This it was hoped would have allowed the Allies to seize control of key bridges crossing points and then attack Northern Germany from the Netherlands in 1944. The plan was to use airborne forces to seize the bridge before the Germans could react. Armored divisions would then join the lightly armed paratroopers and secure them for the allies. However, things did not go to plan and the Germans were at first able to delay the attacks and then defeated the British paratroopers at Arnhem, the offensive’s key objective. Operation Market Garden was widely seen as a failure and resulted in the loss of thousands of Allied paratroopers and soldiers. The 1977 motion picture was directed by Richard Attenborough, a former British movie star. The movie had a huge budget and is visually spectacular. The movie A Bridge Too Far was based on the non-fiction book of the same name written by the journalist Cornelius Ryan<ref> McKenna, A. T. "Joseph E. Levine and A Bridge Too Far: A Producer's Labour of Love". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 31 (2011), pp 211–214</ref>. Attenborough was committed to making the movie as accurate as possible. The production had several veterans of Market Garden on hand, to give technical advice. One of the stars of the movie was Dirk Bogardus had fought in the campaign. The movie was a real epic and had an all-star cast. Among the stars were Sean Connery, Ryan O Neill, James Caan, Elliott Gould and Gene Hackman. This article will discuss how accurate is the movie and does it really portray the
[[File: Bridge too far movieposter.jpg|200px|thumb|left| Bridge too far movieposter]]
==The characters==
All the characters in the film are based on historical figures. Sean Connery played his fellow Scot, Major General Urquhart. Gene Hackman played Polish General Stanislaw Sosabowski. Ryan O Neill had the role of General James Gavin, while Dirk Bogarde played Lt Gen "Boy" Browning. These characters were key players in Operation Market Garde<ref> MacKenna, p. 216</ref>. The German commanders such as the SS commanders are all based on those who were involved in the fighting. However, General Student was not the commander on the western front when Market Garden commenced it was Von Rundstedt. In general, the film is very faithful to history about the identity of those involved. However, there was one glaring omission from the movie and that was General Bernard Montgomery. He was the driving force behind Operation Market Garden and without him, it is unlikely that it would have even proceeded. Yet the film does not include him but there are many references to him throughout the movie. Why Attenborough did this is not really known. In Cornelius Ryan’s book, Montgomery was very prominent. It is believed that Attenborough like many other Britons had too much respect for Monty, the victor of El Alamein to include him as a character <ref> Ryan, Cornelius. A Bridge Too Far (Pelican, London, 1970), p 67, 89</ref>. The movie also shows the diverse nature of the allied forces in Operation Market Garden, including British, American, Canadian, Free Dutch forces and Polish Paratroopers.
