Changes

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 Garden.<ref> MacKenna, p. 216</ref> The German commanders are all based on those who were involved in the fighting, for example, Lieutenant General Wilhelm Bittrich, the SS commander at Arnhem is shown in the movie. However, General Karl Student was not the commander on the western front when Market Garden commenced it was Von Rundstedt.

===Intelligence disaster===

In one scene in the movie, the Germans are shown as detonating explosives that they had rigged to a bridge. This is what happened. The movie also shows very accurately the ferocity of the German resistance. It shows how the Germans could slow down the advance of the British unit, the Irish Guards, as they tried to move forward along the narrow Dutch roads<ref> Ryan, p. 234</ref>. The geography of Holland helped the German defenders because the British tanks could not drive off the roads because of the many canals. This meant that the Nazis inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing allies and fatefully slowed down their advance. The movie, which is quite long even for a Hollywood blockbuster shows nearly all the key battles, including how the Americans were able to capture the bridge at Nijmegen by rowing across the river and attacking the Germans from behind.

The movie shows very accurately the importance of the SS 9th and 10th Division and how they helped to pin down the British at Arnhem. Without the intervention of the elite SS troops, the British would have been able to secure their objective at Arnhem, that is to hold the bridge until an armored division arrived. However, the SS with their tanks were too much for the lightly armed paratroopers. The significance of Arnhem to Operation Market Garden is also shown in the film. A Bridge Too Far correctly shows that the British and Americans captured all the bridges except the key one at Arnhem and this is correct.<ref>Badsey, Stephen. <i>Arnhem 1944: Operation Market Garden</i> (London: Osprey Publishing, 1993), p. 267</ref> Indeed, Browning claims in the movie that the operation was 90% successful as a result.

However, the movie shows that because the British paratroopers could not hold the Bridge at Arnhem the offensive was a costly failure. The rest of the allied army did not reach them in time and this led to their near annihilation by the SS. Attenborough’s movie shows Operation Market Garden to be a failure and this was the case. This is the view held by the Allied High Command at the time and by historians since.

<i>A Bridge Too Far</i> was the title of Ryan’s book upon which the movie was based. The phrase a Bridge Too Far accurately sums up the reason for the defeat of the allied advance. In the movie, this phrase is uttered by Browning. This is correct and he did indeed say it. However, in the movie he speaks the phrase at the end of Operation Market Garden after the Allied efforts to take the bridge at Arnhem had failed. In fact, Browning used the phrase a Bridge Too Far in conversation with Montgomery before the Operation started. He had some misgivings about the ambitious strategy of Montgomery and he stated that he was worried about the timetable and that if the attack was delayed that Arnhem could prove to be a Bridge Too Far. <ref>Ryan, p. 123</ref>. The Polish General Stanislaw Sosabowski also had genuine doubts and stated that he too feared that the Bridge at Arnhem could not be reached in time. This is accurately shown in the movie.

===Who was to blame===

[[File:1200px-Shooting of a scene from A bridge too far.jpg |300px|thumb|left|Shooting a bridge scene from in the movie]]

At the end of the movie, the character of Browning is shown criticizing Montgomery’s tactics and orders. While Browning made many mistakes, including ignoring the intelligence, the ultimate blame for the failure of Market Garden lay with Montgomery. It was his idea that airborne forces should be used to secure a narrow strip of territory in Holland which would be used to hold key bridges which would allow the Allies to cross the Rhine, the Nazi’s regime last line of defense in the west.<ref>Badsey, p. 214</ref> The strategy was too ambitious and the idea of holding territory with lightly armed airborne troops was somewhat reckless and misguided.

The motion picture does show all the leading players in Market Garden and the only real omission was Montgomery who was the architect of Operation Market Garden. Indeed, this is perhaps the main failing of the movie. The movie noticeably fails to show who was ultimately responsible for the failure of Market Garden. Browning rejection of the intelligence offered by the Dutch Resistance and his own intelligence service was critical. However, Montgomery must take the major share of the blame for the disaster and this is not shown in the motion picture. The movie is historically accurate however, it is argued by many critics that this made the film less dramatic, entertaining, repetitive and overlong.