Benjamin Hayes Vandervoort. The Longest Day
The Longest Day told the story of the Normandy invasion in 1944 using a cast which included most of male Hollywood, with support from the British stars of the day, and several notable German and French actors. Most of the roles were of short duration. John Wayne played Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort. Vandervoort was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel on June 1, 1944, only five days before leading the 2nd battalion of the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment into France in the wee hours of June 6, 1944. The battalion was tasked with seizing and holding the French village of St. Mere Eglise during the operation.
As presented by Wayne in the film, Vandervoort broke his ankle during his parachute landing, but continued to lead his men in the action against the Germans. While it is true that most of the 82nd Airborne Division was inaccurately dropped in France due to inclement weather and poor navigation, the 505 PIR was relatively close to its target and assembled into fighting formation quickly. As portrayed in the movie, some paratroopers did land in the town, and some became entangled on church steeples and other roofs of the town. In real life and the movie, Vandervoort placed his men to hold the town from German counterattack.
That Wayne portrayed Vandervoort with historical accuracy in The Longest Day isn’t surprising, given that the film is one of the most true to life ever made about World War Two. It was based on the book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan. Ryan’s book, which focuses on the people involved in all aspects of the operation, was based on personal interviews of the participants. Ryan hired researchers who conducted more than 3,000 interviews for the book, including combat veterans from all of the armed services who participated, civilians who watched the invasion unfold, and members of the resistance in France.
Surviving German officers and men were also interviewed and the title of the book and subsequent film were taken from a comment by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, overall commander of the defenses in Normandy. Rommel told his aide, “…for the Allies, as well as for Germany, it will be the longest day”, in anticipation of the invasion. The focus on historical accuracy led to several of the actors using props which had actually been on the beach on the morning of June 6, or carried by the paratroopers when they dropped earlier. Actor Richard Todd for example wore the actual helmet worn by Major Howard, the character he portrayed, during the invasion.
The one aspect of Wayne’s portrayal of Vandervoort which was inaccurate was his age. Wayne was 55 when he lobbied for the role of the Lt. Colonel who had been 27 on the day of the invasion. The role had originally been intended for Charlton Heston, who wanted it, but Wayne made an eleventh hour decision to participate in the film and the role. He was the highest paid actor in the film, in part to punish the producer, Darryl F. Zanuck, for disparaging remarks he had made regarding Wayne’s epic film, The Alamo, which failed at the box office.