One year shy of the Fiftieth Anniversary of D-Day, the BBC produced this touching film of people of the World War II generation going to Normandy to pay tribute to fallen comrades. Among the travelers are Leo McKern and Alec Guinness from Great Britain, John Randolph and his daughter and son-in-law Geraldine Chaplin and Edward Herrmann. A woman in their age bracket, Lauren Bacall, is also there to pay a visit to her brother's grave.
McKern's got some other reasons for the trip. It seems as though he was wounded and given some real tender loving care by a French woman at the time. Wouldn't you know it John Randolph is looking for the same person and they find her together and Jeanne Moreau plays her.
There's a lot of ideological and nationalist differences that separate these people now. But they have shared bonds from the World War II experience that can never be severed.
Guinness's character is especially interesting. He's been rendered almost mute and childlike by his experience and McKern is totally devoted to him. Watching his mannerisms and gestures I would say that if Guinness had been playing the role for comedy, he reminds me of the childlike innocence of Stan Laurel.
The whole film was shot by the BBC in and around Normandy. It's a simple story about courage and devotion that gives work to an older generation of players who sometimes don't get good roles. No one has anything to complain about here.
McKern's got some other reasons for the trip. It seems as though he was wounded and given some real tender loving care by a French woman at the time. Wouldn't you know it John Randolph is looking for the same person and they find her together and Jeanne Moreau plays her.
There's a lot of ideological and nationalist differences that separate these people now. But they have shared bonds from the World War II experience that can never be severed.
Guinness's character is especially interesting. He's been rendered almost mute and childlike by his experience and McKern is totally devoted to him. Watching his mannerisms and gestures I would say that if Guinness had been playing the role for comedy, he reminds me of the childlike innocence of Stan Laurel.
The whole film was shot by the BBC in and around Normandy. It's a simple story about courage and devotion that gives work to an older generation of players who sometimes don't get good roles. No one has anything to complain about here.