MovieChat Forums > A Bridge Too Far (1977) Discussion > A bridge too long

A bridge too long

posted 8 years ago by rsgre
5 replies | jump to latest

Watched this film again after a long time, maybe 5 years or more. Forgot how long it was and how dreary the final minutes are. Nitty gritty moments as they get near to defeat at the end. Glad I could take breaks watching it, would have got very antsy in a theater. Still very good and a wonderful tribute to the men who tried and failed. Just like "Patton", Montgomery is the unseen fall guy here. As I see it, he put to much trust on the gliders, and they were unreliable. The important ones did not make it. Too bad Steve McQueen was not able to make a final memorable appearance here as originally planned, he was already 47, overweight, and having health problems. I wonder which part he would have played, anybody know ? Might have more....

RSGRE

[–] Hotrodder 8 years ago

He would have played Blades, a hotshot US fighter pilot who had just escaped from a PoW camp. Flying again for the USAAF he was then downed by an Me109 over Nijmegan. He then took over command of a British tank and unlike the rest of the British tanks actually got to Arnhem Bridge. Unable to relieve the brave British paras who had succumbed by then, he chose to rev the bollocks off his Sherman and try to leap the Rhine with it. Alas! He failed to make the jump successfully and was pulled out of the Rhine by snarling SS troopers who told him it was back to the cooler for him. The last shot is of him walking to captivity flanked by two SS men, bouncing his faithful basketball which went everywhere with him including in the cockpit of his P-51 Mustang.

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[–] IronHorseColonel 8 years ago

I thought the Cooler King was Hilts....

[–] IronHorseColonel 8 years ago

In the Bluray commentary its mentioned that McQueen was originally tapped to play Major Cook who was ultimately portrayed by Redford. McQueen turned it down.

[–] rsgre 8 years ago

Thanks for your comments everyone. According to the IMDB biography right here, Steve McQueen was 47, overweight, and already in declining health, so I think he had to decline the part. That would not have fit in well, in this film with everyone in their prime. Too bad this potentially great finale role for him came too late.
I think he would have done great, just as he did in "The Sand Pebbles".

RSGRE

[–] dubyahsrobotminion 8 years ago

Maybe declining in health but thats arguable. It wasnt until less than a year before he died that he developed mesothelioma. Prior to that the was pretty healthy. As far as overweight only after the cancer started spreading did he start gaining a lot of weight. And it spread quick, It was inoperable so there were no treatments. Removing the tumor from his stomach proved too much for his heart and it killed him. In Towering Inferno he was still very stout and still racing. Assuming pre-production was 75-76 from development, casting and filming he would have been fine.

He turned it down because he wanted to be the only star in movies he was in, according Attenborough at least. And it fits because McQueen almost didn't do The Great Escape for the same reason, he disliked being part of ensemble casts.

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