# Please identify this WW2 film

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-ww2-film/581201>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 8, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-ww2-film/581201 "2011-05-08T22:51:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-ww2-film/581201/1 "2011-05-08T22:51:32Z")

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I saw that film about circa 25 years ago, when I was still 10-12 years old, so my memory may be off.  
It’s about a small group of British Commandos or Parachutists, infiltrating the German lines somewhere on the western front post D-Day.  
They encounter a German patrol, and some quite gruesome killing ensues. For instance, one of the Germans gets shot in the throat and slowly dies, flailing around but not making any sound. We hear one of the Commandos thinking to himself: “Why isn’t he screaming?”  
They manage to capture one of the Germans after injuring him. For some reason they take him along (maybe as a guide).

One by one, all the group members get killed, until only the protagonist and the German captive remain. In the end, they get caught by artillery or mortar fire, and the protagonist goes into some rave about being a pacifist. More explosions, and the film ends, probably implying that they all died.

The film was in colour, and the production seemed rather frugal. Small cast, no extras, no female characters.  
It’s not in the Wikipedia list of WW2 films.  
Google didn’t give me anything useful when I searched for various combinations of “film, movie, british, world war 2, commandos, parachute regiment, paratroopers, special forces, special air service.”

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-ww2-film/581201/2 "2011-05-09T03:56:32Z")

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_The Longest Day_, director’s cut.

Just kidding.

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**Author:** ![Air\_Ministry\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Air\_Ministry\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Air_Ministry_1)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-ww2-film/581201/3 "2011-05-10T21:05:38Z")

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Hi Apollon,

Your description closely matches my memory of this film - The Long Day’s Dying (1968):

> **[The Long Day's Dying (1968) ⭐ 6.6 | Drama, War](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063237/)**
>
> 1h 35m | R

Never released on DVD or VHS apparently, but I believe it pops up on British telly every now and then. 😉

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**Author:** ![Apollon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@Apollon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollon)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-this-ww2-film/581201/4 "2011-05-10T22:19:43Z")

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Thank you, Air\_Ministry! That is the one, yes! 🙂  
How did you manage to find it?