Overlord (1975)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Stuart Cooper

Writers:

Christopher Hudson (original screenplay) and
Stuart Cooper (original screenplay)

Release Date:

13 March 1978 (Denmark)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

Code Name D-Day June 6th 1944

Plot:

During the war a young lad is called up and, with an increasing sense of foreboding, undertakes his army training ready for D-day. |

Plot Keywords:

D Day | Premonition | Boot Camp | Historical | World War II Bomber

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Brian Stirner	...	Tom
Davyd Harries	...	Jack
Nicholas Ball	...	Arthur
Julie Neesam	...	The Girl
Sam Sewell	...	The Trained Soldier
John Franklyn-Robbins	...	Dad
Stella Tanner	...	Mum
Harry Shacklock	...	Stationmaster
David Scheuer	...	Medical Officer
Ian Liston	...	Barrack Guard
Lorna Lewis	...	Prostitute
Stephen Riddle	...	Dead German Soldier
Jack Le White	...	Barman
Mark Penfold	...	Photographer
Micaela Minelli	...	Little Girl

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:15 | UK:AA (original rating) | Australia:PG | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK

Company:

Joswend

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In amongst the shots of "Hobart’s Funnies" on the landing beaches there is a shot of a Panjandrum. This was an experimental device which would have been used to combat the German proposed invasion of England in 1940. However it was a failure and was not used at the time and was never used in the D Day landings.

Quotes:

[Jack and Arthur are lying down and talking while awaiting deployment]
Jack: Did you hear what Tom did this morning?
Arthur: No.
Jack: He went to see old Nickelby, and asked him if they gave out compassionate leave if there's been a death in the family. So Nickelby said, "Oh, yeah, yeah, depending on the circumstances." And Tom said, "Well, there hasn't been a death in my family yet, but there's going to be one very soon, and I request leave to go home and console my parents."

Movie Connections:

References This Happy Breed (1944)

Soundtrack:

The Lambeth Walk

Excellent. Just excellent.

When I heard that this film consisted of about 1/3 newsreel footage, I was expecting the worst. Stock footage blended with studio footage is something you'd find in an MST3k movie; three people in a car driving quickly away from a giant lizard and then cut to a different film grain shot of an iguana in a lab and then back to the car. Oh no, the Iguana is chasing us.

The effect can be jarring, to say the least.

But Cooper, so far as I have heard, actually wrote the screenplay for Overlord with the stock footage he was going to use already in mind, tailoring his script so that the footage actually made sense. The movie is shot so that the switch from studio to stock lighting and film quality is barely noticeable. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's seamless--it does take a little while to get used to, but after the first fifteen minutes or so you don't even notice it.

And that's a good sign, that you have to "get used to" the picture for a little while before you feel comfortable watching it. That's the sign of originality. This is a brooding and slow-paced war film, but unlike other such films it maintains a certain lightness in spite of its weighty subject and so avoids coming off as ponderous. No viewpoints are shoved in your face. Hard questions are asked, yes, but you're given plenty of time to try and sort them out for yourself.

This is a movie you have to be wide awake while watching--it demands your full attention, and if you're not willing to give that up then you're probably not going to enjoy it. Overlord is most certainly not mindless entertainment. It provokes thought, and if thought makes you uncomfortable it's simply not the movie for you.