On D List of Movie Reviews

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D-Day the Sixth of June (1956)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 1/25

DDay6
1/25: Talk about a misleading title.

D-Day the Sixth of June initially gave me the general idea that I was going to see a lot of banal fighting on the beach and blah, blah, blah. Instead, it became disguise for a wartime love triangle. After finding out, I felt fine with the change in direction.

Unfortunately, the show didn't deliver the goods as hoped for. The first minute I saw Robert Taylor being paired up with Dana Wynter, I said, "Too old." He was 44 while she was 24 at the time of filming. The difference remained patently flagrant all the way through.

However, Robert Taylor and Dana Wynter did show chemistry. The reason why From Here to Eternity worked was that there was a certain oomph. D-Day the Sixth of June didn't have any. No matter how beautiful Dana Wynter could be, it wasn't enough to overcome the vacuousness she displayed on screen, hence the outcome of her unremarkable career.

I thought a lot about the adultery part and didn't get why the filmmakers wanted me to root for the cheating couple. The husband, played by Richard Todd who was actually involved with the D-Day by landing in Normandy, looked like a fine, upstanding guy, and she was still interested in the other guy? I never got to see Brad Parker's wife. Therefore, how she felt about the situation had been rendered unimportant.

Edmond O'Brien had a meaty role going but was ultimately used to serve as a plot device to set up the final act for the cheating couple. Finally, the promise of the film title had been seen through. Ironically, that's when I said it wasn't a good idea, and as a result, D-Day the Sixth of June sank further. Because of the low lighting, the cinematography was constantly dark to my dismay.

All in all, Hollywood should have first asked itself why anyone would be interested in a film about soldiers cheating on their spouses during WWII.