A Bridge Too Far1977

[First lines]

[film opens with montage footage of a World War II era bomber dropping ordinances. Suddenly, the footage freezes, and we hear a woman speaking]

Kate Ter Horst:
It's hard to remember now, but Europe was like this in 1944.

[the video resumes, showing footage of the fighting while the narrator continues on with the introduction]

Kate Ter Horst:
The Second World War was in its fifth year and still going Hitler's way. German troops controlled most of Europe. D-Day changed all that.

[the archive footage cuts to the invasion of Normandy and the liberation of Paris]

Kate Ter Horst:
D-Day, June 6, 1944, when the Allied forces, under their commander, General Eisenhower, landed on the northern coast of France. By July, they were able to begin their own offensive. By August, Paris was liberated. Everywhere the Germans retreated.

[we then see archive footage showing the Allied advance through northern France]

Kate Ter Horst:
But with the Allied victories came problems. Supplies still had to be driven from Normandy, over 400 miles away, and became dangerously short. The Allied advance began to come to a halt.

[the archive footage then goes to video of General Eisenhower, General Patton, and Field Marshal Montgomery]

Kate Ter Horst:
Another problem facing Eisenhower was this. His two most famous generals - Patton, who was in the south, and Montgomery in the north - disliked each other intensely. Their long-standing rivalry had never been more fierce. There simply were not enough supplies for both armies. Each wanted to be the one to defeat the Germans. Each wanted to beat the other to Berlin.

[we now see footage of the planning stages of "Operation Market Garden" as well as hear background music as the woman continues with the introduction]

Kate Ter Horst:
In September 1944, Montgomery devised a new and spectacular plan code named "Market Garden". Eisenhower, under great pressure from his superiors, finally sided with Montgomery, and "Operation Market Garden" became a reality. The plan, like so many plans in so many wars before it, was meant to end the fighting by Christmas, and bring the boys back home.

[we see the archive footage freeze, and watch it zoom in on General Eisenhower before fading to black]