OK... So who wants to play General Dutch Cota??? An inside story of The Movie War Epic, The Longest Day (1962) In the late 1950s, The Hollywood Movie Film Industry was in serious trouble. Post World War II and The Cold War, made things sensitive in Hollywood. The McCarthy Hearings were running amuck, trying to find anything Communist and/or Un-American. The Movie/Media Publishing Industries were targeted. Between good Hollywood/Early TV Writers and Celebrities being blacklisted and The U.S. Congress enforcing Anti-Trust mandates, times in front and behind the cameras of Hollywood was in the dulldrums. The New Technology of Television and Cable threatened the old Studio and Theater System. Gone were the smaller studio companies and gimmicks of the cinema, were attracting audiences, but the budget crunch wade it almost impossible for the Big Studios for long survival. With the Green Light Gamble of the Epic Movie Cleopatra, Starring Actress-Performer, Elizabeth Taylor and an All Star Cast... Twentieth Century Foxs budget was in serious crisis. So serious... that the over-budgeting was sucking the life out of Fox Studios... Something had to be done. In a calulated risk, Movie Mogul, Darryl Zanuck took charge of the ailing studio and began to bring control back. Cleopatra was a Film Log Jam... delaying and postponing other productions. In the noble effort... Zanuck focused his direction on a production called The Longest Day, based on a book written about the exploits of The Invasion of Normandy during World War II... A War Movie Epic. For speed and reason... The Longest Day was to bypass the stalled Cleopatra. In a budget saving move, he even brought in some of Cleopatras Cast and Crew. In the readjustments, The Longest Day became an All Star Movie Event. Historically speaking... Westerns and War Movies have always been a good turnaround for an ailing movie studio, but this time it was the whole industry. Earlier... Republic Pictures closed its doors and there were quite a choice of stars and celebrities available for His movie.. Zannuck had the pick of The Hollywood Litter and they were All Good! The big project was to select them in their rightful places. Of the re-adjustment of roles that were being made... of the many, one of the roles was finding the right performer to portray, World War II General, Norman Daniel Dutch Cota Sr. It is not so much that I am related to Dutch, but the background research I additionally found. In spite the fact that he is mentioned as a principle figure in Ryans book of his exploits at Normandy, but it was non-known at the time, that Gen. Cota, was one of The Masterminds of The Invasion of Normandy. So a fitting Actor-Performer was surely needed. In the receiving of accurate facts and information... Fox approached Former World War II General, Omar Bradley. His knowledge of The Invasion of Normandy though acute, the real person was Dutch. Unfortunately, Dutch or The General was reluctant to get fully involved. From what I understand, part of the the problem was due to a mutual controversy that was shared between Dutch and Ike (aka: U.S. President and Former Commanding General, Dwight D. Eisenhower), over an incident that occured in World War II, Called The Solvick Case, from which Prtvate Eddie Solvick was arrested and executed for desertion and assorted derelictions of duties that the both presided over and a now publish book, that was seeked to be made into a movie (see; The Execution of Private Eddie Solvick). Knowing that Zannuck was A Distant Cousin of The General, the selection of who would play him and Eisenhower, would prove to be very interesting. The selection of Actor-Performer, Robert Mitchum to play Gen. Cota, was not the first choice. There were others that hoped for the role. Zannucks productions looked at Actor-Performer, William Holden, Charlton Heston, and John Wayne.. Even Henry Fonda was thought a first, but being A Distant Cousin of Cota and also General Roosevelt Jr. Moving Fonda to Roosevelt was a wise move and it looked like John Wayne would get the role, but with the Board Takeover of Fox Studios,,, additional adjustments were made. Wayne wanted the role, but the move to do the role of General Vanderhoot, was a stunning strong role for Wayne not to object. Again... this plumb role of The General would be re-selected finally to Actor-Performer, Robert Mitchum. Mitchum had presence and he looked a bit like Cota... what do you expect from A Distant Cousin, that both were born not too far from one another in New England. To this day. With the impact of The Longest Day, it would set a movie trend that still goes on to this day. Other Movie War Epics try or just equal The Longest Day in various different ways. The attempt to play General Cota, has been played down over the years. Actor-Performers, Robert Ryan and Henry Fonda... who also were in The Longest Day, played in the Movie War Epic Battle of The Bulge... a non-historic redo where even Ryan and Fonda dont play a good disguised General Cota or His Son, Leut.Col. Cota. They are almost non-existan and the later Movie, The Execution of Private Solvick was made after both Ike and Dutch departed this planet. The closest we recently got here was in the Movie War Epic, Saving Private Ryan, where Actor-Performer, Ted Danson, plays an obvious critical position in the movie, that some was taken from the book Citizen Soldiers, by Stephen Ambrose... who happened to be a consultant in the movie, in which the role, Danson played a Captain, but in the book... General Cota. If Ted Danson seems to have a look almost like Dutch... another Distant Cousin.If I ever run into Ted wife, Actress-Performer, Mary Steenbergen again in town, I make mention about it.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 08:58:15 +0000
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