19 Mar Ike: Countdown to D-Day
Ike-Countdown to D-Day, WWII Movie starring Tom Selleck
(2004) After General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower is appointed as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces he has to oversee the planning and take responsibility for all critical decisions leading up to D-Day.
This historical film first aired on the television station A&E, but I watched it as part of the Military Channel’s An Officer and a Movie.
I loved it. According to what I have read, the events were very accurate so it was like having a history review. There were no action scenes, no battles, no landings. It was all about the planning, the politics, the agonizing decisions leading up to what likely became in later years the most studied, hashed over, analyzed military event ever.
Tom Selleck was excellent as Ike. So was Ian Mune, the New Zealand actor who played Churchill. Their scenes together were probably my favorite except for the one when on D-Day minus one Ike met with the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division. Oh yes, and when the poor young weatherman (weatherboy) had to report in to Eisenhower.
Seems that Tom Selleck, a non-smoker, had to make a concerted effort to become more like Ike who smoked four packs a day. In the movie, he smoked nonstop as did almost everyone.
Ah, the cigarettes …
Ike – Countdown to D-Day at amazon.com
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