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The movie A Bridge Too Far was based on the non-fiction book of the same name written by the journalist Cornelius Ryan.<ref>McKenna, A. T. "Joseph E. Levine and A Bridge Too Far: A Producer's Labour of Love." <i>Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television</i>. 31 (2011), pp 211–214</ref> Attenborough was committed to making the movie as accurate as possible. The production had several veterans of Market Garden on hand to give technical advice. One of the stars of the movie was Dirk Bogarde, who had fought in the campaign. The movie was a real epic and had an all-star cast. Among its stars were Sean Connery, Ryan O Neill, James Caan, Elliott Gould, Robert Redford, and Gene Hackman. How accurate is <i>A Bridge Too Far</i>, and does it really portray the events during Operation Market Garden?
===The Which characters=were portrayed in <i>A Bridge Too Far</i>?==
All the characters in the film are based on historical figures. Sean Connery played his fellow Scot, Major General Urquhart. Gene Hackman played Polish General Stanislaw Sosabowski. Ryan O Neill had the role of General James Gavin, while Dirk Bogarde played Lt Gen. "Boy" Browning. These characters were key players in Operation Market Garden.<ref> MacKenna, p. 216</ref> The German commanders are all based on those involved in the fighting. For example, Lieutenant General Wilhelm Bittrich, the SS commander at Arnhem, is shown in the movie. However, General Karl Student was not the western front commander when Market Garden commenced; it was Von Rundstedt.
In general, the film is very faithful to history concerning the identity of those involved. However, there was one glaring omission from the movie, and that was Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. He was the driving force behind Operation Market Garden, and without him, it is unlikely that it would have even proceeded. The film does not include him, but there are many references to him throughout the movie. Why Attenborough did, this is not really known. In Cornelius Ryan’s book, Montgomery was very prominent. It is believed that Attenborough, like many other Britons, had too much respect for Monty, the victor of El Alamein, to include him as a character.<ref> Ryan, Cornelius. <i>A Bridge Too Far</i> (Pelican, London, 1970), p 67, 89</ref> The movie also shows the diverse nature of the allied forces in Operation Market Garden, including British, American, Canadian, Free Dutch forces and Polish Paratroopers.
==What was the Intelligence disaster that doomed Operation Market Garden?==
