Remembering Richard Attenborough: 6 Defining Career Moments

4. Early Directorial Successes (Oh! What A Lovely War/A Bridge Too Far, 1969/1977)

Most directors begin their careers with something small, such as short films or independent releases. Not Richard Attenborough, whose directorial debut in 1969 was an adaptation of stage musical Oh! What A Lovely War, which boasted a huge cast and a widespread release. Nominated for 8 BAFTA's, it won 5, as well as a Golden Globe for its cinematography. In the wake of the film's release, Attenborough was invited to star and direct in a film about the early life on Winston Churchill by writer/producer Carl Foreman, who was blacklisted in Hollywood following the release of classic Western High Noon but found success in Britain with films such as The Bridge On The River Kwai and The Guns Of Navarone. Foreman had been encouraged to take up the project by Churchill himself, as the two-time Prime Minister enjoyed the Guns Of Navarone and sought to meet the film's writer following the its release. Though declining to star, Attenborough accepted Foreman's offer to direct the film, delivering a well-received account of Churchill's schooldays, military service and journalistic career prior to his election to Parliament. Though nominated for three Academy Awards, the film ultimately took home none. One of the definitive war films would follow in 1977 in the form of A Bridge Too Far, an epic that focused on the ill-fated Operation Market Garden, which saw the Allied Forces attempt to secure three bridges in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. With a budget of $25 million and an all-star cast that included Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Laurence Olivier, Gene Hackman and Anthony Hopkins, Attenborough proved his ability to helm a large-scale production, and even though the film was criticised by some for its length and ignored by award voters for its exposure of failures in the Allied campaign, it remains a fixture on many a man's DVD shelf.