Gene Hackman?????? - A Bridge Too Far (1977) Discussion

[–] kobong 12 years ago

Of course not. We also don't say "Chrystus", we say "Chryste" if anything.

You can hear a few soldiers speaking real Polish (just a few sentences) in the background, though.

By the way, I'm glad that almost everyone in this movie speaks their native language and not English with a thick accent. It really annoys me when every German in every war movie speaks like the nihilists in The Big Lebowski.

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[–] yakster1 12 years ago

For me worst movie accent ever. Its right up there with Jean-Claude van Damme explaining his accent that he is from "kebec".

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[–] Tess-tastic 8 years ago

worst movie accent ever

It's really not a patch on Dick Van Dyke's in Mary Poppins. Also, isn't Kebec how the French would pronounce Quebec?

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[–] jimprideaux2 8 years ago

Vandyke's Cockney accent was excellent, by far the best I've heard. In fact, I've never even heard an actual Cockney come close.

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[–] mike-848 12 years ago

I thought he did a lousy job. He's a great actor but was miscast in this film.

Charles Bronson's character Danny the tunnel king in The Great Escape did a better job speaking English with a Polish accent.

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[–] Stanley-6 11 years ago

I agree. It was an embarrassing performance.

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[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

Charles Bronson's character Danny the tunnel king in The Great Escape did a better job speaking English with a Polish accent.

I've always wondered why Bronson, who with his Lithuanian background may have been eminently suited to the part, was never offered a role. He was at the peak of his popularity and I'm sure would have made a good fist of the role.

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[–] emuir-1 10 years ago

Bronson was considered for the role and I agree he would have been far better than Gene Hackman. Sadly, Sosabowski was unfairly made the scapegoat for the failure, partly because he had criticized Montgomery who had an outsize ego, and partly because the British and Americans were the winners, whereas Poland had been occupied by the Russians, and were not going to take the blame when they could dump it on someone else. Had they listened to Sosabowski and allowed the Polish troops to go to the aid of Warsaw, the war might have been over six months earlier and Poland might not have succumbed to the soviets.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Xenopharb (617) 7 years ago

Poland was going to succumb to the Soviets regardless.

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[–] james_powers 11 years ago

Hackman's Polish accent was almost as bad as James Coburn's attempt at an Aussie accent in "The Great Escape."

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[–] skat1140 10 years ago

It was abominable.

One of the worst attempted accents in movie history.

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[–] terrybabe 7 years ago

I have often thought that Gene Hackman could not give a bad performance, and then I remember this (and "Welcome to Mooseport"), and wonder what he was thinking.

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