Meanwhile, Ryan O'Neal distinguishes himself from the refined performances given by the rest of the A-list ensemble by delivering every one of Brig Gen James Gavin's lines as if he were reading it from an idiot board to an audience sitting on the other side of a canyon. The chief linguistic offender is Gene Hackman, who plays Polish general Stanislaw Sosabowski with an accent foundering somewhere between vampire and pirate. Plus – in a refreshing change from the weirdness of watching Nazis speak colloquial English in the likes of Valkyrie – Germans speak German, Dutch speak Dutch, and Brits say things like, 'I'm awfully sorry, but I'm afraid we're going to have to occupy your house.' It's even possible to overlook Sean Connery talking like Sean Connery, seeing as his character, Maj Gen Roy Urquhart, was a Scotsman albeit a Scotsman who had attended St Paul's School and Sandhurst. Most of the film's characters are either real people or closely based on real people. Great Scot, he's got the right accent! … Sean Connery as Maj Gen Roy Urquhart.
