Arka Evren

TV SERIES · 1988–

War and Remembrance

38 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

29 Interesting Facts About War and Remembrance

  1. #001

    Compared with The Winds of War (1983), the series delivered a disappointing performance in viewing figures.

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  2. #002

    Producers considered replacing the seventy-year-old Robert Mitchum with fifty-nine-year-old James Coburn, concerned that Mitchum was too old and ill to reprise the role of Victor "Pug" Henry.

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  3. #004

    During a break in filming, Robert Mitchum took on a role in Mr. North (1988) opposite John Huston, who was dying of pneumonia and emphysema.

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  4. #005

    The one-thousand-four-hundred-and-ninety-two-page script contained two thousand and seventy scenes, three hundred and fifty-eight speaking parts and seven hundred and fifty-seven locations worldwide, and involved more than forty-four thousand actors, actresses and extras.

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  5. #006

    With a cost of over one hundred and ten million dollars, it was the most expensive miniseries of its time.

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  6. #007

    Sir John Gielgud worked on this project for eight months.

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  7. #009

    The miniseries was criticized for downplaying Soviet oppression. Before invading the Baltic States in 1940, the Soviets had invaded Poland and Finland in 1939.

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  8. #010

    Several former prisoners of the camp helped with the authenticity of the selection scenes at Auschwitz; they were given consultancy roles and appeared as extras, reliving their own experiences more than forty years later.

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  9. #011

    Sir John Gielgud took over the role of Aaron Jastrow from John Houseman. Before Houseman was cast, Gielgud was one of several actors who had played the law professor in The Paper Chase (1973).

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  10. #014

    This was the first production shot at Auschwitz, after Dan Curtis lobbied the Polish Communist government for filming permission. Because the building was demolished by the Nazis at the end of 1944, a full-scale replica of Crematorium II was built next to the original site.

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  11. #016

    The scenes at Hitler's Reich Chancellery in Berlin were filmed in and around the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.

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  12. #017

    When the miniseries aired in North America, it failed to attract younger viewers.

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  13. #020

    In this miniseries, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill were played by Ralph Bellamy and Robert Hardy respectively. Both actors had played these roles in films before. Bellamy appeared in The Winds of War (1983) and Sunrise at Campobello (1960). Hardy played Churchill in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981), The Woman He Loved (1988) and Bomber Harris (1989). In the first of these films, Günter Meisner appeared in the Hitler role he had also played in The Winds of War (1983). Hardy also played President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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  14. #021

    E. G. Marshall had previously played General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Ike (1986). This was also his second role in a Herman Wouk adaptation; he had earlier played the prosecutor in The Caine Mutiny (1954).

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  15. #022

    The "death camp" segment contains several nude "bodies" photographs showing women's breasts. This was the first time nudity was shown on prime-time television.

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  16. #023

    When this miniseries aired on the ITV network in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s, some sensational concentration camp scenes were flagged as exceptional. This was to ensure they were transmitted after 9:00 p.m., the "watershed". There is an unwritten rule that potentially "offensive" images are never shown before that hour.

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  17. #024

    According to the story, Natalie Jastrow, Pamela Tudsbury, Leslie Slote and Phillip Rule once shared an apartment together in Paris before going their separate ways. Pamela is the only character among the four who has a scene with Phillip Rule. She appears with Leslie in only one scene and has no scenes with Natalie.

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  18. #025

    FDR's doctor held the rank of vice admiral. Ross McIntire, USN, was the Surgeon General, but he did not reach that rank until 1944.

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  19. #026

    Günther Maria Halmer had previously played Rudolf Hoess in Sophie's Choice (1982).

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  20. #027

    The story of Germany's attempted coup against Hitler is also told in Stauffenberg (2004) and Valkyrie (2008). In the latter film, Tom Cruise plays Stauffenberg, the role played by Sky du Mont in this series. Cruise and Du Mont appeared together in Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Both films featured the son of an actor who appears in this series. Robert Stephens, who plays Karl Rahm in this series, was the father of Chris Larkin, who appears in Valkyrie (2008). Hardy Krüger's son, Hardy Krüger Jr., appeared in Stauffenberg (2004).

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  21. #028

    This was John Dehner's (Admiral Ernest King) last miniseries role.

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  22. #029

    Jane Seymour and Hart Bochner had previously played mother and son in East of Eden (1981). In The Winds of War (1983), Natalie tells Byron that he reminds her of his mother.

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  23. #030

    Jane Seymour took over the role of Natalie from Ali MacGraw. Both were linked by marriage to a star of The Great Escape (1963). MacGraw was married to Steve McQueen, and Seymour was married to Michael Attenborough, son of Sir Richard Attenborough.

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  24. #031

    This was Harold Kasket's (Dr. Paul Eppstein) last television project.

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  25. #032

    On a British chat show, Brian Blessed said he was initially offered one of the Auschwitz roles, possibly the role played by John Rhys-Davies. He turned the offer down, however, because he thought it would be too depressing.

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  26. #033

    Geoffrey Beevers was cut from this miniseries.

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  27. #035

    The following year, Pat Hingle appeared as Commissioner Gordon in Batman (1989). In The Dark Knight (2008), the role was played by Gary Oldman, who has portrayed two of the political leaders depicted here: Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017) and Harry S. Truman in Oppenheimer (2023).

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  28. #036

    Hardy Krüger and Wolf Kahler had previously worked together on Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. Krüger's role of Erwin Rommel had earlier been played by James Mason, who had worked with Kubrick on Lolita. Mason also worked with John Gielgud on Julius Caesar, which was produced by John Houseman.

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  29. #037

    The role of Werner Beck was offered to Ronald Lacey.

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