| Director | Anthony Maras |
|---|---|
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $20.2 million |
In 1944, at the height of the Second World War, the Allies prepare to invade German-occupied Europe under Operation Overlord. Under the supreme command of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the invasion is set to begin on June 5 (D-Day) with multiple amphibious landings at Normandy, France. Aware of the operation's enormity, and equally haunted by the failure of the pre-D-Day rehearsal Exercise Tiger six weeks earlier, he is privately wary.
On June 2, Eisenhower summons Scottish meteorologist Gp Capt. James Stagg to Southwick House, the seat of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) and requests him to provide a forecast favorable for Allied operations on D-Day, which is set to commence in the next 61 hours. Duly appointed as SHAEF's chief meteorological officer, Stagg leads the British-U.S. team tasked with predicting the forecast, and is introduced to the bombastic Col. Irving P. Krick, who leads the U.S. section of the team.
Stagg's team immediately analyzes meteorological intelligence compiled from numerous weather stations to prepare a comprehensive forecast, and promptly predicts two low-pressure storms headed straight for the English Channel - indicating heavy rain, cloudy skies, low visibility and high waves, which could render the invasion unfeasible. Krick, who has relied more on "analogue forecasting" based on historical pattern readings, disputes this, arguing that previous forecasts in the area for several years have indicated calm weather.
On June 3, Stagg attends SHAEF's morning conference and posits that Overlord's planned date of June 5 would be disastrous and recommends it to be postponed to June 18; however, the meeting ends inconclusively when Gen. Bernard Montgomery mentions any delay could risk discovery by the Germans. Krick, barred by Stagg from attending, later meets with Eisenhower and presents his own findings, leading Eisenhower to furiously confront Stagg, who maintains his position. The impasse persists well into the next day without any resolution; Eisenhower is ambivalent, but nevertheless seems to believe Krick. Concurrently, Stagg is informed that the hospital where his pregnant wife had been admitted to was bombed, with her condition unknown; although devastated, he does not defer to Krick. Stagg is later comforted by Eisenhower's private secretary Kay Summersby, who later urges Eisenhower to not be harsh on him.
On June 4, both Stagg and Krick present their respective, and still contradictory, findings to SHAEF. Exasperated, Stagg points out the deficiencies in Krick's forecasting techniques, arguing that the Battle of Mont Sorrel of June 1916 — which Krick had omitted from his data — also had inclement weather, and that nature cannot be factually ignored. Stagg again insists on postponing Overlord and states that the next feasible opportunity is June 18, but an incredulous Montgomery rejects it. However, other SHAEF commanders including Adm. Bertram Ramsay and ACM. Trafford Leigh-Mallory hesitate, noting they both cannot work under Stagg's scenario; Eisenhower finally relents, agreeing to a postponement. Later that morning, SHAEF attends Sunday Mass and despite the initial sunshine, the storms finally arrive, vindicating Stagg but leaving Krick crestfallen.
Sometime later, Stagg gets a break when data recorded by Irish citizen observer Maureen Sweeney indicates a gap in the stormy weather, to which Krick concurs. In the early hours of June 5, Stagg briefs Eisenhower and convinces him to launch the invasion on June 6, which Eisenhower accepts. In private, Eisenhower prepares two public statements to be released contingent upon either the invasion's success or failure.
On June 6, the revised D-Day, Eisenhower delivers a stirring radio address to the Allied forces, wishing them victory. Overlord begins with a combined seaborne-airborne thrust on Normandy, which catches the Germans unaware. Elsewhere, celebrations erupt at Southwick House when news of the invasion's success arrive via radio. His work complete, Stagg departs to look for his wife, and to his joy, find that she and their newborn son have survived; the two tearfully embrace.
The film's closing credits reveal that the invasion's success enabled the Allies to defeat Germany within a year. Eisenhower, in a 1961 conversation with JFK, credits Overlord's success to the fact that the Allies "had better meteorologists than the Germans".