Iconic Cinematic Artifact Comes to Bury St Edmunds This Winter - Captain Miller’s (Tom Hanks) Army Ranger Uniform from Saving Private Ryan
This December and January, movie enthusiasts and history buffs alike can marvel at an extraordinary addition to the Sci-Fi & Action Exhibition at Moyse’s Hall Museum, courtesy of Kudos Memorabilia and West Suffolk Council.
On display will be the original Army Ranger uniform worn by Tom Hanks as Captain Miller in Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed World War II epic, Saving Private Ryan (1998).
Handcrafted under the direction of costume designer Joanna Johnston, the uniform perfectly captures the historical authenticity that defines Saving Private Ryan. The ensemble includes a combat jacket with built-in pockets and a Rangers patch, trousers labelled "Miller," a button-up shirt with a Rangers patch, an undershirt, a tactical vest marked "Miller," matching boots, a rehearsal helmet inscribed with "Miller" (and bearing the 2nd Ranger insignia), a stencilled U.S. webbed belt, boot covers, and a metal shovel. The costume’s production wear, including grime, thread pulls and discoloration highlights its screen use and Spielberg's dedication to realism.
In the pre-production phase of the film, Steven Spielberg tasked Joanna Johnston with creating 3500 period-accurate costumes for the stars and the huge supporting cast. Using original WW2 uniforms would have been cost-prohibitive, even if it were possible, as many original uniforms worn for the D-Day campaign have either been destroyed or fallen into disrepair over the passing years. Consequently, Joanna and her department made almost all of them by hand – a massive undertaking by any appreciable standard! Given the legendary bravery of the men who landed on the Normandy beaches, Johnston told ‘Clothes on Film’: “I feel a huge sense of responsibility to get it absolutely right… You don’t want to screw up on uniforms.” Spielberg had previously worked with Johnston on ‘Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade’. He was so pleased with her exceptional work on ‘Saving Private Ryan’ that he made her a regular collaborator. Her costumes play a pivotal role in such iconic Spielberg films as ‘Munich’, ‘Lincoln’ and ‘War Horse’.
A Cinematic Masterpiece
Widely regarded as one of the most authentic war films ever made, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ takes viewers on an emotional and gripping journey. Captain Miller and his team traverse treacherous enemy territory to locate Private Ryan (Matt Damon), the last surviving brother of four, after the others have tragically perished in combat.
Based on Stephen Ambrose’s seminal book, ‘Band of Brothers’, the movie was also inspired by the military careers and exploits of the Niland brothers, Preston, Edward, Robert and Frederick, from Tonawanda, New York. For a period of time between 1944 and 1945, it was believed that Frederick was the only brother left alive from this literal band of brothers.
Second Lieutenant, Preston Thomas Niland, of the 22nd Infantry Regiment (4th Infantry Division) was killed in action on the 7th June, 1944, at the Crisbecq Battery in Normandy. Technical Sergeant, Robert Joseph Niland, of D Company, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (82nd Airborne Division) was also tragically killed in action on 6th June, 1944. When Edward Francis Niland’s B52 was shot down over Burma, he was also believed to be dead. In reality, he had been imprisoned in a Japanese POW Camp on 16th May, 1944, and was not liberated until 4th May, 1945 (shortly after which the USAF and his family discovered he was actually alive!).
Given the presumed death of Edward and the actual deaths of both Preston and Robert, Frederick William Niland of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (101st Airborne Division) was shipped back to England within two weeks of D-Day and subsequently returned to his family in the United States on compassionate grounds. He served as a MP in New York for the remainder of the war and was awarded a Bronze Star for his bravery and service. Frederick married Marilyn Batt with whom he had two daughters, Catherine and Mary. He died in San Francisco in 1983 at age 63. Following his repatriation, Edward lived in Tonawanda and died in 1984 at age 71, so happily two of the four Niland brothers survived long after the war.
Screenwriter Robert Rodat’s original script for ‘Saving Private Ryan’ underwent no less than 11 revisions, including uncredited rewrites by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile) and Scott Frank (Get Shorty and Logan). Both writers conducted extensive research and interviews with D-Day veterans to inform their work and contributed greatly to the authenticity and emotional heartbeat of the film.
In addition to the professional writing team, Spielberg, along with his producers, studio executives and cast members all pitched in to help create the beautiful script we all know and love today. Tom Hanks recalled in an interview for Entertainment Weekly: “We talked about Ryan being wounded and not being able to be moved. We talked about Ryan being an oaf, a boor, a guy that we all hated. We talked about Ryan being the greatest, neatest, coolest guy we ever knew… We talked about every conceivable thing.”
The most famous sequence in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ - the brutal and ultra-realistic opening action scene that depicts the American troops landing on the infamously treacherous and extremely well-fortified Omaha Beach - took over a month to film and required over 1000 extras, 40 gallons of blood and copious prosthetic limbs. As filming on the real Omaha Beach was prohibited, Spielberg meticulously recreated the landing zone from archival footage and photographs on Ballinesker Beach in County Wexford, Ireland. The sequence cost $12 million – a huge sum in 1997 – and a little under 20 per cent of the entire $70 million production budget.
Surprisingly, Spielberg purposely chose not to storyboard this massive and highly complex sequence. He wanted to recreate the atmosphere of fear, chaos and uncertainly of the actual events and use the ad-hoc energy and momentum to construct a sequence with palpable tension, tragedy and verité. He certainly succeeded! At the time of the film’s release, it was widely reported that many D-Day veterans left screenings due to the film’s unrelenting realism. The U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs even set up a national hotline for vets to call, should they require help or counselling after viewing the film.
To further enhance the movie’s authenticity, Spielberg filmed every sequence in chronological order to give his actors a logical and personal connection with the material. Spielberg and his favourite cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, strived to make the film closely resemble newsreel footage from the 1940s. They were also inspired by the iconic D-Day photography of celebrated photojournalist, Robert Capa. To achieve the desired look, they used devolved camera and lens combinations to create the visual idiosyncrasies endemic to the period, including Clairmont Camera’s Image Shaker. In a period of improvision, they even attached drills and bolts to the cameras to deliver the vintage shaky look for the kinetic action sequences. The following camera and lens combinations were favoured throughout the production - AATON 35-III: Panavision Super Speed MKII and Ultra Speed MKII Lenses; ARRIFLEX 35 III: Panavision Super Speed MKII and Ultra Speed MKII Lenses; Moviecam SL: Panavision Super Speed MKII and Ultra Speed MKII Lenses.
Colourist Dale E. Grahn, who had also graded Amistad, told Lowepost: “The creators’ vision for the film, at first, was something like an old newsreel war footage look. A distressed look, not a warm and cozy look. Also, it had to be a clean look, not muddy.” He went on to say: “Not only was it completed all on film but, it was the first of its kind to use a "Bleach By Pass Negative” and the ENR Developing process at 100% IR rating on Eastman Premier Stock. These three steps created the Saving Private Ryan color space that allowed me to shape the film's look. This format was used on every print of the entire film which was 9 full reels long. Every sequence has its own look by design.”This unique collaboration of the director, cinematographer and colourist gives ‘Saving Private Ryan’ a truly vintage but evocative colour palette that really draws the audience into the period and the story.
From an audio perspective, the production team located contemporary weapons and some vintage variants that closely resembled the true sound of 1940s Browning M1918s, M1 Garands and M1 Thompson submachine guns. They fired them on ranges and recorded the sounds directly. When ‘Saving Private Ryan’ played in cinemas, technical staff received very precise instructions for the volume settings to give the audience a truly immersive experience. Even though the legendary composer and prolific Spielberg collaborator, John Williams, was signed to the film, the director decided the battle sequences would be devoid of music to allow the majestic and ultra realistic sound effects to be the focus of aural attention. In a distinct departure from form, Williams only provides about 60 mins of music for the transitional or character driven scenes, and the main anthem, ‘Hymn to the Fallen’, is reserved for the end credits.
Aside from its exquisite technical accomplishments, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is also known for its exceptional ensemble cast, which in addition to Tom Hanks and Matt Damon includes Tom Sizemore, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, Edward Burns and Barry Pepper.
It was Hanks who had originally brought the script, to Spielberg. However, both men were good friends and were worried about creative conflicts potentially ruining their treasured friendship. Spielberg recalls: “Tom had to do some soul searching to see whether he wanted to mix business with personal, and so did I.” In the end, of course, they did work together on the film with great harmony and success and have collaborated many times since – most memorably on ‘Catch Me if You Can’, ‘Bridge of Spies’ and ‘The Post’.
Spielberg wanted Captain Miller to be the veteran of the detachment – a calming, courageous presence with a sharp tactical brain and a pedagogic demeanour. Hanks, therefore, turned out to be the perfect choice. At the time of developing ‘Ryan’, the war movie genre was well and truly out of fashion. Audiences were tired of the alpha-male clichés and consequence-free heroics. Spielberg once quipped that he had cast Hanks, as he was one of the few actors he knew who would not “want to use his teeth to pull out a pin from a hand grenade.” Even though Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson had been seriously considered for the role of Captain Miller, Hank’s powerful, assured and nuanced performance turned out to be linchpin than held the excellent ensemble cast together and resonated powerfully with international audiences.
When Steven Spielberg was casting the eponymous role of Private Ryan, he wanted an unknown actor with an all-American quality. However, things didn’t go quite according to plan! Following an introduction to fledging actor and screenwriter, Matt Damon, by Robin Williams, Spielberg knew he had found the perfect ‘Private Ryan’ and signed the young actor within two weeks of their meeting in Boston. (Spielberg was in the city filming scenes for ‘Amistad’ at The Massachusetts State House, whilst Williams and Damon were filming at various Boston locations for ‘Good Will Hunting’.) However, by the time ‘Saving Private Ryan’ was released in cinemas, Matt Damon had become a household name for his extraordinary performance as Will Hunting and for winning the Academy Award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’, along with his co-writer and longtime friend, Ben Affleck. Consequently, Spielberg got an actor with an all-American quality and had to forego his plans to showcase an unknown.
Not all casting decisions were so straightforward, however. Actor Tom Sizemore was battling a severe heroin addiction in the period leading up to the filming of ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Spielberg was deeply concerned, when he learned of the issue and almost recast the role. Believing Sizemore was perfect for the Sergeant Horvath character, he stood by his casting decision but gave the troubled actor a strict ultimatum. Spielberg told the star that if he ever tested positive for drugs on set, he would let him go immediately. In an interview with ‘The Daily Beast’, Sizemore recalled that Spielberg had said “(he) would fire me on the spot and shoot all 58 days that I’d worked over again with someone else.” The strict incentive obviously worked wonders, as Sizemore stayed clean throughout production and delivered one of the most memorable performances of his entire career.
'Saving Private Ryan is bookended’ by two incredible action sequences – the storied D-Day landing and the compelling urban warfare battle in the fictional French town of Ramelle. The massive Ramelle set, which was built entirely from scratch over a four-month period, was actually constructed at The Hatfield Aerodrome – a former WW2 airbase located a little over 20 miles north of London. The town, which in the film’s narrative had been virtually destroyed by German tanks and artillery, was beautifully detailed in the French period style and embellished with actual rubble from local construction sites.
Given the huge costs associated the two major battle scenes, both Hanks and Spielberg took a minimal upfront salary in lieu of 17.5% of the gross profits to keep production costs on the ambitious film as low as possible. This turned out to be an excellent decision, as ‘Saving Private Ryan’ was the second highest grossing film of 1998, and both men did extremely well from the deal.
Steven Spielberg dedicated ‘Saving Private Ryan’ to his father, a veteran of World War 2. His masterpiece earned five Academy Awards® for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing, as well as five additional nominations and a string of Golden Globe, BAFTA and Saturn Awards. In one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Academy Awards, it lost the Best Picture award to ‘Shakespeare in Love’ – a film that is not even in its class! A 2015 poll of Academy voters revealed that given another opportunity, they would have voted ‘Saving Private Ryan’ as the ‘Best Picture’. Many industry insiders blame overly aggressive campaigning by Miramax executives on behalf of ‘Shakespeare in Love’ was the primary reason for this famous injustice.
Saving Private Ryan singlehandedly reinvigorated the public’s interest in the beleaguered ware genre and has been named by celebrated directors like Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Altman as a major influence on their work. Both Variety and Parade have classified it as one of the greatest movies of all time. Hanks and Spielberg would go on to develop and executive produce the iconic 2001 HBO miniseries, ‘Band of Brothers’, which has become another seminal work drawing endless popular and critical praise.
Film critic, Michael Rechtshaffen, said of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ in The Hollywood Reporter: "The visual masterwork finds Spielberg atop his craft, weaving heart-pounding action and gut-wrenching emotion that will leave viewers silently shaken... If words occasionally fail the picture, the images speak indelible volumes.”
Exhibition Highlights
The uniform is part of the museum’s annual Sci-Fi & Action Exhibition, which celebrates costumes, props, and memorabilia from blockbuster franchises and historical epics. Visitors can also explore items from Wonder Woman, The Monuments Men, Band of Brothers, A Bridge Too Far, and Captain America, among others.
https://www.moyseshall.org
- Dates: Saturday, 26 October 2024 – Sunday, 2 February 2025
- Times:
- Monday – Saturday: 10 am – 5 pm (last admission 4 pm)
- Sunday: 12 pm – 4 pm (last admission 3 pm)
- Closed: 23 December – 3 January (inclusive)
- Admission: Adults £5, Children/Students (6–16) £3, Concessions £4.50, Under 5s FREE
- Venue: Moyse’s Hall Museum, Bury St Edmunds
Insights from the Experts
Stephen Rivers, Director, Kudos Memorabilia Ltd
“It is a pleasure to be working, once again, with our friends at Moyse’s Hall. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ singlehandedly redefined the cinematic war genre and is such a special movie for so many people. Given the museum’s passion for epic war films, we are delighted to share this iconic Captain Miller costume from our collection - one of our all-time favourites - with visitors to this year’s Annual Sci-Fi & Action Exhibition. This screen-used uniform perfectly complements the other exhibits from ‘The Monuments Men’ and ‘Band of Brothers’ and is sure to enrich the experience of film fans and WW2 aficionados during its time on display.”
Councillor Ian Shipp - Cabinet Member for Leisure:
“Kudos Memorabilia have been a huge support to West Suffolk Council’s Moyse’s Hall Museum over the years, lending multiple iconic props and costume worn in some of the biggest movies of all time. It is with thanks to them that as of Saturday, 7th December, we can share this incredible uniform from one of Hollywood’s most humbling of blockbusters”.
Don’t miss the chance to see this iconic piece of cinematic history up close. Plan your visit today!