Original British Paratrooper Beret worn by Sean Connery as Maj. Gen. Roy Urquhart in “A Bridge Too Far” Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is a fantastic find!!! Movie props such as these are always in demand, especially ones worn by the original and best James Bond: Sean Connery. He, along with many other legendary actors, took a major roll in Richard Attenborough’s 1977 Epic WWII Film, A Bridge Too Far, based on the 1974 book of the same name. Connery played famed British WWII Major General Roy Urquhart, the Commanding Officer of the 1st British Airborne Division at Arnhem.

Urquhart himself was prone to air sickness, but was still made the commander of the Airborne division, so the cap is the proper maroon color for WWII paratroopers. The cap has the correct cap badge for a General, with a Crossed Sword and Baton inside the wreath, which matches stills and production photographs from the movie.

The beret itself, like much of the material used in the film, was not original WWII issue, as often such items were not obtainable in the condition required for filming. Instead, it is a 1951 dated beret made in Grand’mere, Quebec, Canada. The design of the beret remained unchanged for decades, and these were identical in construction to the WWII Issue.

Inside the cap is an original faded costume wardrobe tag, which reads:

UNITED COSTUMERS
HOLLYWOOD
No. A Bridge Too Far
NAME Sean Connery

The label definitely shows age, and is stitched in carefully. The movie was produced and funded by United Artists, so this would have been their costume division. The movie was shot both on set and on several different locations, so all of the major actors would have had needed many different examples of the same identical outfit, in case one got damaged or dirty, or was misplaced during the move between locations. We have watched the movie, and can definitely see slight variations in the cap badges on the caps worn by Connery. Unfortunately we have not been able to pinpoint which exact scenes this cap was worn in.

A great piece of Movie Memorabilia, ready to research and display!