No, Port-en-Bessin is not among the sites of the Allies landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944 (they passed by to avoid the Germans posted on the cliff). However, in 1961, the small fishing port was chosen as one of the filming locations of The Longest Day, a huge Hollywood production with Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Sean Connery, Bourvil and Arletty. During filming, the director transformed Normandy into a giant cinema studio. As the Neo-Normandy Ouistreham casino was slated for demolition, they chose to film the long shots of its capture in Port-en-Bessin, where the team reconstructed a building identical to that in the Place Gaudin, at the foot of the Vauban Tower, which appears in the film under fire. Traces of filming are still visible, such as the façade where the inscription 'Bazar de Ouistreham' has not yet been erased by time and sea spray.
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