Battleground
Tags: historical

Plot synopsis:
In mid-December 1944 Pvt. Jim Layton (Marshall Thompson) and his buddy Pvt. William J. Hooper (Scotty Beckett) are fresh replacements assigned to separate companies in the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. As a newcomer Layton receives a chilly welcome from his squad. PFC Holley (Van Johnson) returns to the company after recuperating from a wound sustained from fighting in the Netherlands.
Instead of going on leave in Paris, the squad is trucked back to the front to help stop a surprise German breakthrough in the Ardennes. They stop that night in the town of Bastogne. The platoon is put up for the night in the apartment of a local young woman, Denise (Denise Darcel), with whom Holley hopes to fraternize. Jarvess (John Hodiak) is informed by Denise that she is taking care of two orphaned French girls. Jarvess later goes on guard in the village, where he runs into a group of battle weary soldiers. The soldiers inform Jarvess that they are making a "strategic withdrawal". The next morning, led by Platoon Sgt. Kinnie (James Whitmore), the men are ordered to dig in on the outskirts of town. Just as they are nearly done, they are ordered to a new location and have to dig in again.
Holley, Layton and Kippton (Douglas Fowley) stand guard that night at a roadblock. A patrol of German soldiers, disguised as American soldiers, infiltrates their position and later blows up a nearby bridge. In the morning the squad awakes to a heavy winter storm. Roderigues (Ricardo Montalbán), a Latino from Los Angeles, is delighted by the novelty of snow, but his foxhole mate Pop Stazak (George Murphy), awaiting a "dependency discharge" that will send him home, is unimpressed. Layton goes over to see his friend Hooper, only to find that he had been killed hours before, and that no one in his company knew his name.
Kinnie informs the squad about the infiltration and sends out a patrol—Holley, Roderigues and Jarvess to move through the woods. Just before they start out, the platoon is shelled by German artillery, causing Bettis (Richard Jaeckel) to panic and desert. During the barrage Layton reminds his squad leader, Sgt. Wolowicz (Bruce Cowling), of his name and finds for the first time that he has been accepted as a part of the squad. Holley's patrol briefly skirmishes with the infiltrators. Roderigues is wounded by machine-gun fire from an enemy tank. He is unable to walk, so Holley hastily conceals him under a disabled jeep half-buried in snow, promising to return for him. Unfortunately, by the time they can get back to him, Roderigues has died due to the exposure of the elements (freezing to death).
Wolowicz, who has been wounded by shellfire, and a sick Cpl. Standiferd (Don Taylor) are sent back to a field hospital. Not too long after, Doc (Thomas E. Breen) informs the 3rd Squad that the field hospital had been captured. Holley is appointed the new squad leader, and partnered with Layton, while Pop Stazak is paired with Hansan (Herbert Anderson). When Pop's discharge comes in they find out from Kippton that the 101st is surrounded forcing Pop to stay with the men.
Moved again and again, 3rd Platoon is attacked at dawn. Garby (James Arness) is killed by machine gun fire. Hansan demonstrates bravery by crawling out of his foxhole and being the first to fire on the Germans. Just when it appears that the platoon will be overrun, Hansan is wounded and Holley loses his nerve and runs away. Layton follows Holley. Ashamed of his cowardice, Holley leads a flanking counterattack that defeats the German attack. The platoon leader, Lt. Teiss (Brett King), announces that he will recommend Hansan for a Silver Star. Jarvess's foxhole partner, country boy Abner Spudler (Jerome Courtland), is killed while trying to put on his wet boots.
After they get Hanson to the aid station, the squad runs into Bettis, who is doing K.P. duty in the rear and gives them a hot meal. Holley discovers that Layton is a quick learner, finding him being entertained by Denise. Later, while on guard duty, they encounter a party of Germans who have come under a flag of truce to offer Brig. Gen. McAuliffe (Ian MacDonald) surrender terms, resulting in his famous reply of "Nuts!" to the puzzled Germans.
In the bitter, foggy weather, the squad is short of supplies – supply transport aircraft are grounded. Several men attend impromptu outdoor Christmas services held by a chaplain (Leon Ames). That night the Luftwaffe bombs Bastogne. Denise is killed. Bettis, slowed by his fear of going back to the lines, is killed by a collapsing house. The "walking wounded", including Hansan and mess sergeant he befriended (George Chandler), are recalled up to duty for a last-ditch defense of the town.
As the platoon is down to its last few rounds of ammunition, the weather clears, allowing the Allied fighters to attack the Germans and C-47 transports to drop supplies, enabling the 101st to hold. Afterward, the siege lifted, Kinnie leads the survivors of the platoon toward the rear for a well-earned rest. As they move out, they spot a relief column of clean, well-equipped soldiers marching toward Bastogne. Kinnie begins calling "Jody cadence" and the veterans pull themselves together, proudly chanting the refrain as they pass the other GIs.

Review: Before "Band of Brothers" came out, I considered this the best, most accurate depiction of an infantry unit in action ever, and I still think it has an edge over "Saving Private Ryan" and "Patton" as the greatest World War II movie(not mini-series) yet made.The entire cast is not only fun to watch, but very believable in their individual roles, and as a veteran, I can attest to the fact that the swings between humor and deep thoughts in their conversations are dead on accurate.
With the exception of Van Johnson as Pvt. Holly who was high profile on the Metro lot in his time, and George Murphy as Pvt. Stazak, the rest of the cast were character-type actors who filled their roles perfectly.
The film was written by Robert Pirosh.The movie is a curiosity also because it was shot in Culver City, yet, at times, it gives the impression of having been shot on location in the Ardennes.
The casting of some of the best acting talents MGM had under contract at the time contributes to give the film another dimension, as the viewer becomes involved with these men that are trying to survive during the worst possible conditions.In spite of some of the criticism in this forum, the film has a real feeling because it stresses the dependency among the men that are caught in the conflict.
Wives, children, sweethearts, parents, and even popular figures of the pop culture, like Bette Grable, are the basis of communication as the men idle away waiting to be called to fight the enemy.Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Don Taylor, Leon Ames, and a wonderful James Whitmore, are seen as the soldiers around Bastogne.
As war movies go, this one does everything but pile on the glamour; these boys really did have to do some serious acting!The cast is headed by a surprisingly good Van Johnson, proving he can do more than just romances, musicals, and various takes on 'the boy next door'.
With him are some impressive co-stars: Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, and John Hodiak the most memorable; also James Whitmore, Don Taylor, and Leon Ames.This movie is more than just boy's own stuff; there is a genuine story here and you do care about the characters and what happens to them.
The characters are absolutely real, and the story and screenplay are the actual experience of Robert Pirosh who was a member of the 101st Airborne and also the author and screenwriter of the film.
Dedicated to the battered bastards of Bastogne, this major player in the war film genre is directed by William Wellman & tells the story of a U.S. Army division involved in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge.
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and won two: one for Robert Pirosh's bold and fluctuating screenplay and one for Paul Vogel's realism inducing black-and-white cinematography.Battleground is an important war film in many ways.
Wellman A couple of years had passed since the end of the war and Americans were once again ready for another "Give em Hell Harry" approach so MGM took a few of its current heart throbs (Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban), surrounded them with plenty of scraggy-faced character actors and accidentally turned out one of the best WW II movies out there.Basically the story revolves around a squad of the 101st Airborne Division being trapped in the besieged city of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
But this is a first-rate war film, as gripping as Walsh's "Battle Cry" or "Objective: Burma," or Dwan's "Sands of Iwo Jima." The cast could not be bettered, with outstanding work from Van Johnson, James Whitmore, John Hodiak, Marshall Thompson, Jerome Courtland, Ricardo Montalban, Douglas Fowley.
Battleground (1949)It's tough to appreciate the horrors of any war, but I think it gets especially rough to know the ugliness at times of even the best soldiers, the desperation to survive, the egoism of being a hero or of pretending to be one, the utter weariness.
In 1949, people were still coming to terms with what they lost, in lives and sanity and normalcy, and Battleground was a huge (and popular) step toward giving more truth to the soldiers and their sometimes cowardice.This is one of the better films of the period, no question, but you have to watch with a small amount of adjustment to the facts--even when the destruction, screaming, death, cold, and sadness is totally palpable.
In fact, it's partly the contrasts that make both sides of the story clear.William Wellman is one of the best of his kind, a Hollywood top notcher with a handful of great films to his credit.
This is one small part of the famous Battle of the Bulge, and it was Patton who eventually came to the aid of the soldiers in Bastogne.It won Oscars for writing and cinematography (easy to see why the camera-work won, for sure).
The movie perfectly captures the fear and courage of American soldiers in war, fighting not to conquer like the Germans or destroy civilization like the terrorists, but to defend their fellow man.
Until "Band of Brothers" came out this was my favorite flick about WWII, and it's definitely the best of the "old school" war movies..
1950 was quite a year for outstanding war films as John Wayne was nominated for Best Actor for "Sands of Iwo Jima.".
He never talks about the war, but watching this he commented both times how real it was, how the movie captured what it was really like to be there.
Just as "All Quiet on the Western Front" was emblematic of the first world war, so "Battleground" is similarly drawn out in time, wringing the desperation, danger and fear of prolonged battle.
Both James Whitmore and Van Johnson were great in this film; the realistic dialog and interplay of the characters all are very natural and believable.At least Wellman did not insert an allegory of the Holocaust into his film they way Spielberg did with the Jewish soldier getting sliced open with his inept fellow soldier too gripped with fear to intervene.
While the squad featured here is fictional the film was nevertheless lauded for it's accuracy in portraying the soldiers and their experiences.Those familiar with the excellent mini-series "Band of Brothers" will already know something of the siege of Bastogne.
Those 1948 audiences didn't need to be told that Bastogne was cold, or that the 101st was cut off and surrounded or be shown what battle casualties looked like.Even the combat scenes are interesting, because BoB shows so much detail about the injuries and the units while Battleground focuses on the soldiers just trying to make their way.
Very well scripted and a great cast of characters.Star-studded cast includes: Van Johnson, James Whitmore, John Hodiak, Marshall Thompson, Richard Jaeckle and George Murphy..
Lead by Van Johnson, John Hodiak and George Murphy, it was a 28 years old James Whitmore, in his first year of movie making that stole every scene he was in.
It will probably come as no Surprise to those Watching this that almost all of it was Filmed on a Stage and Back Lot. Sorry, but that does not allow for a whole lot of Battleground Realism.So this is a Character Study, or more Accurately, a Multiple Character Study of the Men in and around Bastogne.
Multiple Oscar Nominee, including Best Picture, but it is Really not that Great and is Overrated and much Loved more for its Real Life Participants and Events, than this rather Stiff War Movie.
Battle and 20th Century warfare is no picnic, but films like SANDS OF IWO JIMA (John Wayne) or RED BADGE OF COURAGE presented a romanticized view of war.
An anti-war film from a studio like MGM was unheard of, but maverick director William Wellman pulled it off, much to the spite of boss Louis B.
Not only is the movie highly watchable, it was inspirational to the likes of Steven Spielberg, who takes some obvious elements of the picture and supplanted them into SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the ultimate WWII film.BATTLEGROUND begins in a conventional way, introducing the 101st Airborne Division we presume we will be with throughout the rest of the story.
for creating a realistic, yet patriotic war film that shows a battleground of death, fear, and a constant waiting to just survive.RATING: 10 of 10.
I have always considered *Battleground* to be one of the best examples of what can be done by a good, conscientious production team with a minimum of money and the scrupulous application of intelligence, truthfulness, and ingenuity.Take special note of the fact that the actions in which the glider infantry companies depicted in *Battleground* participated (while typical of the hard fighting and harder conditions these troops endured) could not be disputed by any of the veterans who were present at that battle because those companies *DID NOT EXIST*.
"battleground" is one of the best movies dealing with the fears and tensions GI's had to overcome to complete their mission of defeating the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge.
The Battle of the Bulge, the Nazis' last-ditch offensive during World War II, is examined in this excellent motion picture from the eyes of American soldiers.
He is surrounded by a really great group of character actors that give this film a gritty and natural sense to combat in WWII.
I liked the depiction of the "Nuts" thing in this film a lot more, than in "The Battle of the Bulge" and "Band of Brothers" The soldiers have the same grim sense of humour as is shown in B.o.B. as well.
Since this moovie was made in 1949 based on the real war experiences of the screenwriter Robert Pirosch, then we can see that Band of Brothers, made in 2000, 51 years later, depicts the US soldier the same way, and therefore the later film validates the realism of the first.This film was very much before it's time...
I only wish they did that with "Battle of the Bulge" in 1965!?!?This movie includes oldies-but-goodies like Van Johnson ("Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" and "The Caine Mutiny"); Ricardo Montalban ("Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"); James Whitmore ("Planet of the Apes" and "The Shawshank Redemption"); James Arness as 'Jim' Arness ("Gunsmoke" and a US Army Veteran and Purple Heart recipient of Anzio during WW2); Richard Jaeckel ("The Dirty Dozen" and "Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid"); and, The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division!
For all its weaknesses, "Battleground" stands infinitely superior to "Battle of the Bulge", which was probably the worse war film of the 60s.
It was an odd, haunting little film, and in its own way quite unlike any other WWII movie from the time period.If I hadn't already seen that movie, I might have been more impressed with "Battleground." But though I thought "Battleground" was quite good in its own right, the impact of it was somewhat diluted by the fact that I saw Wellman borrowing from himself to make yet another ensemble combat movie.
It features a young Ricardo Montalban, John Hodiak, George Murphy, and the Oscar-nominated James Whitmore, though why he was singled out for a nomination for this movie is unclear to me.In addition to Whitmore's nomination, the film was among the five nominees for Best Picture in 1949, and Wellman received his second nomination for directing.
"Battleground" (1949) directed by William Wellman is before all a kind of truth about wartime five years after the battle, which means made just before another war but this time not in the Northern hemisphere.
In this movie there are only three scenes with some entertainment out of war waiting for mind, which means one with a young woman who offers coffee during a break by night - during the Bulge battle amidst or among France, Belgium, The Luxembourg and Germany borders in 1944 - to the airborne soldiers in dislocation near her house, as well as a second scene at the almost end with another woman who offers wine to the same group of men.In fact, the only scene with music it is when after countless snow happenings a fighter opens the radio of supporters and hears some in the middle of other things listened.
While it is a bit hollywood, this great film with it's excellent cast does show the deprivations the men fighting at Bastogne went through.
I'm not sure if it was Hollywood's desire to get name stars and character actors with experience, or reluctance to display the horrible truth that most of the combatants were only a few years older than the kids roaming the halls of the local high school.***Spoiler section*** I loved...when Holley (Van Johnson) attempted to flee a battle and people followed him into perfect ambush position.The boots at the edge of the foxhole.The soldier wordlessly gathering the propaganda leaflets and our certainty of what he was heading into the woods to use them for.Richard Jaekel, fighting to figure out a way out of combat to his very last breath.
No MGM war film could be done without Van Johnson and he headed a group that was impeccably cast like, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, John Hodiak, Marshall Thompson, Douglas Fowley, James Whitmore, Don Taylor, and Bruce Cowling.
William Wellman's tribute to the American soldiers who fought in the Battle Of the Bulge, Battleground, is, even today, a stirring film.
Wellman's approach to his material is just right, as the movie feels at times like a newsreel done on a more intimate level than usual, showing us the average soldier as a real person rather than just a guy with a rifle charging at the enemy or storming the beaches.
You get the feeling that the film crew has a bunch of vets in it and they are busy behind the scenes making it feel like the real battle.In addition to Van Johnson in one of his better roles, we have James Whitmore and Ricardo Montoban in support.
Up until that, the film feels like a real war.Still, the marching sequence at the end of the movie is so good that it is copied in technique several times in later combat films.
Battleground's focus is the story of the soldiers of American 101st Airborne Regiment and their role in the defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in WWII.
The production values are certainly above par for a film of this era as is script and the direction from William Wellman (The OX-Bow Incident, Wings, The Public Enemy).The cast delivers some very good performances; of particular note is James Whitmore's portrayal of a grizzled Sergeant for which he would get an Oscar nomination.
The ostensible lead of the film is Van Johnson but its more of an ensemble which also includes; John Hodiak, Marshall Thompson, Ricardo Montalban, Richard Jaeckel and James Arness amongst a host of others.The film may not have gritty reality of more recent productions like Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers but for its time it was as realistic as could be expected from Hollywood and it does have the advantage over these more recent productions of being virtually contemporary to the events which it depicts.
Directed by William Wellman, and written by Robert Pirosh, this essential war film details the plight of the US Army's 101st Airborne Division, trapped in the Ardennes Forest near Bastogne, Belgium during the "Battle of the Bulge", created by the Germans last ditch Panzer tank advance during World War II.
The film, director Wellman, John Dunning's Editing, and Supporting Actor James Whitmore were also nominated.This "soldier's story" begins by establishing the relationships between the veteran Army personnel whose job is nearly done, such that they are about to venture to Paris for some rest and relaxation before going home, that have just been joined by some of their replacements.
Layton is at first the innocent, optimistic rookie who's looking forward to the experience, which inevitably changes him into a cigarette smoking, cynical veteran.Though there is the requisite amount of action in this war movie, it's the human stories of the men themselves, and their relationships to one another, which gives this film its strength, and has an impact on the viewer.
Some of the standout actors include: Van Johnson, as pfc Holley, Ricardo Montalban, as Roderigues,a LA Latino, who had never before experienced snow, George Murphy, as the older 'Pop' Stazak, James Whitmore as platoon Sgt Kinnis, John Hodiak as Jarves, Marshall Thompson as Jim Layton, and Leon Ames, as the chaplain, who gave a philosophical speech on Christmas, relating the importance of their being there to the future of humanity.
...but "Battleground," an early Cold War salute to the "Battered Bastards of Bastogne," has a certain charm that transcends its limited portrayal of the rigors of war seen through the eyes of a fictitious platoon of the 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge, which took place less than five years before the film was shot.
Average World War 11 film with a host of veteran actors caught up in Bastogne, France.
We have quite an impressive cast led by Van Johnson, John Hodiak, future U.S. Senator George Murphy, Ricardo Montalban, Marshall Thompson, and others.While James Whitmore was the only actor to receive a nomination in the supporting category, Leon Ames really captured the spirit of the film for his one scene portrayal of a G.I. Chaplain leading the men in worship at Christmas time, but telling them to pray in all their respective faiths.
Writer Robert Pirosh drew on his own real life experience as a soldier during the Battle of the Bulge, while director Robert Wellman brought in a couple dozen veterans of that campaign to lend further authenticity to the dialog and on screen drama for this film.