”I want three volunteers to go out on a patrol, you, you, and you. You're in charge, Holley.” Sergeant Wolowicz

December 1944: Six months after the Allied invasion of Fortress Europe the American soldiers were somewhere in the Ardennes Forest area of France, near the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg. On December 16, the Germans launched a counteroffensive with 250,000 men along an 85-mile front pushing 50 miles behind the American lines. This was the famous Battle of the Bulge and Battleground is the story of the US 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles whose sector included the town of Bastogne on what proved to be the Southern shoulder of the Bulge.

Battleground is an important movie as it shows the life of the typical infantry soldier probably the best of any WWII war movie. The focus is a squad of infantrymen, led by a tough as nails sergeant, (James Whitmore – Battle Cry, Them), and fleshed out by a bunch of representative American boys played by Van Johnson (Brigadoon, The Caine Mutiny), John Hodiak (Lifeboat, A Bell for Adano), Marshall Thompson (To Hell and Back), Ricardo Montalban (Cheyenne Autumn, Fantasy Island), George Murphy (became a US Senator) and several other memorable characters. Robert Pirosh, a veteran of the Battle of Bastogne and proud member of the 101st, wrote the story and adapted it to the screen.

William Wellman (Public Enemy, Beau Geste, The Ox Bow Incident) directed Battleground and did a poignant, understated job of illustrating the boredom, fear, humor, and courage possessed by the soldiers on the snow-clad front lines. The opening of the film establishes the men as crack troops doing close order drill like a guard of honor with a time honored call and response cadence punctuated by the tramp of their boots:

You had a good home and you left.
You’re right..
You had a good home and you left.
You’re right..
Sound off. Sound off.
One two three four, One Two... Three Four!

By the end of the film, the same troops are ”the battered bastards of Bastogne”, weary, frozen, foot-sore, and dead tired. They have enough esprit de corps to close ranks and march out past their replacements with a glimmer of their former precision.

Besides the Germans, the Weather was the big enemy of the defenders of the Bulge. There was snow on the ground and a heavy fog shrouded the area for many days. Frozen feet and numbness plagued the men forced to stay days on the line. While Director William Wellman’s treatment of the biggest land battle of WWII will probably not interest the generation that takes Computer Generated Images (CGI) for granted, it is a gem-like treatment that focuses on the little things that the big movies so often miss. The patrols behind enemy lines, the bombardment by mortar and artillery fire, the guy trying to keep his feet warm, the digging foxholes in soil full of roots, the German propaganda leaflets used for toilet paper, the sudden death and sometime disappearance of characters under the relentless shelling. The only female in the cast (Denise Darcel) cuts a loaf of bread up under her breast forming an indelible image for millions of viewers. All of these moments and more reflect the American experience in WWII. My father told me dozens of stories of his experiences in France and Battleground could be his own story. Battleground was nominated for six academy awards and won two: Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. James Whitmore won a well deserved Golden Globe award for his performance as the platoon sergeant.

The MGM DVD was just released (May 2004) and is presented in 1.33:1 theatrical format. The images are black and white and well photographed. Included as extras are two short subjects, typical of those shown with a movie in 1949: a cartoon and a comic science short.

Battleground deserves a viewing by all film buffs as an example of a well-told story that combines all elements into a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Five stars.

See a good film tonight!



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening