True tale about a squad of the 101st Airborne Division coping with being trapped by the Nazis in the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944. December, 1944. The Nazis, in the face of the onrushing Allies, turned and pushed into the Ardennes Forest in Belgium and Luxembourg for what would be their last major offensive of World War II. During the Battle of the Bulge, as it is now called, they surrounded the town of Bastogne, Belgium, trapping the US Army 101st Airborne Division in the town. To make matters worse for the 101st, thick clouds covered the area for most of the battle. This prevented the Allies from providing air cover and air-dropped supplies to their troops on the ground. This film focuses on one squad of the 101st as they wait for the clouds to break.. Meanwhile, they must survive German spies in US Army uniforms, German artillery, winter weather, dwindling supplies, and the fear of being trapped by a hostile force. 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. It is not quite an anti-war film, as WWII was really the Last Good War. Men had to be sacrificed, but they did for a noble cause. Where would we be if the Nazis had triumphed?<br/><br/>The men were surrounded, the mist obscured everything, and it was bitter cold in the French winter, near Bastogne. It was the Battle of the Bulge, where the fate of Western Europe was decided. The film showed the cameraderie and cohesion necessary to be an effective infantry company, but there was no way out till finally the weather broke and our planes came to save them.<br/><br/>Though utterly exhausted and sick to death, the final victory march was dramatically triumphant. Battleground (1949) - Director: William A. 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.<br/><br/>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. Much credit must be given to notoriously brass-balled director William Wellman. Wellman was famous for being a take-no-prisoners kind of guy and must have bullied the soft as silk MGM-ers into getting the kind of picture he wanted, or else. Among other things, the film is famous for its realistic looking (for the time) winter scenes. Surprisingly the entire movie was shot on the backlot and sound stages. (B&W)
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