71st Anniversary of the Bulge

[Kool Kat]

Gents:  

Here's some more info on "Battleground" - certainly a worthy film to commemorate the Battle of the Bulge anniversary!   

Battleground (1949)
d. William A. Wellman

WWII, The Battle of the Bulge (Siege of Bastogne in Belgium), December 1944

Noted as the first significant post-WWII film in the US. It told about a WWII platoon, a group of raw American recruits in the elite 101st Airborne Division ("The Screaming Eagles") trapped at the strategic crossroads of the city of Bastogne in late 1944 during wintry conditions. A solid, ultra-realistic, grim and authentic-looking war drama, it was nominated for six Oscars (including Best Picture), with wins for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (by Robert Pirosh, a veteran of the Battle of Bastogne) and Best B/W Cinematography.

The soldiers were dug in behind the German lines during the German's last-ditch advance at the Battle of the Bulge (the Siege of Bastogne), surrounded and outnumbered and awaiting their fate. The story was told as a character study of the various stressed-out GI comrades and dogfaces from around the country - including their fears, hopes, light-hearted humor and courage. When caught in inclement weather (the "fog of war"), the infantry group was cut off from supplies (reinforcements of food and ammunition) and military intelligence.

The star-studded cast included James Whitmore as tough, tobacco-spitting lead Sgt. Kinnie suffering from frostbitten feet, Van Johnson as paratrooper Pfc. Holley, while Ricardo Montalban played the part of Pvt. Johnny Roderigues, a religious Latino from LA, John Hodiak was featured as Jarvess, an enlistee and Kansas newspaper columnist, Marshall Thompson as innocent and idealistic rookie Pvt. Layton - the film's narrator, and George Murphy as Pop Stazak, the oldest member of the platoon.

Eventually when the skies cleared, the platoon survived after airplanes dropped parachutes with supplies, and they were relieved by fresh troops.