Movie review - "Battleground" (1949) ****

Excellent account of the Battle of the Bulge, far superior to the 1965 film of that name, mainly because it makes the sensible decision just to concentrate on one small group of men and tell the story through their eyes. Written by Robert Pirosh who was there and you can tell - it all seems remarkably authentic and free of cliché (even now): the dialogue, the atmosphere, the little details.

Van Johnson's in it but its not really a star role at all - he does get to make eyes at a girl in Bastogne (a well done way to incorporate female interest in the story) and be a bit of a hero, but no more than any one else - indeed, there's even a moment when you think he's a coward. (Actually he's brave - and I like how this is done - he runs off to be brave, then stands still as if to say "what am I doing?". It's a lovely moment and Johnson is very good, his ordinariness working well). John Hodiak was sort of well known at the time, but most of the cast is played by up and comers, such as Ricardo Montalban (a sympathetic Latino - this was a Dore Schary production after all), Don Taylor, James Whitmore and Richard Jaekel.

Sometimes it is hard to tell who is who and inevitably the actors don't have time to develop much of a character (an near-insurmountable problem in these sort of movies) but performances are very strong, and it adds to the tension because of the main cast you're only reasonably sure Johnson will survive. The portrayal of the GIs seems very realistic - constantly joking (there is a lot of humour), dreaming of leave and home, gossiping about ways to get discharged through sickness or injury, making fun of the top brass.

Tremendous scenes, particularly when the Germans infiltrate American lines as Americans; when Hodiak, Montalban and Johnson engage in hand to hand combat with Germans (we don't see a lot of it - just legs - and don't know who survives until a reveal); when Montalban is injured, and his mates have to leave him - then an artillery strike is called in on his location; when the men find Montalban; a soldier is shot trying to retrieve boots and his last words are "mama, mama"; the speech by a Lutheran priest (which could have clunked - like the bit where a journalist talks about writing a column and going into the war does - but is extremely well done); Johnson trying to cook eggs; the final march.

The visuals of the film are so strong - snow covered ground, mist, burnt out fox holes, making it seem like the battle is taking place on another planet - that it jars when real documentary footage is incorporated. Even though its meant to be an ordinary-GI's-POV of the film, they can't resist including the "nuts" exchange (we hear it second hand but it still feels shoe-horned in).

The film was a deserved box office and critical hit; it had the success of securing Dore Schary's position at MGM, and even though Schary is not remembered that fondly by history he really came through with this one - as did Pirosh and William Wellman of course.