Of all war films made in Hollywood, the most authentic are those about the Second World War, at least those made in the first years or decades after the conflict. The reason for that is the large number of veterans in front of and behind the cameras. With the war safely over and without the need for propaganda sugar-coating, those men wanted the world and future generations to know what they had really gone through.
One of the most celebrated examples of such a realistic approach to the Second World War is Battleground, the 1949 film directed by William A. Wellman. The plot is dedicated to one of the most celebrated episodes of US military history. It begins in France in December 1944 when a platoon of the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division receives a new soldier, young Private Jim Layton (played by Marshall Thompson). A few months earlier, the division had taken part in the Normandy landings and the subsequent campaign that liberated France and Belgium from Nazi Germany with such apparent ease that many thought the war would end by Christmas. Although it is obvious that it won’t happen, the soldiers of the squad are looking forward to spending Christmas partying in Paris.
Hitler, however, has different plans. In a last-ditch attempt to turn the tide of war in their favour, the Germans launch a surprise offensive through the heavily forested Ardennes in eastern Belgium – the very same spot where they had surprised the French four and a half years earlier, leading to the defeat and occupation of France. At the start, it seems that history might repeat itself, because the US forces stationed there are inexperienced and undermanned, and the elite forces of the German LXVII Panzer Corps slice through their lines like a knife through butter. The veteran 101st Division is rushed to fill the gap in the front and try to stop or slow the German advance.
The platoon arrives at the small town of Bastogne where it would, together with the rest of the division, take a stand. The situation soon becomes very grim, because heavy fog has removed Allied air supremacy and the entire division soon gets surrounded. But its soldiers, despite snow, cold, hunger and dwindling supplies, continue to hold the strategically important town that might in the end wreck German plans, thus becoming crucial for the final outcome of what would later become known as the Battle of the Bulge.
The script for Battleground was written by Robert Pirosh who, although not a veteran of the 101st Division, had actually taken part in the Battle of the Bulge. Many scenes and characters were inspired by people Pirosh met or events he experienced or witnessed during the battle. The actual force behind the film was producer Dore Schary, who originally wanted to make it for RKO Pictures, but this idea was rejected by its owner Howard Hughes. Schary switched to MGM, but there he had to fight with influential studio mogul Louis B. Mayer, who had been very sceptical towards war films and thought that the public had tired of war and didn’t want to see it on the big screen. Schary nevertheless went ahead with the project and proved to be an extremely efficient producer, finishing the film below budget and ahead of schedule.
He also proved to be quite adept at finding the right personnel. William A. Wellman, a very experienced and versatile director and a veteran of the First World War, was joined by a cast made of many Second World War veterans that added a great deal of authenticity to their performances. These include Douglas Fowley, who lost his teeth during an explosion on an aircraft carrier and whose character Private “Kip” Kippton spends the entire film making sure that he doesn’t lose his false teeth. Wellman left nothing to chance and brought twenty actual 101st Division veterans to the set to serve as extras and help drill the actors like real soldiers. As a result, none of the members of the cast looks “Hollywood”-like, even former matinee idol Van Johnson who plays jovial Private First Class Holley or Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban who plays Private Rodriguez, a Los Angeles native who had never seen snow in his life only to have to fight a battle in it.
Wellman directed the film well, using Washington forest locations, but the real achievement was the use of studio sets that almost flawlessly stand in for the Belgian woods. The audience at the time was, however, more impressed with the great realism in the depiction of war and, more importantly, how ordinary persons would react to it. Although the battle ended as a great US victory, the protagonists aren’t portrayed as heroic supermen. They make mistakes, complain about their deprivation, despair about the situation they are in, and some even allow themselves moments of cowardice. Although there isn’t graphic violence, death in Battleground, as in most modern wars, comes at random and, with a lack of proper stars—who are replaced by an ensemble cast—viewers can’t know which of the characters will survive the battle.
This unsentimental approach to war is slightly watered down by a scene that tries to give the story some meaning and context – an impromptu service by an unnamed military chaplain, played by Leon Ames, whose speech reminds the soldiers what they are actually fighting for. The soldiers are ethnically and religiously diverse and one of them is even African American, which represents an unusual detail because the US Army was still racially segregated during WW2. Some African American servicemen (from the 761st Tank Battalion, a.k.a. “Black Panthers”) indeed took part in the defence of Bastogne, so this scene is historically accurate.
That doesn’t apply to scenes in which the protagonists have to deal with German infiltrators who penetrated US lines pretending to be US servicemen, because, although such events did take place at the very start of the offensive and caused panic and confusion in US ranks, they didn’t take place in or around Bastogne. This can be seen as a concession to Hollywood commercial imperatives, just like the character of a local Belgian woman, played by French vaudeville star and beauty queen Denise Darcel, appears only to prevent Battleground from being an all-male affair. Another thing that works against Battleground is the Hays Code and its ban on “problematic” language, which almost prevented the famous quote of General McAuliffe, commander of the 101st Division, from being repeated in the film.
Yet, despite those limitations, Battleground was embraced by the public, veterans and critics alike, becoming one of the biggest hits of its time. Schary used this success to gradually push Louis B. Mayer from MGM’s leadership and take over the studio two years later. Battleground for a long time enjoyed the reputation of the best film about the Second World War, at least as far as Hollywood was concerned. Even if the passage of time and different films might work against that verdict, it is hard to argue that the Greatest Generation deserved films like these that properly celebrate its greatest achievement.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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