BATTLEGROUND (1949)

This has a reputation as one of the best war movies of its era. Though it's not as gritty as THE STORY OF G.I. JOE (an earlier film from the same director, William Wellman), it is compelling both in its first hour as a character-driven narrative about tense soldiers waiting for action, and in its second hour as a full-out battle film. Based on an actual event, the episodic narrative is centered on a division of American soldiers stuck near the village of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. (The credit sequence ends by referring to the film as the story of the "Battered Bastards of Bastogne.") As the film opens, in early December, 1944, the men of the 101st Airborne Division are looking forward to some R&R in Paris, but instead are sent to Bastogne to help fight a German offensive. Among the men are smiling everyman Van Johnson, farmboy Jerome Courtland (who always takes off his boots to sleep and is constantly uttering the phrase, "That's for sure, that's for dang sure!"), an older guy nicknamed "Pops" (George Murphy) who is anxiously waiting for his discharge, and other "types" (Latino Ricardo Montalban, intellectual journalist John Hodiak, easy-going Don Taylor). The story unfolds more or less through the viewpoint of a new replacement (Marshall Thompson) who goes from sensitive guy upset at being separated from his buddy to battle-hardened soldier (symbolized largely by him taking up smoking). Most of their time early on is spent in "hurry up and wait" mode, and there is a nice interlude in the village involving Johnson flirting with a young woman (Denise Darcel). Once they get to the Ardennes woods, there is a lovely moment as they wake up in their foxholes covered with snow, but from there on, the situation turns tense after they let a group of Germans disguised as American soldiers past them and soon realized they are surrounded with little hope for reinforcements. The action scenes in the last 45 minutes are well done and surprisingly do not suffer for being studio-bound (the snowy forest is done so well, I was sure they must have filmed in some northern locale, but the entire movie was shot at the MGM studio, with occasional newsreel bits spliced in here and there). Some characters die (not always the ones you assume will), but most make it through, if a little sadder and tougher. The movie may not seem especially realistic compared to some of the war films that came in the 50's, but because the makers didn't have to worry about highlighting flagwaving propaganda messages, the focus on character and the everyday details of the WWII soldier make this stand out head and shoulders above most other war films of the 40's. [DVD]