Battleground [Blu-ray]

Director: William A. Wellman

Overview

Incoming MGM production head Dore Schary ramrodded Battleground into the studio's schedule over the virulent protests of MGM boss Louis Mayer. The result was an award-winning box-office hit, as well as the beginning of the end of Mayer's power. This dramatization of the battles of Bastogne and the Bulge in the waning days of World War II concentrates on a single infantry unit. Van Johnson and John Hodiak are the ostensible stars, but the film is stolen by James Whitmore as the cigar-chomping, battle-stained sergeant. Also appearing is Ian MacDonald as General McAuliffe, whose legendary response to the Nazi's suggestion that the Americans surrender consisted of a single four-letter expletive: "Nuts". Whitmore's final scenes of near-delirium before the relief troops arrive are unforgettable. Battleground tries within MGM limits to be wholly realistic, though it is slightly compromised by the scripters' inability to use Army profanity, and by pointless subplot involving actress Denise Darcel. The film doesn't hold up as well as such wartime efforts as The Story of GI Joe or Walk in the Sun, but in 1949 Battleground was regarded as an important milestone in the field of truthful, de-glamorized combat flicks. Please avoid the colorized version: this is a black-and-white subject if ever there was one.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/10/2017
UPC:	0888574452377
Original Release:	1949
Rating:	NR
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	24,857

Special Features

Vintage Cartoon Little Rural Riding Hood; Vintage Featurette Let's Cogitate; Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Van Johnson	Holley
Ricardo Montalban	Roderigues
John Hodiak	Jarvess
George Murphy	Pop Stazak
James Whitmore	Kinnie
Douglas Fowley	`Kipp' Kippton
Jerome Courtland	Abner Spudler
Leon Ames	Chaplain
Richard Jaeckel	Bettis
Don Taylor	Standiferd
James Arness	Garby
Bruce Cowling	Wolowicz
Scotty Beckett	William J. Hooper
Marshall Thompson	Jim Layton
Herbert Anderson	Hansan
Thomas E. Breen	Doc
Denise Darcel	Denise
Brett King	Lt. Teiss
Ian MacDonald	Gen. McAuliffe
101st Airborne	Actor
Screaming Eagles	Actor
Edmon Ryan	Major
Michael Brown	Levenstein
Roland Varno	German Lieutenant
Lennie Hayton	Composer

Technical Credits

Robert Pirosh

Robert Pirosh	Screenwriter
Dore Schary	Producer
Peter Ballbusch	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

Hailed by critics, audiences, and veterans alike, William Wellman's Battleground (1949), together with such other war movies as Wellman's earlier Ernie Pyle biopic The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) and Lewis Milestone's A Walk in the Sun (1945), set a new standard of de-glamorization in war films that continued for decades. The common elements of this new veracity were sharply observed details about the life of the common serviceman, a nearly documentary-like portrayal of war's gore and harsh brutality, and a somewhat sardonic redefinition of heroism, patriotism, and duty. Many decades and several wars later, films as diverse as MASH (1970), Platoon (1986), Hamburger Hill (1987), and Saving Private Ryan (1998), just to name a few, shared these fundamentals and were, in turn, acclaimed as superior war films. Battleground's background story is nearly as interesting as its plot. Producer Dore Schary, who preferred his film projects to contain socially relevant messages, brought the project with him to MGM when he was lured away from RKO. But MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer resisted putting Battleground into production, believing the American public had gotten its fill of war movies. When the film was a box office smash and nominated for a half-dozen Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, Schary won the confrontation with one of Hollywood's most powerful men, and Mayer's career began to decline.