Battle of the Bulge (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Battle of the Bulge


caption= Original movie poster
imdb_id = 0058947
producer = Sidney Harmon
Milton Sperling
Philip Yordan
director = Ken Annakin
writer = Bernard Gordon
John Melson
Milton Sperling
Philip Yordan
starring = Henry Fonda
Robert Shaw
Robert Ryan
music = Benjamin Frankel
cinematography = Jack Hildyard
distributor = Warner Brothers
released = December 16, 1965
runtime = 167 min.
language = English

"Battle of the Bulge" is a war film released in 1965. It was directed by Ken Annakin. It starred Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Telly Savalas, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews and Charles Bronson.

"Battle of the Bulge" had its world premiere on 16 December 1965, the 21st anniversary of the battle, at the Pacific Cinerama Dome Theater in Hollywood, California. The feature was filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 and exhibited in 70 mm Cinerama.

The original VHS release of the film for home video use was heavily edited and used a full screen "pan and scan" technique often employed in network telecasts of widescreen motion pictures. The DVD (released in 2005), however, is uncut and uses a "letterbox" format that includes the proper aspect ratio of the original film; it also includes some special features.

Plot summary

A Hollywood film inspired by, but not very faithful to, the World War II Battle of the Bulge. A Panzer brigade, led by the fictional Colonel Hessler (played by Shaw), leads a German last-ditch secret counter-attack against the Allied front in the heavily wooded Ardennes Sector of Belgium/Luxembourg. An American Intelligence officer (played by Fonda) tries in vain to persuade his superiors of the German intentions. The Americans are surprised, with heavy casualties. Hessler's initial success ends as his unit runs out of gas at a burning roadblock-Hessler is killed when his tank explodes from the burning gas. German commandos dressed as American soldiers (Operation Greif) are portrayed in the film, as well as the Malmedy massacre of American POWs.

Historical accuracy

Compared to more modern World War II dramatizations, such as "Band of Brothers", the movie does not provide an accurate historical record of the battle. All the characters portrayed in the movie are fictional. Some, like Shaw's and Ryan's characters, are based on a real individuals, Joachim Peiper, and Norman Cota.

The battle scenes—mostly set pieces between masses of armor—though exciting, are not accurate, except for showing how the German King Tiger tanks were superior to the American M4 Sherman tanks. But the Tigers are actually portrayed by American M47 Patton tanks, which were not developed until after World War 2 and never used in combat by US forces, and the American tanks (though never actually referred to by name or M-series designation in the film) are portrayed by M24 Chaffee light tanks, only two of which type ever appeared in the actual battle. Nonetheless, producer Milton Sperling, in a 1965 television interview (included as part of "History Recreated", one of the special features on the 2005 "Battle of the Bulge" DVD from Warner Video), gives a different impression. When asked, "Where did you manage to find all the authentic equipment that you use in the film," Sperling answers:

:Well, we had to scour Europe for this. There are places where such tanks do exist, you know—sometimes in junkyards, sometimes in existing armies, and sometimes just by chance one finds a cache of tanks, guns, old planes, and various other relics of World War II. We managed to assemble these great numbers of tanks you saw in the film after looking about for months and months. We found both the German tanks, still relics of World War II, and American tanks, which are sometimes still used by our own forces. So what you see on the screen are truly the tanks that were fought in the Battle of the Bulge and throughout the Western Front and on the Russian Front in World War II.

All "American" vehicles in the movie are painted in Spanish army camouflage schemes whereas U.S. vehicles in 1944 were generally painted in olive drab monotone schemes. "German" vehicles are painted in a light grey scheme, which was inaccurate for any period during World War II.

The German demand for the surrender of US forces in Bastogne is read by a German officer upon reaching US lines but is not the same text as the actual note delivered to Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe.

Shaw's character seems to be inspired by Joachim Peiper, but is portrayed as a Heer officer, though he and his tank commanders wear the SS death's head insignia on their black tank crew uniforms. Peiper was an officer of the Waffen-SS and led Kampfgruppe Peiper ("Battlegroup Peiper") during the Ardennes Offensive and which was eventually forced to abandon its tanks and other vehicles and withdraw on foot, as alluded to in the film's closing scene. Likewise, while Shaw's character is shown near the beginning reviewing German tanks and crews from his tank, a scene based on a World War II German newsreel showing a German Panzer officer reviewing tanks and crewmen, the actual officer survived the war. Shaw's character may also have been influenced by one of the film's technical advisors, the Heer officer Major General Meinrad von Lauchert, who had been put in command of the German 2nd Panzer Division the day before the attack was launched.

The film was made in Spain, and some of its battle scenes take place on open, desert-like rolling plains in bright sunshine. The historical battle, however, took place for the most part in poor weather in winter (December/January) in one of Europe's most dense forests, where roads liquefied under the tanks' tracks, and armored units were forced to march in vulnerable one-vehicle lanes which some of the opening battle scenes reflect.

Heroic stands by small platoons of American troops, the destruction of key bridges by combat engineers, the delay imposed by the American holding of St. Vith for several days, and to a much larger extent, the successful holding of the strategic crossroads town of Bastogne by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, greatly hindered the progress of the German offensive. However, these events are only briefly shown or alluded to in the movie. The crucial counterattack by the U.S. Third Army, the subsequent relief of Bastogne by the 4th Armored Division and the ensuing battles to keep the relief corridor open are also omitted, as are any references to the participation of the British Army or the contribution of massive air support that became available when the weather finally cleared enough to allow flying.

The original choice for director Richard Fleischer turned the film down and was replaced with the British director Ken Annakin who had directed the British and French sequences in "The Longest Day (film)" and several other action films. Annakin brings an interesting British view of the American soldiers. Ex-police detective Henry Fonda in a role echoing his "one decent man against everyone" persona in "12 Angry Men" notices the long haired Major Charles Bronson "runs a pretty loose outfit". Tank Corps Sergeant Telly Savalas plays his role like a scheming "Sergeant Bilko" black marketeer. The staff Colonel Dana Andrews is officious and despises contrary opinions. Young Lieutenant James MacArthur is portrayed as callow and incompetent especially alongside his platoon sergeant George Montgomery who plays his drawling sharpshooter role like a cowboy. The Americans panic in fright at the first German assault (with the German tanks impervious to American tank and bazooka shells whilst the American tanks explode in flame), but as the film progresses each of the characters that survives or escapes captivity is transformed by the death of others into tough veterans who defeat the Germans without resort to air support or massive supplies.

Annakin and Bernard Gordon and Phillip Yordan's screenplay explains the German strategy in easily understandable dialogue and images. Robert Shaw (playing the role with his hair dyed blonde and in the same persona as his psychotic killer in " From Russia With Love") is shown around an underground headquarters beneath a demolished city that his guide, General Kohler (Werner Peters) explains is like Germany itself; visibly defeated but secretly producing war material and plans. Shaw (and the audience) are shown new German tanks, upcoming secret weapons, a unit of infiltrators in American uniform led by Ty Hardin, and a giant 50 hour clock set to the limit of the German assault's supplies. Shaw is given young boy soldiers "who have never tasted defeat" as his assault unit with the soldiers singing "Panzerlied" whilst stamping their boots to demonstrate their spirit. Kohler also explains the importance of the upcoming weather reports that will ground all Allied aircraft during the period of the assault. The goal of the battle is to capture the port of Antwerp splitting the Allied armies and delaying the war until the German wonder weapons of jet aircraft and atomic weapons are ready to use on the Allies.

Shaw deviates from his orders and the timetable of the assault to lay siege to Americans holding the fictional town of Amblève (there is a river Amblève in the area but no town of that name). Shaw explains to Kohler that he must show the Americans what defeat means. Shaw explains his view by showing Kohler a fresh chocolate cake delivered by air transport to an American soldier. That America can use their resources to send a cake across the Atlantic is taken as a symbol of America's wealth and not taking the war seriously in the view of the Germans (and the British director).

The film simplifies the outcome of the battle to the Germans' desperate shortage of fuel, which was only partly responsible for the Germans ultimate demise. Absent from this movie's version of events are three rather significant facts that weighed heavily in the final outcome of the battle. The first is George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army relieving the encircled crossroads town of Bastogne, which would break the German supply line. The second factor was the weather greatly improving, which allowed the previously grounded Allied air forces to attack German ground targets, which they did to great effect. The third factor was the contribution of the British Army in the counterattack which eliminated the bulge.

References in popular culture

John McClane references the film in "Die Hard with a Vengeance". Simon Gruber's ("Jeremy Irons") use of English-speaking Germans to steal gold parallels Hitler's Operation Greif, depicted in "The Battle of the Bulge".

External links

*imdb title|id=0058947|title=Battle of the Bulge (1965)

*Marcus Wendel (14 May 2006), " [http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=1274 Heer Units] ". Viewed December 26, 2006.