Battleground (1949)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writer:

Robert Pirosh (story)

Release Date:

20 January 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Action | War | Drama

Tagline:

The First Great Picture Of The Second World War !

Plot:

A squad of the 101st Airborne Division copes with being trapped in the besieged city of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

Plot Keywords:

U.S. Army | Battle Of The Bulge | Uniform | Digging A Foxhole | Paratrooper

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Van Johnson	...	Holley
John Hodiak	...	Jarvess
Ricardo Montalban	...	Roderigues
George Murphy	...	'Pop' Stazak
Marshall Thompson	...	Jim Layton
Jerome Courtland	...	Abner Spudler
Don Taylor	...	Standiferd
Bruce Cowling	...	Wolowicz
James Whitmore	...	Kinnie
Douglas Fowley	...	'Kipp' Kippton
Leon Ames	...	The Chaplain
Herbert Anderson	...	Hansan (as Guy Anderson)
Thomas E. Breen	...	Doc
Denise Darcel	...	Denise
Richard Jaeckel	...	Bettis
James Arness	...	Garby (as Jim Arness)
Scotty Beckett	...	William J. Hooper
Brett King	...	Lt. Teiss
The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division	...	Themselves (as the original 'Screaming Eagles' of the 101st Airborne Division)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joel Allen	...	Transportation Captain (uncredited)
Martha Bamattre	...	French Peasant Woman (uncredited)
Richard Bartlett	...	Casualty (uncredited)
Nan Boardman	...	Belgian Woman Volunteer (uncredited)
Tommy Bond	...	Runner (uncredited)
Robert Boon	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
Michael Browne	...	Levenstein (uncredited)
Norman Budd	...	Crying Casualty (uncredited)
George Chandler	...	Mess Sergeant (uncredited)
Tony Christian	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
Lillian Clayes	...	Old Woman (uncredited)
Louise Colombet	...	French Peasant Woman (uncredited)
Gene Coogan	...	G.I. Scout (uncredited)
Bert Davidson	...	101st Battalion Officer (uncredited)
George Dee	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
Jean Del Val	...	French Peasant Man (uncredited)
Victor Desny	...	Wounded German Soldier (uncredited)
Chris Drake	...	Medic Private (uncredited)
Jim Drum	...	Supply Sergeant (uncredited)
Gretl Dupont	...	French Peasant Woman (uncredited)
John Dutra	...	G.I. (uncredited)
Ted Eckelberry	...	G.I. (uncredited)
Bill Erwin	...	Warrant Officer (uncredited)
Dan Foster	...	Gunner (uncredited)
John Gardner	...	G.I. (uncredited)
Eugene Gericke	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
Edmund Glover	...	G.I. from Maine (uncredited)
David Holt	...	G.I. Straggler (uncredited)
James Horne	...	Transportation Captain (uncredited)
Richard Irving	...	G.I. from New York (uncredited)
Samuel Jaegers	...	Drill Sergeant (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Tanker (uncredited)
Tommy Kelly	...	Casualty (uncredited)
Billy Lechner	...	Runner (uncredited)
William F. Leicester	...	Tank Destroyer Man (uncredited)
Martin Lowell	...	G.I. (uncredited)
Ian MacDonald	...	Army Colonel (uncredited)
John Mansfield	...	Casualty (uncredited)
Dewey Martin	...	G.I. Straggler (uncredited)
Jimmy Martin	...	G.I. from the South (uncredited)
Roger McGee	...	Tanker (uncredited)
Peter Michael	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
William Murphy	...	Non-Com (uncredited)
John Mylong	...	German Major (uncredited)
Tommy Noonan	...	G.I. Straggler (uncredited)
George Offerman Jr.	...	K Company G.I. (uncredited)
Jerry Paris	...	German Sergeant (uncredited)
Victor Paul	...	G.I. (uncredited)
Steve Pendleton	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Janine Perreau	...	Little Girl (uncredited)
Phillip Pine	...	G.I. Non-Com (uncredited)
Albert Pollet	...	French Peasant Man (uncredited)
Bob Porter	...	G.I. (uncredited)
Otto Reichow	...	German Platoon Leader (uncredited)
John R. Reilly	...	Tanker Filling Up with Gas (uncredited)
Sammy Resnick	...	Non-Com (uncredited)
Jon Riffel	...	'Kipp' Kipton (uncredited)
Henry Rowland	...	German NCO (uncredited)
John Royce	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
Edmon Ryan	...	Major (uncredited)
Carl Saxe	...	101st Battalion Officer (uncredited)
Nelson Scott	...	G.I. (uncredited)
Irene Seidner	...	French Peasant Woman (uncredited)
William Self	...	K Company G.I. (uncredited)
Charles Smith	...	Walking Wounded (uncredited)
Ivan Triesault	...	German Captain (uncredited)
Max Trujillo	...	GI (uncredited)
Roland Varno	...	German Lieutenant (uncredited)
Tommy Walker	...	Mechanic (uncredited)
Arthur Walsh	...	G.I. (uncredited)
Frank Whitbeck	...	Trailer Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Ward Wood	...	Replacement (uncredited)
Fred Zendar	...	German Soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
William A. Wellman

Writing credits
Robert Pirosh		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Pirosh	....	associate producer
Dore Schary	....	producer

Original Music by
Lennie Hayton		(musical score)

Cinematography by
Paul Vogel		(director of photography) (as Paul C. Vogel)

Film Editing by
John D. Dunning		(as John Dunning)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Hans Peters

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis		(set decorations)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup creator

Production Management
William Kaplan	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sid Sidman	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Alfred E. Spencer	....	associate set decorator
Matty Azzarone	....	construction (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor
Conrad Kahn	....	sound (uncredited)

Stunts
Gene Coogan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Victor Paul	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carl Saxe	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fred Zendar	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Henry Forrester	....	grip (uncredited)
J. Harper	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Ed Hubbell	....	still photographer (uncredited)
James Manatt	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Peter Ballbusch	....	montage sequences

Music Department
Wally Heglin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Harry Kinnard	....	technical adviser (as H.W.O. Kinnard Lt.Col. Inf.)
John Banse	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Loew's (produced by) (as Loew's Incorporated)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1949) (UK) (theatrical)
• Central Motion Picture Exchange (1949) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (France) (theatrical)
• Express Film (1950) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1950) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1965) (USA) (TV)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Battered Bastards of Bastogne, The  this story is about, and dedicated to, those Americans who met General Heinrich von Lüttwitz and his 47 Panzer Corps and won for themselves the honored and immortal name (as "The Battered Bastards of Bastogne")

Also Known As:

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #13886) | Canada:PG (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts) | UK:PG (video rating) (1998) | UK:PG (tv rating) | Netherlands:14 (original rating) (1950) | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Fort Lewis, Washington, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Douglas Fowley, who plays Pvt. Kippton (he of the continually lost false teeth) served in the Navy in the South Pacific in World War II and lost all his own teeth in an explosion aboard his aircraft carrier during battle.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the film, when the C-47s are paradropping supplies to the soldiers, one of the stock footage pieces is of paratroopers jumping from planes, not supplies being dropped.

Quotes:

[while being bombarded by German artillery during a driving blizzard]
Holley:We've had good deals before, but this is the best one yet. This is great. I don't ever wanna go back. I found a home in the army.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Kisses (1991) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

Classic WWII Movie!

Battleground (1949) - Director: William A. Wellman A couple of years had passed since the end of the war and Americans were once again ready for another "Give em Hell Harry" approach so MGM took a few of its current heart throbs (Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban), surrounded them with plenty of scraggy-faced character actors and accidentally turned out one of the best WW II movies out there.

Basically the story revolves around a squad of the 101st Airborne Division being trapped in the besieged city of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Much credit must be given to notoriously brass-balled director William Wellman. Wellman was famous for being a take-no-prisoners kind of guy and must have bullied the soft as silk MGM-ers into getting the kind of picture he wanted, or else. Among other things, the film is famous for its realistic looking (for the time) winter scenes. Surprisingly the entire movie was shot on the backlot and sound stages. (B&W)