Battle Circus (1953)

Set in Korea and made during the war, this is the love story of a hard-bitten Army surgeon, and a new nurse ready to save the world.

Director:

Richard Brooks

Writers:

Allen Rivkin (story), Laura Kerr (story)

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson, Keenan Wynn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Humphrey Bogart	...	Maj. Jed Webbe
June Allyson	...	Lt. Ruth McGara
Keenan Wynn	...	Sgt. Orvil Statt
Robert Keith	...	Lt. Col. Hilary Walters
William Campbell	...	Capt. John 'Rusty' Rustford
Perry Sheehan	...	Lt. Laurence
Patricia Tiernan	...	Lt. Rose Ashland
Adele Longmire	...	Lt. Jane Franklin
Jonathan Cott	...	Adjutant
Ann Morrison	...	Lt. Edith Edwards
Helen Winston	...	Lt. Graciano
Sarah Selby	...	Capt. Dobbs
Danny Chang	...	Korean Child
Philip Ahn	...	Korean Prisoner
Steve Forrest	...	Sergeant

Storyline

Nurse Lt. Ruth McGara is assigned to a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit near the front lines of the Korean War. There she meets and is roughly romanced by Major Jed Webbe, one of the unit's surgeons. Webbe is pushy and seems to care only for momentary pleasures, but McGara falls for him just the same. Their romance blossoms in the midst of overwhelming numbers of casualties, threats from the enemy and from the weather, and emergency evacuations that test the mettle of even a unit whose very name suggests quick mobility.

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Plot Keywords:

nurse | surgeon | evacuation | mobile army surgical hospital | korean war | 

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Taglines:

M-G-M's great drama of desire under fire!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 March 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

MASH 66

Filming Locations:

Calabasas, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,201,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,627,000, 31 December 1953

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,362,000, 31 December 1953

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Humphrey Bogart accidentally set his left thumb afire with lighter fluid while filming the scene in which his character burns some documents. The accident is visible in the film.

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Goofs

The pilot is often shown holding down the Push-to-Talk switch on the cyclic (control stick) while transmitting and receiving. With the Push-to-Talk button depressed, the pilot can transmit, but he can not receive. These radios are simplex, not duplex like a telephone.

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Connections

Edited into Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)

User Reviews

Imagine MASH without a script.

This appears to be more a demonstration of how MASH units work than in actually putting together a movie. Bogart is the only one who gives this film any life even though he seems to feel his time is being wasted, which it is. June Allyson is cute, but with a script this lame even cute can't go very far. Keenan Wynn as an army grunt spends his time raising and lowering tents and smuggling booze but his handlebar mustache is the most interesting thing about his role. It starts out with Bogart in a MASH unit clearly trying to hide his alcohol abuse which gets him in trouble, and then along comes June Allyson as a new nurse. He moves in on her in a way that would get him kicked out of today's army and then the movie gets more and more pointless with a completely predictable ending.