An excellent film, BATTLEGROUND tells the story of a squad of American foot soldiers trapped by the Germans in Bastogne in 1944. A wide assortment of MGM actors--none of them overreaching the prosaic dimensions of his character--play this cross-section of citizens, including Johnson, a
wisecracking, girl-chasing GI "inconvenienced" by the war; and Hodiak, a conscientious small-time newspaperman turned soldier. (At one point, when food is running out in the besieged town, Johnson and Hodiak see an old woman picking through a garbage can. "I don't see that," Johnson says in
disgust, turning away. "Well, I see it," retorts Hodiak. "I'll always see it and I never want anyone to forget it!") Whitmore is terrific as the tobacco-chomping, frozen-footed sergeant, as tough as a whole Panzer division, and Montalban was never better than here, as a Mexican-American from
southern California who delights in his first snowfall, frolicking in the flakes like a child.
Director Wellman expertly conveys the life of soldiers at war--a life screenwriter Pirosh knew well, since he had served at Bastogne. BATTLEGROUND was a special project for Schary, who brought it from RKO to MGM after he was named MGM production chief (it was his first production credit there).
Initially nixed by mogul Louis B. Mayer on the grounds that the public was not ready to relive WWII, the film proved extremely popular and received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Quite apart from the film's merit, BATTLEGROUND is also notable for initiating the rift between
Mayer and Schary that eventually led to Mayer's ouster. leave a comment
