Who knew in mid December of 1944 that Nazi Germany still had enough left for a nasty counter-punch that became known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Though a movie with that name was later made, this one is the real deal about the most known incident in that battle, the defense of the town of Bastogne by the United States 101st Airborne Division.
Taking advantage of the weather with a pea soup fog that rendered Allied air superiority null and void, Hitler found a weak spot in the American line and launched a counterattack that split the army groups commanded by Montgomery and Hodges with that of Patton and came perilously close to recapturing the strategic port of Antwerp. Had it been successful it is very probable that the Allies would have had to negotiate an armistice that would have left the Nazis in charge of Germany.
In that counterattack the strategic town of Bastogne which commanded a junction of several different highways became surrounded with the 101st Airborne Division holding it. Battleground explains this quite clearly and shows in graphic detail what these men had to endure, the cold, the snow, the lack of food and ammunition and medical supplies for the wounded. As the Duke of Wellington said about the Battle of Waterloo, the defense of Bastogne was a mighty close run thing.
MGM put together a fine group of their contract players to show the various types of soldiers who made up a company of the defenders of Bastogne from the 101st. No MGM war film could be done without Van Johnson and he headed a group that was impeccably cast like, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, John Hodiak, Marshall Thompson, Douglas Fowley, James Whitmore, Don Taylor, and Bruce Cowling. My favorite in the film however is Leon Ames in a short, but telling role as an army chaplain, conducting some impromptu Christmas services in the field, explaining why their presence in Bastogne and this trip to Europe for the greatest generation was necessary.
William Wellman who as a young man volunteered to make a previous trip to Europe in the last World War directed this film impeccably with a sharp eye for visual detail and the language and idiom of our GIs.
My uncle who turns 88 this year and will be celebrating a 60th wedding anniversary in September with his wife of the same age was part of the relief that rushed to Bastogne as depicted in that other war film classic, Patton. My mother was his younger sister who worked after school in the Bausch&Lomb factory in Rochester which was converted to war use back in the day. It is to both of them, members of America's greatest generation that this review is reverently dedicated to.
Though a movie with that name was later made, this one is the real deal about the most known incident in that battle, the defense of the town of Bastogne by the United States 101st Airborne Division.
Taking advantage of the weather with a pea soup fog that rendered Allied air superiority null and void, Hitler found a weak spot in the American line and launched a counterattack that split the army groups commanded by Montgomery and Hodges with that of Patton and came perilously close to recapturing the strategic port of Antwerp. Had it been successful it is very probable that the Allies would have had to negotiate an armistice that would have left the Nazis in charge of Germany.
In that counterattack the strategic town of Bastogne which commanded a junction of several different highways became surrounded with the 101st Airborne Division holding it. Battleground explains this quite clearly and shows in graphic detail what these men had to endure, the cold, the snow, the lack of food and ammunition and medical supplies for the wounded. As the Duke of Wellington said about the Battle of Waterloo, the defense of Bastogne was a mighty close run thing.
MGM put together a fine group of their contract players to show the various types of soldiers who made up a company of the defenders of Bastogne from the 101st. No MGM war film could be done without Van Johnson and he headed a group that was impeccably cast like, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, John Hodiak, Marshall Thompson, Douglas Fowley, James Whitmore, Don Taylor, and Bruce Cowling. My favorite in the film however is Leon Ames in a short, but telling role as an army chaplain, conducting some impromptu Christmas services in the field, explaining why their presence in Bastogne and this trip to Europe for the greatest generation was necessary.
William Wellman who as a young man volunteered to make a previous trip to Europe in the last World War directed this film impeccably with a sharp eye for visual detail and the language and idiom of our GIs.
My uncle who turns 88 this year and will be celebrating a 60th wedding anniversary in September with his wife of the same age was part of the relief that rushed to Bastogne as depicted in that other war film classic, Patton. My mother was his younger sister who worked after school in the Bausch&Lomb factory in Rochester which was converted to war use back in the day. It is to both of them, members of America's greatest generation that this review is reverently dedicated to.