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)
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)