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Battleground
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Synopsis
Incoming MGM production head Dore Schary ramrodded Battleground into the studio's schedule over the virulent protests of MGM boss Louis Mayer. The result was an award-winning box-office hit, as well as the beginning of the end of Mayer's power. This dramatization of the battles of Bastogne and the Bulge in the waning days of World War II concentrates on a single infantry unit. Van Johnson and John Hodiak are the ostensible stars, but the film is stolen by James Whitmore as the cigar-chomping, battle-stained sergeant. Also appearing is Ian MacDonald as General McAuliffe, whose legendary response to the Nazi's suggestion that the Americans surrender consisted of a single four-letter expletive: "Nuts". Whitmore's final scenes of near-delirium before the relief troops arrive are unforgettable. Battleground tries within MGM limits to be wholly realistic, though it is slightly compromised by the scripters' inability to use Army profanity, and by pointless subplot involving actress Denise Darcel. The film doesn't hold up as well as such wartime efforts as The Story of GI Joe or Walk in the Sun, but in 1949 Battleground was regarded as an important milestone in the field of truthful, de-glamorized combat flicks. Please avoid the colorized version: this is a black-and-white subject if ever there was one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Leon Ames The Chaplain
Scotty Beckett William J. Hooper
Thomas E. Breen Doc
Bruce Cowling Wolowicz
Denise Darcel Denise
John Hodiak Jarvess
Richard Jaeckel Bettis
Van Johnson Holley
Brett King Lt. Teiss
Ricardo Montalban Roderigues
George Murphy Ernest "Pop" Stazak
Marshall Thompson Jim Layton
James Whitmore Kinnie
Jerome Courtland Abner Spudler
Douglas Fowley Kipp Kippton
Don Taylor Standiferd

Production Crew

Cedric Gibbons Art Director
Hans Peters Art Director
Robert Pirosh Associate Producer
Nicolas Vogel Cinematographer
Paul Vogel Cinematographer
Lennie Hayton Composer (Music Score)
William Wellman Director
John D. Dunning Editor
Jack Dawn Makeup
Dore Schary Producer
Robert Pirosh Screenwriter
Alfred E. Spencer Set Designer
Edwin B. Willis Set Designer
Peter Ballbusch Special Effects
Year: 1949
Runtime: 118
Country: USA
MPAA Rating: NR
Category: Feature

Genre
War

Produced by
MGM

Awards
1949 - 10 Best Films - New York Times
1949 - Best Film - New York Film Critics Circle
1949 - Best Picture - Academy
1949 - Best Picture - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie