History Film / Battleground

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''Battleground'' is a 1949 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie dramatizing the Battle of the Bulge, and specifically the siege of Bastogne.

December, 1944: The men of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, are anticipating leave in Paris, but are instead hurriedly mustered and sent to the front. There they bivouac in the home of a pretty French lady and meet other American soldiers retreating through the town, who tell them that the Germans are mounting an offensive. The 327th then becomes part of the desperate American effort to halt the German drive to Antwerp.

''Battleground'' was directed by Creator/WilliamAWellman. It starred Van Johnson as Holley and John Hodiak as Jarvess. A young Creator/RicardoMontalban appears as Roderigues. Fans of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' may recognize James Whitmore, who played Brooks in that film and has a starring role as Kinnie in this one. Writer Robert Pirosh had been at Bastogne himself, and would later write ''Film/HellIsForHeroes'' and the TV series ''[[Series/Combat1962 Combat!]]''.

See also the 1965 film ''Film/BattleOfTheBulge'', as well as the 2001 miniseries ''Series/BandOfBrothers'', which dramatizes the siege of Bastogne in [[Recap/BandOfBrothersS1E6Bastogne one episode]].

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!!Tropes:

* AnyoneCanDie: And the survivors do their best to ignore it.
* BandOfBrothers: Surviving encirclement by the Germans will foster a sense of comradeship.
* BlowingSmokeRings: Kinnie does this spitefully, right into the faces of two Germans that came under white flag as part of the surrender parley.
* BookEnds: Kinnie leading the men in a "Jody cadence" march at the beginning of the film and at the end.
* BrickJoke: The men of the 327th start to figure out that something has gone wrong when they see American soldiers streaming back through Bastogne as they enter it. A sarcastic GI says that the media will call their retreat a "strategic withdrawal". Sure enough, the men later besieged in Bastogne get hold of a newspaper that says "STRATEGIC WITHDRAWAL IN BULGE".
* CallBack: Abner sets his shoes outside his foxhole. When he's told to keep them on as he might need to leave in a hurry, he says that he can't sleep in wet boots. Later, Abner is slow to get out of a foxhole because his boots are outside, and he's shot and killed by the Germans.
* CharacterTics: Kipp clicking his teeth.
* CrappyHolidays: Spending Christmas on the front in miserable weather with dwindling supplies and death all around? Yep, pretty crappy. It gets even worse when [[spoiler:Bettis is killed in an air raid]].
** However, there is an impromptu service conducted by a chaplain, who gives an inspiring sermon about what they're fighting for.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: A villainous example with German soldiers who do this in order to blow up a bridge. (In RealLife, while the Germans did try this tactic, the infiltrators they sent into American lines were in the northern portion of the front, far away from Bastogne).
* FatalFamilyPhoto: Surprisingly averted with Hansen, who shows the other men a photo of his wife and kid and somehow makes it to the end of the movie alive.
* FriendOrFoe: Paranoia caused by the Germans infiltrating American lines in disguise as American soldiers leads Holley and his buddies to get in a Friend or Foe quiz with an officer and men in a jeep. The men in the jeep start quizzing Holley back before everyone figures out that they're real Americans.
* GoryDiscretionShot: When three men of the regiment are killing three Germans in hand-to-hand combat, they are hidden behind objects like a bush or a wrecked jeep.
* {{Incoming}}: "That's incoming mail!", say the men of the 327th when they hear shells. American shells are outgoing mail.
* IronicEcho: During the siege, an American group listens to a German radio broadcaster as he, trying to break the Yanks' spirits, plays, "I Surrender, Dear". Later, as the Americans counterattack, a smiling Kinnie sees defeated Germans and sings, "I Surrender, Dear".
* KilledMidSentence: A German soldier somewhere in the forest is barking out orders when he is cut off with a gasp by American rifle fire.
* OhCrap: Holley's reaction when he recognizes the "Americans" he meets in the forest as actually Germans.
* OminousFog: It certainly has an effect, like the scene where the men of the 327th are waiting in the trees, holding their fire until they see the German Alpine troops emerging like ghosts from the fog.
* SecondFaceSmoke: Kinney blows smoke rings right into the faces of two Germans who came as part of the surrender parley.
* TheSiege: One of the most famous in American military history, as the 101st Airborne holds Bastogne.
* SoldiersAtTheRear: Bettis cracks under German bombardment, runs into the town of Bastogne, and gets himself put on KP duty. This backfires when Bastogne is surrounded and the "rear" disappears, and backfires even worse when Bettis is killed by a German bomb.
* SweaterGirl: Denise (Denise Darcel), the Frenchwoman whom the men of the 327th bivouac with, puts some strain on her sweaters. This is played for a gag when Denise is busily slicing a loaf of bread for the men, knife repeatedly coming close to her prominent bosom, while Holley winces nervously.
* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: The men of the company are not pleased to hear that they are surrounded by Germans.
* VerbalTic: Abner's habit of saying "That's for sure" all the time, which irritates Jarvess immensely.
* VideoCredits: Of most of the actors, with Denise Darcel being a notable exception.
* YouShallNotPass: "Nuts!", says General [=McAuliffe=] to a German demand for surrender.

''Battleground'' was directed by Creator/WilliamAWellman. It starred Van Johnson as Holley and John Hodiak as Jarvess. A young Creator/RicardoMontalban appears as Roderigues. Fans of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' may recognize James Whitmore, who played Brooks in that film and has a starring role as Kinnie in this one. Writer Robert Pirosh had been at Bastogne himself, and would later write ''Film/HellIsForHeroes'' and the TV series ''Series/{{Combat}}''.

''Battleground'' was directed by Creator/WilliamAWellman. It starred Van Johnson as Holley and John Hodiak as Jarvess. A young Creator/RicardoMontalban appears as Roderigues. Fans of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' may recognize James Whitmore, who played Brooks in that film and has a starring role as Kinnie in this one. Writer Robert Pirosh had been at Bastogne himself, and would later write ''Film/HellIsForHeroes'' and the TV series ''Series/{{Combat}''.

''Battleground'' was directed by Creator/WilliamAWellman. It starred Van Johnson as Holley and John Hodiak as Jarvess. A young Creator/RicardoMontalban appears as Roderigues. Fans of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' may recognize James Whitmore, who played Brooks in that film and has a starring role as Kinnie in this one.

* CrappyHolidays: Stuck on the front in miserable weather with dwindling supplies and death all around? Yep, pretty crappy. It gets even worse when [[spoiler:Bettis is killed in an air raid]].
** However, there is an impromptu Christmas service conducted by a chaplain, who gives an inspiring sermon about what they're fighting for.

The men of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, are anticipating leave in Paris, but are instead hurriedly mustered and sent to the front. There they bivouac in the home of a pretty French lady and meet other American soldiers retreating through the town, who tell them that the Germans are mounting an offensive. The 327th then becomes part of the desperate American effort to halt the German drive to Antwerp.

''Battleground'' is a 1949 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie dramatizing the Battle of the Bulge, and specifically the siege of Bastogne. The men of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, are anticipating leave in Paris, but are instead hurriedly mustered and sent to the front. There they bivouac in the home of a pretty French lady and meet other American soldiers retreating through the town, who tell them that the Germans are mounting an offensive. The 327th then becomes part of the desperate American effort to halt the German drive to Antwerp.

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''Battleground'' was directed by Creator/WilliamAWellman. It starred Van Johnson as Holley and John Hodiak as Jarvess. A young Ricardo Montalban appears as Roderigues. Fans of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' may recognize James Whitmore, who played Brooks in that film and has a starring role as Kinnie in this one.

See also the 1965 film ''Film/BattleOfTheBulge'', as well as the 2001 miniseries ''Series/BandOfBrothers'', which dramatizes the siege of Bastogne in one episode.

* FatalFamilyPhoto: Suprisingly averted with Hansen, who shows the other men a photo of his wife and kid and somehow makes it ot the end of the movie alive.

* SoldiersAtTheRear: Hollie cracks under German bombardment, runs into the town of Bastogne, and gets himself put on KP duty. This backfired when Bastogne is surrounded and the "rear" disappears, and backfires even worse when Hollie is killed by a German bomb.

'''''Battleground''''' is a 1949 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie dramatizing the Battle of the Bulge, and specifically the siege of Bastogne. The men of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, are anticipating leave in Paris, but are instead hurriedly mustered and sent to the front. There they bivouac in the home of a pretty French lady and meet other American soldiers retreating through the town, who tell them that the Germans are mounting an offensive. The 327th then becomes part of the desperate American effort to halt the German drive to Antwerp.

''Battleground'' is a 1949 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie dramatizing the Battle of the Bulge, and specifically the siege of Bastogne. The men of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, are anticipating leave in Paris, but are instead hurriedly mustered and sent to the front. There they bivouac in the home of a pretty French lady and meet other American soldiers retreating through the town, who tell them that the Germans are mounting an offensive. The 327th then becomes part of the desperate American effort to halt the German drive to Antwerp.

''Battleground'' is a 1949 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie dramatizing the Battle of the Bulge, and specifically the siege of Bastogne. The men of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, are anticipating leave in Paris, but are instead hurriedly mustered and sent to the front. There they bivouac in the home of a pretty French lady and meet other American soldiers retreating through the town, who tell them that the Germans are mounting an offensive.

''Battleground'' was directed by William Wellman. It starred Van Johnson as Holley and John Hodiak as Jarvess. A young Ricardo Montalban appears as Roderigues. Fans of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' may recognize James Whitmore, who played Brooks in that film and has a starring role as Kinnie in this one.