Memorial Day must see war movie: Battleground (1949)

[Minnesota_Lib]

Director William Wellman bucked the system that told him not to make a realistic war movie so soon after the fact. Hollywood wanted John Wayne myths.

Wellman ignored the nay-sayers and put together an no-name ensemble cast featuring Van Johnson, John Hodiack, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Ricardo Montalban and Oscar nominee for best supporting actor, James Whitmore, in what became one of the biggest grossing movies of that year.

This is a no-nonsense war movie beret of propaganda. It is a simple story of simple men put in extraordinary circumstances. It does not glorify war but does glorify the normal men from all walks of life that gave up everything to fight for what was right. And it does not gloss over their flaws. At one point we see two of the men fleeing an engagement. The moment they look guiltily into each others eyes and become reluctant heroes is one of the most memorable and honest moments in movie history. This honesty was rarely repeated in future Hollywood war movies.

While the cast is all white, there are two moving scenes that put black actors at the forefront. One of those scenes, one of the most moving in the movie, even acknowledges the fact that atheists were among the many that fought and died.

This is the very best WWII movie ever made and I hope you rent or buy it to view over this Memorial Day weekend to remember our "greatest generation."

[ForrestGump]

1. That's one of the greats

Haven't seen it in many, many years, but it's a classic, and refreshingly true to the events and what happened there.

James Whitmore was excellent in it.

[Poiuyt]

2. Love your signature!

It reminds me of the Carol Burnett Show. Except that she was cool.

BTW, you should have alerted us to Battleground a couple of hours ago. It just finished on Turner Classic Movies.

[Minnesota_Lib]

3. I know..that is what reminded me..I own own the DvD so wasn't paying...

...attention to TV until I tuned it in and was reminded of what a great tribute to our fighting men it was.

[ChristianLibrul]

4. Still one of the top ten war movies

But many of the cast were hardly "no-names." Johnson, Hodiak and Murphy were well established by 1949. Lesser known supporting actors (for instance, "Kip," with the false teeth) had good resumes. Whitmore and the others got great jumpstarts with this classic movie.

BATTLEGROUND was low-budget, but nevertheless presented a fine screenplay that broke post-war ground for war movies. Flawed characters finally existed, not to mention more realistic acting (for the time) from what was seen in wartime, comic bookesque flag-wavers. The movie is so strong that whole sections of BAND OF BROTHERS were as much a tribute to BATTLEGROUND as to the source book and the men of the 101st.

[NYCGirl]

5. One of my favorite war films is also by Wellman, "The Story of G.I. Joe"

Review from All Movie Guide (www.allmovie.com):

The Story of G.I. Joe was based on the columns of Scripps-Howard war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Though already past 40, Pyle insists upon marching along with an Army infantry unit during the Italian campaign. He befriends several of the soldiers, including commanding officer Robert Mitchum (his breakthrough role), family man Freddie Steele and would-be romeo Wally Cassell. The "plot" of the film is moved forward by the progression of the war itself; basically, however, G.I. Joe is an anecdotal collection of comic, dramatic and tragic vignettes. Some of the more memorable moments include Freddie Steele's ongoing efforts to listen to a recording of his infant son's voice; Mitchum's casual reactions to his many field promotions; and a wedding ceremony which is "punctuated" by an air raid. Many infantry veterans consider The Story of GI Joe to be the single most realistic Hollywood war film of the 1940s, eschewing big stars, phony heroics and overblown battle sequences in favor of the everyday trials and tribulations of the humble foot soldier. Ironically, Ernie Pyle, who acted as technical adviser (when he wasn't busy on the front), was killed by an enemy sniper shortly before the release of this film. -- Hal Erickson

And then there's Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory"

Paths of Glory is a remarkable anti-war film that retains its impact decades after its release. The story's horrifying, tragic inevitability combines with Stanley Kubrick's forthright documentary style to create a film of rare power, a stinging, pre-Vietnam indictment of the inflexibility of war-time decision-making. Kirk Douglas, who produced the film, seems an odd choice to play a French colonel in World War I, yet he fills the screen with his righteous indignation. Kubrick's indictment of a military elite out of touch with -- even openly antagonistic towards -- its own men is brilliantly vicious. Filmed in pristine black-and-white that mirrors the thematic emphasis on the battle between good (enlisted men) and evil (the officers), with Kubrick's keen eye toward detail, Paths of Glory is both an intellectual and a visual treat. The film touched many raw nerves, and it was banned in several European countries, with France the last to lift the ban in the late 1970s. The conclusion features the soon-to-be Mrs. Kubrick in a sentimental and melodramatic scene that has been criticized as out-of-step with the rest of the somber and gritty film. -- Dan Jardine

[Bad Penny]

6. Until Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers

this was hands down the only truly great, realistic and honest WW2 film ever made. The speech to the grunts by the padre about the need to fight fascism is as starkly true and poignant now as it was then. One of the great films. Takes you on a journey and drops you back moved and drained.