Battle of the Bulge (film)
| Battle of the Bulge | |
 Original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Ken Annakin |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Sidney Harmon Milton Sperling Philip Yordan |
| Written by | Bernard Gordon John Melson Milton Sperling Philip Yordan |
| Narrated by | William Conrad |
| Starring | Henry Fonda Robert Shaw Robert Ryan |
| Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
| Editing by | Derek Parsons |
| Distributed by | Warner Brothers |
| Release date(s) | December 16, 1965 |
| Running time | 167 min. |
| Language | English |
Battle of the Bulge is a war film released in 1965. It was directed by Ken Annakin. It starred Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Telly Savalas, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews and Charles Bronson.
Battle of the Bulge had its world premiere on 16 December 1965, the 21st anniversary of the battle, at the Pacific Cinerama Dome Theater in Hollywood, California. The feature was filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 and exhibited in 70 mm Cinerama.
The original VHS release of the film for home video use was heavily edited and used a full screen "pan and scan" technique often employed in network telecasts of widescreen motion pictures. The DVD (released in 2005), however, is uncut and uses a "letterbox" format that includes the proper aspect ratio of the original film; it also includes some special features.
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Plot summary
A German tank force led by a fictional Colonel Hessler (played by Robert Shaw) leads a last-ditch attack through the Allied front. An American intelligence officer (played by Henry Fonda) tries in vain to persuade his superiors of enemy intentions, but to no avail. Hessler is initially successful, but his luck runs out when his unit attempts the seizure of a stubbornly-held fuel depot. Vignettes from the actual battle are included the film, including General McAuliffe's reply of "Nuts" to a surrender demand at Bastogne, German commandos dressed as American soldiers (Operation Greif), and the Malmedy massacre of American POWs.
Cast
- Henry Fonda as Lt. Col. Kiley
- Robert Shaw as Col. Hessler
- Robert Ryan as Gen. Grey
- Dana Andrews as Col. Pritchard
- George Montgomery as Sgt. Duquesne
- Ty Hardin as Schumacher
- Pier Angeli as Louise
- Barbara Werle as Elena
- Charles Bronson as Wolenski
- Hans Christian Blech as Conrad
- Werner Peters as Gen. Kohler
- James MacArthur as Lt. Weaver
- Karl-Otto Alberty as Von Diepel (as Karl Otto Alberty)
- Telly Savalas as Sgt. Guffy
- Steve Rowland as Eddy
- Robert S. Woods as Joe (Kiley's pilot)
Historical accuracy
After some dramatic build-up, the film takes us to the initial assault where Hessler's heavy tanks descend on forward defenses held by U.S. infantry. The G.I.s fire anti-tank grenades from their rifles which explode harmlessly on the thick armor. Hessler's forces quickly penetrate the position, resulting in a panic-stricken rout.
An American tank arrives only to find shots from its main gun ricochet without effect.
But the Germans have an Achilles' heel. They are desperately short of fuel, to the point where their troops must siphon it from captured and abandoned U.S. vehicles to keep their own moving.
The film also recreates the massacre of American prisoners at Malmedy and the stiffening effect it had on morale. Consequently, resistance grows as U.S. troops no longer view surrender as an option. The German advance slows.
Although advised to bypass the strongpoint of Amblève (currently known as Amel), Shaw (Hessler) convinces his commander to attack and eliminate it. He is successful, but more time has been lost. American armored reserves are now moving up in force.
The final tank battle is a rough depiction of the Battle of Celles on December 26, 1944 where the U.S. 2nd Armored Division smashed the German 2nd panzer. The film creates the false impression that large numbers of American tanks sacrificed themselves against the heavy Tiger IIs and in the process lured the enemy off course which caused him to run out of gas. In reality, they were already stranded. Furthermore, most German tanks were not heavy types.
In fairness to the film, the inaccuracy here is not fatal. Fuel shortage was a major handicap for the Germans. And there was a major tank-to-tank engagement during the battle.
Absent from this movie is the response by General George Patton whose Third Army relieved the siege of Bastogne. However, the movie chose to emphasize the more important theme of how Bastogne slowed the German attack in the beginning. There is no reference to British forces in the area which were strategically important. But outside of one brigade (29th Armored), the British did not engage in actual combat. When the weather cleared, U.S. airpower exerted an overpowering effect. However, by the time this occurred, the Germans had been stopped.
In summary, while "Battle of the Bulge" is something of a caricature of the real history, it nonetheless captures the key events: the initial surprise and chaos, the German fuel shortage, and the Malmedy massacre and its effect on American resolve.
There is some speculation that the fictional German character, Hessler, was modeled after Colonel Joachim Peiper whose unit carried out the Malmedy massacre. However, this is not evident in the film where Hessler is openly critical of the Malmedy incident, pointing out such things turn a defeated rabble into an avenging army.
References in popular culture
John McClane references the film in Die Hard with a Vengeance. Simon Gruber's (Jeremy Irons) use of English-speaking Germans to steal gold parallels Hitler's Operation Greif, depicted in The Battle of the Bulge.
External links
- Battle of the Bulge (1965) at the Internet Movie Database
- Battle of the Bulge (film) at the TCM Movie Database
- Battle of the Bulge (film) at Allmovie
- Marcus Wendel (14 May 2006), "Heer Units". Viewed December 26, 2006.
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