The years between "The Guns of Navaronne" and "Patton" saw the release of a number of World War II epics and would-be epics, some good and some, like "Anzio", pathetic. "The Battle of the Bulge" is about in the middle, with nothing much to recommend it and no outrageous flaws.
I hated to click on the "Contains spoiler" box above because this is, after all, a pseudo-history of one of the major battles that took place towards the end of the war in Europe and he or she who does not know the outcome has been living on the distant planet of Ymir. But so be it. A poll taken some years ago indicated that a substantial number of America's youth didn't know which side of the war Japan had fought on. So here it is, kids. Spoiler alert.
The Allies were at war with Japan and Germany, and by the end of 1944 (A.D.) the Germans were running out of everything, especially fuel. Hitler organized and implemented a last-ditch counterattack against the British and American lines in the mountainous Ardennes forest near the German border.
Those thick and snowy woods were considered unsuitable for tanks and deemed a quiet sector where infantry already exhausted by combat elsewhere could be sent for rest, and an area where newly formed and unseasoned units could be safely stationed and get used to conditions in the field.
Nobody expected the Germans to roll through these mountains with massive tanks and hordes of infantry but that's what happened. Everyone was caught unprepared (except Patton). But the Germans were so short of fuel that the success of the attack depended on the capture of American stores. That didn't happen. The "bulge" created by the attack was squeezed by Montgomery from the north and Patton from the south and eventually disintegrated.
This movie doesn't give a viewer a clear sense of what happened. The Germans' fuel shortage isn't even mentioned until the climax, when it is discovered by Henry Fonda, who plays an intelligence officer. Fonda's figure is a familiar one in war movies. He's the only guy who can figure out what's going on -- and nobody upstairs listens to him or believes him. Most of the other characters are familiar too. The dumb young lieutenant (James McArthur) who learns to develop character and leadership from his tough top sergeant (George Montgomery). There's one of those tough, avaricious Brooklyn characters (Telly Savalas) who manages to have a romantic encounter with Pierangeli in the middle of this hailstorm of battle. Robert Ryan is wasted as a general. Dana Andrews is Ryan's chief of staff who delights in ridiculing Henry Fonda's warnings with cutting sarcasm. None of the characters are real historic figures. General McCauliffe, who was surrounded in Bastogne, isn't named either, though he's identified as the figure who responded to the German demand for surrender with "nuts." (Some have argued that his real response was a single word that, in Samoan would be rendered "turu," in Selozi "masipa", and in French, "merde.") The most complex character and the most challenging role is that of the German colonel who led the Panzers in the attack, played by Robert Shaw. He's so ambiguous he's almost real, but unfortunately Shaw plays him as some kind of a frozen tree stump who eschews the company of easy women and whose only passion is victory. The most endearing performance is that of Hans Christian Blech who plays the German corporal who is both Shaw's servant and sidekick. His lines, like all the other lines, may be stilted but he makes the sentiments believable. A good actor, here and elsewhere.
I've watched this twice now and my opinion of it hasn't changed much. The overall dynamics of the battle are lost amid the tumult of charging tanks, dueling infantrymen, arguments among officers, and faceless figures diving into muddy ditches. There are three or four different plot threads, mostly unrelated to one another. And only one simplified map to tell us where we're headed.
There are better cinematic descriptions of the Battle of the Bulge available ("Battleground," "Band of Brothers") but the incidents are seen from the grunt's point of view and none gives us the more general textbook picture. This one has a grandiose title and aims high, but it loses the battle.
I hated to click on the "Contains spoiler" box above because this is, after all, a pseudo-history of one of the major battles that took place towards the end of the war in Europe and he or she who does not know the outcome has been living on the distant planet of Ymir. But so be it. A poll taken some years ago indicated that a substantial number of America's youth didn't know which side of the war Japan had fought on. So here it is, kids. Spoiler alert.
The Allies were at war with Japan and Germany, and by the end of 1944 (A.D.) the Germans were running out of everything, especially fuel. Hitler organized and implemented a last-ditch counterattack against the British and American lines in the mountainous Ardennes forest near the German border.
Those thick and snowy woods were considered unsuitable for tanks and deemed a quiet sector where infantry already exhausted by combat elsewhere could be sent for rest, and an area where newly formed and unseasoned units could be safely stationed and get used to conditions in the field.
Nobody expected the Germans to roll through these mountains with massive tanks and hordes of infantry but that's what happened. Everyone was caught unprepared (except Patton). But the Germans were so short of fuel that the success of the attack depended on the capture of American stores. That didn't happen. The "bulge" created by the attack was squeezed by Montgomery from the north and Patton from the south and eventually disintegrated.
This movie doesn't give a viewer a clear sense of what happened. The Germans' fuel shortage isn't even mentioned until the climax, when it is discovered by Henry Fonda, who plays an intelligence officer. Fonda's figure is a familiar one in war movies. He's the only guy who can figure out what's going on -- and nobody upstairs listens to him or believes him. Most of the other characters are familiar too. The dumb young lieutenant (James McArthur) who learns to develop character and leadership from his tough top sergeant (George Montgomery). There's one of those tough, avaricious Brooklyn characters (Telly Savalas) who manages to have a romantic encounter with Pierangeli in the middle of this hailstorm of battle. Robert Ryan is wasted as a general. Dana Andrews is Ryan's chief of staff who delights in ridiculing Henry Fonda's warnings with cutting sarcasm. None of the characters are real historic figures. General McCauliffe, who was surrounded in Bastogne, isn't named either, though he's identified as the figure who responded to the German demand for surrender with "nuts." (Some have argued that his real response was a single word that, in Samoan would be rendered "turu," in Selozi "masipa", and in French, "merde.") The most complex character and the most challenging role is that of the German colonel who led the Panzers in the attack, played by Robert Shaw. He's so ambiguous he's almost real, but unfortunately Shaw plays him as some kind of a frozen tree stump who eschews the company of easy women and whose only passion is victory. The most endearing performance is that of Hans Christian Blech who plays the German corporal who is both Shaw's servant and sidekick. His lines, like all the other lines, may be stilted but he makes the sentiments believable. A good actor, here and elsewhere.
I've watched this twice now and my opinion of it hasn't changed much. The overall dynamics of the battle are lost amid the tumult of charging tanks, dueling infantrymen, arguments among officers, and faceless figures diving into muddy ditches. There are three or four different plot threads, mostly unrelated to one another. And only one simplified map to tell us where we're headed.
There are better cinematic descriptions of the Battle of the Bulge available ("Battleground," "Band of Brothers") but the incidents are seen from the grunt's point of view and none gives us the more general textbook picture. This one has a grandiose title and aims high, but it loses the battle.