William “Wild Bill” Wellman’s 1949 WWII Masterpiece, Battleground

The French poster 

By David in TN
Saturday, February 2, 2019 at 3:42:00 P.M. EST
 

 

TCM is showing Battleground (1949) on Monday Night, February 4, at 8 p.m. ET.
 

Reading a Nazi propaganda flier: Van Johnson, l;,John Hodiak, r; unknown actor, c

 


 


Battleground, 1949. The first movie depiction of the Siege of Bastogne.
 

By the way, my Dad really approved of the Chaplain’s speech (“Was This Trip Necessary?”), delivered by Leon Ames.

 

 

This scene also was a “Cold War preparedness message,” according to Jay Hyams’ 1984 book, War Movies.
 


 

See also:

“‘Was This Trip Necessary?’ The Sermon in Bastogne, During the Battle of the Bulge, in William ‘Wild Bill’ Wellman’s 1949 Masterpiece, Battleground”; and

“‘Nuts!’: The Most Famous Phrase of The War”; and

“See the Inspiring Ending to William ‘Wild Bill’ Wellman’s Masterpiece About the True Story of ‘the Battered Bastards of Bastogne,’ Battleground (1949), Featuring the ‘Jody Cadence’ (Video).”
 

 



  Read These Great Battle Memoirs by American Fighting Men, Going Back to the Revolutionary War By Nicholas Stix

https://www.revolver.news/2021/05/revolver-happy-memorial-day-memoirs/