As I had previously mentioned through my Facebook and Twitter pages, we begin the celebration of 2019 film anniversaries with Battleground (1949, William A.Wellman), an overlooked gem. Released in January 20th 1949, today we celebrate its 70th anniversary. The movie had a smashing big screen debut, so much so that it became a box office that year to the surprise of MGM and its illustrious president Louis B. Mayer. He reluctantly gave his new head of production Dore Schary green-light to a script written by Robert Pirosh and inspired in his own experiences during the Battle of the Bulge(1) in World War II. It is therefore a true story that directed by filmmaker William A. Wellman becomes even more real and human.
In my opinion, the picture we are about to discuss is one of the best war films ever made, prelude to movies such as Saving Private Ryan (1998, Steven Spielberg) –standard for war movie realism– which moves away from patriotic discourses and more stylized depictions. The film is predominantly human, like almost every movie Wellman directed, it is about men and their personal experiences during the siege of Bastogne in December 1944. In this fateful period, the German troops bottled up this Belgian town and isolated the 101st Airborne Division in one of the most ferocious battles for US Army until reinforcements from George Patton’s Third Army arrived. What made Battleground so different from other war films is the fact that is all about actual human beings in trouble. The picture brilliantly captures the real horrors of those battered bastards of Bastogne(2).
In 1949, almost four years since WWI had ended, no one really thought that the audiences wanted another war movie, specially Mr. Louis B. Mayer. Isadore “Dore” Schary, new head of production of Metro Goldwyn Mayer –recently departed from RKO– had a totally distinct notion. With the incoming impact of television on the film industry and the Paramount Decree(3), Schary knew the time had come to turn the time. A year earlier he had purchased the rights for Battleground by Robert Pirosh, previously known for his collaborations with George Seaton in two films(4) for the Marx Brothers. Schary's determination was met with a substantial budget cut which affected its casting. Big names like Robert Taylor were dropped from the project. Instead, an almost all-male cast was composed of Van Johnson, John Hodiak, the experienced George Murphy, Ricardo Montalbán, the freshman Marshall Thompson and my absolute favorite, James Whitmore who was nominated for his supporting role in the Academy Awards. Thus, the significance of this movie doesn't rely on a star-studded cast but on a solid group of character actors who gave astounding performances. The only female part, and it is a tiny one, was played by Denise Darcel who later had a much bigger role again with Wellman in Westward the Women (1951, William A. Wellman).
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The budget cut had also a major impact on the planning and making of the film. Although the movie contains lots of outdoor scenes in very decisive and hostile weather conditions, Battleground was not shot on location; but on a Metro sound stage in Culver City. Set decorator and designer Edwin B. Willis and director of photography Paul C. Vogel –who won an Oscar for this picture– performed the miracle of turning a Hollywood sound stage into the snow-covered, rubble-strewn Belgian town of Bastogne. Its sets remarkably and authentically display the horrifying and claustrophobic atmosphere of the battlefield. Men falling in deeper and deeper foxholes, isolated and icy cold aspire to dispel the uncertainty. Tension increases as the film progresses in what becomes a noteworthy feat led by Wellman who finished the picture 20 days under schedule and a hundred thousand dollars under budget.
William Augustus Wellman is one of my most admired directors and I believe Clint Eastwood would agree as one of his main contemporary disciples. Rightfully nicknamed “Wild Bill” Wellman, he served in the First World War as a fighter pilot in the Lafayette Flying Corps. He was an independent man and often clashed with Hollywood executives seeking more and more control over his work. Wellman was not your typical director but a true pioneer and innovator. He also didn't limit himself to a genre but became an essential reference for many of them. Wings (1927, William A. Wellman), highly acclaimed for its innovative shots and realism, went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture at its first annual ceremony in 1929. Conventionalism, hypocrisy and Hollywood's own self-indulgence were not his cup of tea. Proof of this is his original story with Robert Carson and the direction of the first version of A Star is Born (1937, William A. Wellman). Throughout his filmography, all this films share a common trait, the human point of view. Or as Martin Scorsese puts it in Wellman's biographical documentary(5)"the passion he had for the people he is making his film about". His friend Frank Capra would also agree on that.
In Battleground, human experience is challenged by a a gruesome combat that as we previously mentioned Wellman knew, first hand. In his usual way, men are depicted not as heroes but as real vulnerable soldiers whose only aspiration is to survive war hell. No big ideals and no patriotic speeches but a great sense of dignity and humanity is displayed in this film. In the final scene we see the troop marching in formation singing again their regimental chant mirroring the movie's first sequence. After what these men have been through being alive is really worth chanting for. War's mental and physical struggles are also exhibited in his previous WWII film Story of G.I. Joe (1945, William A. Wellman) which earn Robert Mitchum his only –hello?– Oscar nomination as best actor in a supporting role.
Another valuable scene of this movie which encapsulates Wellman's idiosyncrasy and separates Battleground from its contemporaries, comes almost at the end with a serious consideration about the meaning of the war. “Was this trip necessary?”asks the chaplain Leon Ames. Men both literally and figuratively freeze at the question and their faces drop. A very unusual question to appear in a film in 1949 but still a very relevant one. Was Wellman ahead of his time? You can all bet he was. We can see all the men in Battleground flinch at one point or the other and even attempting to escape as practically any other human being would. This is the beauty and the greatness of William A. Wellman's work.
We could go on and on forever about Wellman, one of cinema's true storytellers and I hope, if you like, to write more about him in future posts. But for now, I heartily recommend you all to watch Battleground, of course, which you can watch online in the Archive.org page and the director's documentary "Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick" also available online in YouTube.
I truly hope you enjoyed this post about a remarkable film, please leave your comments if you did and see you all next Tuesday for our second film anniversary. Sound off!
Notes
(1) Battle of the Bulge
Also called Battle of the Ardennes. It was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. After their invasion of Normandy in June 1944, the Allies were very confident in their superiority and were caught by surprise by the German counteroffensive. Bastogne was key in this battle and was held by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division until Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army relieved Bastogne on the 26th December 1944.
(2) Battered Bastards of Bastogne
The “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne – or the “Battered Bastards of Bastogne” as their nick name became.
(3) Paramount Decree
It was the US government’s long-running antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Pictures and seven other major Hollywood movie studios, declared guilty of violating antitrust law. By the terms of the verdict, the studios were made to sign consent decrees that would end the practice of block booking by requiring that all films be sold on an individual basis. They were also required to divest themselves of their own theater chains. With this decision, independent producers could finally begin to compete with the major studios for audiences and actors, marking the beginning of the end for the Hollywood studio system.
Source History.com.
(4) two Marx Brothers' films
Robert Pirosh collaborated with Goerge Seaton in the script for A Night at the Opera (1935, Sam Wood) and A Day at the Races (1937, Sam Wood).
(5) Wellman's biographical documentary
As later explained, "Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick" is the documentary about the life and work of William A. Wellman.
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