Movies - Battle of the Bulge

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	Movies - Battle of the Bulge

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.

Plot summary

A Hollywood account of the World War II Battle of the Bulge. A Panzer division, led by Colonel Hessler, (played by Shaw), leads a German last ditch secret counter-attack against the Allied front in the heavily wooded Ardennes Sector of Belgium/Luxembourg. An American Intelligence officer (played by Fonda), tries in vain to persuade his superiors of the German intentions. The Americans are surprised, with heavy casualties. Hessler's initial success ends as his unit runs out of gas. German commandos dressed as American soldiers (Operation Greif) are portrayed in the film, as well as the Malmédy massacre of American POWs.

Historical accuracy

Compared to more modern WWII dramatizations, such as Band of Brothers, the movie does not portray an accurate historical record of the battle. All the characters portrayed in the movie are fictional. Some like Shaw's character are based on real individuals.

The battle scenes - mostly set pieces between masses of armor - though exciting, are not very accurate, except for showing how the German King Tiger tanks were superior to the American M4 Sherman tanks. However, the Tigers are actually portrayed by American M47 Patton tanks, and the Shermans are portrayed by M24 Chaffee Light Tanks.

Shaw's character should be Joachim Peiper, but is portrayed as an Army tanker. Peiper was a Waffen-SS man. Likewise while Shaw's character is shown in the beginning reviewing German tanks and crews from his tank was based on a World War II German newsreel actually showing a German Panzer officer reviewing tanks and crewmen-the actual officer survived the war.

The film was made in Spain, and some of its battle scenes take place on open, rolling plains. The historical battle, however, took place in the depth of winter (December/January) in one of Europe's most dense forests, where roads liquified under the tanks' tracks, and armored units were forced to march in vulnerable one-vehicle lanes which some of the opening battle scenes reflect.

Heroic stands by small platoons of American troops, and to a much larger extent, the holding of the strategic crossroads town of Bastogne by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, greatly hindered the ultimate success of the German offensive. However, these events are only briefly shown in the movie

The film simplifies the outcome of the battle to the Germans' desperate shortage of fuel, which was only partly responsible for the Germans ultimate demise. Absent from this movie's version of events are two rather significant facts that weighed heavily in the final outcome of the battle. The first is General Patton's U.S. Third Army relieving the encircled crossroads town of Bastogne, which would break the German supply line. The second being the weather greatly improved, which allowed the previously grounded (due to fog & snow) Allied air forces to attack anything that moved on the ground, and destroy or immobilize it, which they did to great effect. And it fails to mention the British Army's attacks to take pressure off the Americans and the fact that the RAF played a crucial role in destroying the German Panzers that were stranded on the roadside,with no petrol.

Apparently the producers of this movie lacked the necessary funds to show the full scope of this historic and massive battle. The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle on the Western Front.

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Movies - Battle of the Bulge

Plot summary

Historical accuracy

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