Saturday, March 9, 2013

Battleground (1949)


Academy Awards, USA
YearResultAwardCategory/Recipient(s)
1950 Won Oscar Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Paul Vogel
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay
Robert Pirosh
Nominated Oscar Best Actor in a Supporting Role
James Whitmore
Best Director
William A. Wellman
Best Film Editing
John D. Dunning
Best Picture
(M-G-M).

MGM
Directed by William A. Wellman
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Archetypical story of a rag-tag platoon roving the snowy countryside of France in the waning days of WWII. They end up making a "last stand" against the Germans at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. It is rather low-key and lacking in tension, preferring instead to focus on the characters. This works for awhile, but at points I was waiting for something, anything, to happen. Instead, I mostly remember the constant chattering of the false teeth of one the men, they make a sound even while he sleeps, sort of like the Three Stooges, he even can play a tune on them.

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