Battleground (film)

Battleground
Battleground
	Official film poster
Directed by	William A. Wellman
Written by	Robert Pirosh
Produced by	Dore Schary
Starring	Van Johnson; John Hodiak; Ricardo Montalbán; George Murphy;
Cinematography	Paul C. Vogel
Edited by	John D. Dunning
Music by	Lennie Hayton
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	November 9, 1949 (Washington D.C., premiere);
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,631,000
Box office	$6,269,000 (worldwide rentals)

Battleground is a 1949 American war film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalbán, George Murphy, and James Whitmore. It follows a fictional company of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division as they fight in the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, in World War II. The screenplay was written by Robert Pirosh, based on his own experiences during the battle.

The film portrays American soldiers as vulnerable and human. While they remain steadfast and courageous, each soldier has at least one moment in the film when he seriously considers running away, schemes to get sent back from the front line, slacks off, or complains about the situation he is in. One writer – discarding Warner's successful Fighter Squadron of 1948 – describes Battleground as the first significant American film about World War II to be made and released after the end of the war.^[3]

Battleground premiered in Washington, D.C. on November 9, 1949, and was distributed in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. A widespread critical and commercial success, the film won Best Story and Screenplay (Pirosh) and Best Cinematography – Black-and-White (Paul C. Vogel) at the 22nd Academy Awards, out of six total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Wellman. James Whitmore, for his second-ever film role, was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe Award for his performance.

The film was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2001 list AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills.^[4]

^ ^a ^b Glancy, H. Mark (1992). The Eddie Mannix Ledger. Vol. 12. Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. pp. 127–144. doi:10.1080/01439689200260081. ISBN 978-1-4391-0791-1. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
^ Eyman, Scott (2005). Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer. Simon & Schuster. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-7432-6917-9.
^ "War and Anti-War Film". Filmsite.org.
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Mannix-1] Glancy, H. Mark (1992). The Eddie Mannix Ledger. Vol. 12. Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. pp. 127–144. doi:10.1080/01439689200260081. ISBN 978-1-4391-0791-1. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)

[scott-2] Eyman, Scott (2005). Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer. Simon & Schuster. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-7432-6917-9.

[3] "War and Anti-War Film". Filmsite.org.

[:0-4] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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Battleground (film)

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