Battle of the Bulge (film)
| Battle of the Bulge | |
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Original movie poster
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| Directed by | Ken Annakin |
| Produced by |
Sidney Harmon Milton Sperling Philip Yordan Dino De Laurentiis (uncredited) |
| Written by |
Bernard Gordon John Melson Milton Sperling Philip Yordan |
| Starring |
Henry Fonda Robert Shaw Robert Ryan |
| Narrated by | William Conrad |
| Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
| Edited by | Derek Parsons |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Warner Brothers |
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Release date
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Running time
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167 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6.5 million |
| Box office | $4.5 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) |
Battle of the Bulge is a 1965 American widescreen epic war film produced in Spain, directed by Ken Annakin, and starring Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Telly Savalas, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews and Charles Bronson. The feature was filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 and exhibited in 70 mm Cinerama. Battle of the Bulge had its world premiere on December 16, 1965, the 21st anniversary of the titular battle, at the Pacific Cinerama Dome Theatre in Hollywood, California.
The filmmakers attempted to condense the Ardennes Counteroffensive, a World War II battle that stretched across parts of Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg and lasted nearly a month into under three hours. They also shot parts of the film on terrain that did not resemble actual battle locations. This left them open to criticism for lack of historical accuracy, but they claimed in the end credits that they had "re-organized" the chronological order of events to maximize the dramatic story.
Unlike most World War II epics, Battle of the Bulge contains virtually no portrayals of actual senior Allied leaders, civilian or military. This is presumably because of controversies surrounding the battle, both during the war and after. Though Allied forces ultimately won the battle, the initial German counteroffensive caught them by surprise and caused many casualties.
Military Intelligence officer and former policeman Lt. Col. Daniel Kiley (Fonda) and his pilot, Joe, are flying a reconnaissance mission over the Ardennes forest, spotting a German staff car. Under the ground in a subterranean lair, German Col. Martin Hessler (Shaw), a fictional character loosely based on SS-Standartenführer Jochen Peiper, is briefed by his superior, Gen. Kohler (Werner Peters). Kohler points out a clock with a 50-hour countdown, which is the time allotted for the operation, beyond which Germany has no resources for full-scale attack. At the same time German soldiers disguised as American troops, led by Lt. Schumacher (Ty Hardin), are tasked with seizing vital bridges and sowing confusion behind the Allied lines.
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Wikipedia