Poseidon-3 Review of Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge (1965)

Bulging with inaccuracies, but moderately entertaining nonetheless.

[26 December 2007]

Presented in Cinerama, this epic war film has the proper scope with which to detail the pivotal battle of its title, but, unfortunately, it muddles quite a bit with history and also manages to come across as dull for certain stretches of time, despite a heavy-duty cast. In this fictionalized account, Fonda flies on reconnaissance and spots German Colonel Shaw, causing him to believe that Shaw is about to stage a major tank offensive. This is something his superiors Ryan and, especially, Andrews, disbelieve. Eventually, Fonda is proved correct when Shaw, utilizing an assemblage of unseasoned and very young soldiers, unleashes the might of a secret tank force on a largely unprepared American contingent. In the meantime, various U.S. soldiers experience their own trials and tribulations with Savalas operating a black market supply business with his lover Angeli, Montgomery and MacArthur risking capture on a ground mission and Bronson tangling with various folks over the handling of his men. In a preposterous move, western star Hardin is cast as a Nazi agent posing as a United States Military Policeman! Fonda has a few decent moments, Ryan even fewer and Andrews is saddled with a silly, cheap-looking moustache as he essays his rather prissy part. The bulk of the acting honors go to Shaw who manages to create a multi-dimensional and captivating character. He also looks very good, re-displaying his "From Russia With Love" blonde hair. Angeli has one scene and attempts to inject some heart into it while Werle has only one as well as a knowing prostitute hired for Shaw. Montgomery and Bronson aren't given enough to do in order to shine. This film strives to be momentous and important, with bombastic music and panoramic vistas, but only succeeds in part because of a banality in the scripting and some questionable plotting in contrast to the actual events (not to mention the use of equipment and tanks which are anachronistic and which have rankled more than a few viewers over the years – many uninitiated viewers will not be able to distinguish a lot of this, however.) It's not a bad movie, but it's a pretty forgettable one except for the committed work of Shaw and a few vignettes that linger in the memory.