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. Martin hessler, who is in a german staff car below. Certainly not a documentary, this film travels pretty far from the actual historical recountings of the famed battle. The eighth army, montgomerys previous command, was actually in italy at the time of the battle of the bulge. Eisenhower came out of retirement and held a press conference just to denounce the film. This crucial part of pattons story is not presented in the movie. The movie itself portrays the fight between the us and germans in 1944. Panzerlied with subtitles the german tank song on vimeo. But a great deal of his persona was presented from a most unflattering light mainly due to the book written that the movie. Battle of the bulge is an american classic war movie, it was made in spain and hit the screens in 1965. On the anniversary of the start of nazi germanys last gasp attack at the battle of the bulge, explore eight surprising facts about the fight winston churchill called undoubtedly the greatest. How accurate was the movie patton in portraying general. Til that the 1964 war movie the battle of the bulge was so historically inaccurate that president dwight d. With sean connery, ryan oneal, michael caine, laurence olivier.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. The battle of the bulge was so historically inaccurate. Movie battle of the bulge page 3 axis history forum. Battle of the bulge 10 historically inaccurate movies. The location of the battle was in ardennes forest in belgium. It was launched through the densely forested ardennes region of wallonia in eastern belgium, northeast france, and luxembourg, towards the end of the war in europe. Or perhaps you know where the producers of battle of the bulge could have found a mass of konigstiger tanks and sd. The general led his units in a counterattack that was pivotal in driving the german counterattack back. Arnold 7 times a blooddimmed tide by gerald astor 7 times.
One of the most important battles in the second world war was the battle of the bulge. In fact my father was shot in his krations during the bulge by a nazi, survived the attack, killed the nazi. In fact, the movie was not only inaccurate at times but it was completely wrong. The bulge seen on the map was the location where the germans attacked. The movie is the 1965 hollywood film battle of the bulge. As well as telling reallife events, the drama series also went behind the mentality of the. Jun 07, 2011 the movie itself portrays the fight between the us and germans in 1944.
Colonel daniel kiley, a maverick american intelligence officer whose warnings of an impending largescale german attack are ignored by army brass. The role of patton in the battle is not exaggerated, and he played a. It was named as the battle of the bulge because there was a bulge on the map of the allied army front. Given the scale of the movie, the lack of overview is a missed opportunity. I have a collection of the movie in 3 video formats, like vhs, vcd and dvd.
I think we can all agree that a hugh amount of people are exposed to movies everyday and i shudder at the thought of the percentage who take them. It gives a false impression of the ardennes campaign and the key characters involved in it. How historically accurate is the movie the battle of the. How historically accurate is the movie a bridge too far. The stubborn resistance of the american soldiers at the battle of elsenborn ridge december 16, 1944 bought enough time for the first us army to organize itself and it was was the only sector of the us front lines during the battle of the bulge where the germans failed to advance. Originally posted by cdnbear thats the show that spawned my interest. Colonel daniel kiley henry fonda is an american reconnaissance expert who believes he has evidence that. The movie had a huge budget and is visually spectacular.
The feature was filmed in ultra panavision 70 and exhibited in 70 mm cinerama. In fact, there is little if any snow in most of the scenes, even though the battle was fought during horrible cold. The allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the netherlands in the hope of breaking the german lines. In the winter of 1944, the allied armies stand ready to invade germany at the coming of a new year. That is the end of its historical accuracy, even the name is utterly wrong because the battle of the bulge was really the pattonmonty offensive that took place after the german offensive had created the bulge, which is not really covered in the movie.
Errors in movie battle of the bulge henry fonda version. The battle of the bulge was a surprise german offensive that took place between trier and monschau in late 1944 to early 1945. Henry fonda gives a solid performance as usual and telly savalas plays a funlovable character. Battle of the bulge 1965 movie mistakes, goofs and bloopers. The key moments of easy companys war story was shared in the 2001 hbo tv mini series, band of brothers. Director dome karukoski explains how he balanced reality with the imaginary in telling the reallife story behind. The battle of the bulge, also known as the ardennes counteroffensive, was the last major german offensive campaign on the western front during world war ii, and took place from 16 december 1944 to 25 january 1945. The film is based on a true events, taking place on christmas 1944, army lt.
The name battle of the bulge was appropriated from winston churchills optimistic description, in may 1940, of the resistance that he mistakenly supposed was being offered to the germans breakthrough in that area just before the anglofrench collapse. Peiper survived the battle and the war and although he was initially sentenced to death for his part in the malmedy massacre his sentence was commuted. Alan cummings character really did dress the female tennis players for the virginia slims tennis circuit. Til that the 1964 war movie the battle of the bulge. Battle between fact and fiction in lord of the rings biopic. Also known as the ardennes campaign of world war ii, this was adolf hitlers last counteroffensive in the west, an attempt to break the allied lines at the ardennes forest, drive a wedge between the american and british armies, capture the belgian port of antwerp, disrupt logistics, trap allied forces, and perhaps achieve a negotiated peace in the west. This movie is a fictitious account of the last major offensive operation by the germans in wwii. Made in 1965, the battle of the bulge is a warner bros. The role of patton in the battle is not exaggerated, and he played a significant role in the american victory. Aside from obvious inaccuracies about tanks and equipment used on both sides the distinctive american m47 patton was used to represent the german king tiger tanks, the movies depiction of combat is also highly inaccurate. The battle of the bulge was primarily a tank battle, and historians find the tanks in the movie laughably inaccurate.
Battle of the bulge 1965 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Movie battle of the bulge page 2 axis history forum. I had never actually thought the church was involved, but their insinuation that the church feared the rise of communism, combined with the physical evidence involving the church, makes their participation very plausible, if not out right fact. Jan 30, 2020 the battle of the bulge was a surprise german offensive that took place between trier and monschau in late 1944 to early 1945. Most hollywood movies based on historical subjects are inaccurate but the battle of the bulge is particularly inaccurate. Overview of battle of the bulge, 1965, directed by ken annakin, with henry fonda, robert shaw, robert ryan, at turner classic movies. Battle of the bulge is exciting, but has a bulge of bad. Jan, 2009 the brief battle scene and medic eugene roes played by shane taylor participation in it, in band of brothers episode 7 the breaking point. Historian lawrence suid has said that the films action bears little more than a remote resemblance to the real event source. Battle of the bulge is a 1965 film about the last ditch nazi offensive of world war ii. Robert cappa and his platoon of 2nd infantry division soldiers have been ordered to hold a vital road junction against. The nazis attacked us my father, a firsthand witness during the bulge, told me the following. The battle of the bulge was one of pattons and indeed the american armys finest hours. Attenborough was committed to making the movie as accurate as possible.
The starring cast included charles bronson, telly savalas, henry fonda, robert shaw, dana andrews, and robert ryan. A dramatization of nazi germanys final western front counterattack of world war ii. In fact, montgomerys northern command was actually the 21st army group. Daniel kiley is in a scout plane and flies over col. The battle of the bulge took place in december 1944, after adolf hitler launched a surprise blitzkrieg against allied forces in northwest europe. Battle of the bulge had its world premiere on december 16, 1965, the 21st anniversary of the titular battle. Battle of the bulge is a 1965 war movie about the famous world war ii battle of the same name, directed by ken annakin henry fonda as lt.
Peiper was a ruthless but extremely effective officer who had learnt his trade in death on the russian front. It is an epic war movie, with a cast of thousands, but the focus never moves beyond a single division. The world premiere of the movie was in hollywood, ca, at the pacific cinerama dome theatre. Right there is a reason history buffs as myself and others such as rod get annoyed at pseudohistorical movies such as pearl harbor,battle of the bulgewhich i still think is a great movieto name a couple which portray events just a bit cockeyed. Mar 10, 2012 in fact, montgomerys northern command was actually the 21st army group. To prevent this occurrence, hitler orders an all out offensive to.
Translated lyrics taken from wikipedia, see for information. The panzerlied piece from the movie battle of the bulge. The movie a bridge too far was based on the non fiction book of the same name written by the journalist cornelius ryan. In addition to being unlike the real tiger and sherman tanks used in battle, the newer korean warera tanks employed arent even the appropriate color. Although patton was in charge of 3rd army during the battle, this army was part of a much larger american force in the south. I dont expect 100% accuracy from hollywood or pinewood, or babelsberg, or whatever other studio is behind a film, but having all those resources at hand, just 20 years after the events, and producing a piece of shit is an affront.
Ive long thought that it was a very plausible operationgroup. Battle of the bulge books tagged battle of the bulge. Battle of the bulge, a 2012 ios historical wargame this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title battle of the bulge. Designer ted tinling did indeed design kings dress for battle of the sexes. Youre responsible for the battle of the bulge has to happen in december 1944, you. The brief battle scene and medic eugene roes played by shane taylor participation in it, in band of brothers episode 7 the breaking point. The 1977 motion picture was directed by richard attenborough, a former british movie star. The real story behind the band of brothers is nothing short. Robert shaws character is based on kampfgruppe jochim peiper of 1st ss leibstandart adolph hitler, panzer division. Fiction, watch the 50 minute screenwriters roundtable with clooney, delpy, cuaron, ridley and more. Certain facts are there like his name, that he was male, had two legs and was a general officer in wwii. Battle of the bulge 1965 i never thought battle of the bulge was a bad movie until i rewatched it with a more critical eye. With henry fonda, robert shaw, robert ryan, dana andrews. The 7th armored division in the battle of the bulge book.
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