Eisenhower Came Out of Retirement to Denounce the Movie “Battle of the Bulge”

War History Online ^ | 29jul19 | Matthew Gaskill

[SoCal Pubbie]

It’s a common misconception that German tanks had Diesel engines. The Panzer IV, Panther, and Tiger tanks all had Maybach gasoline engines. The Soviet T-34 was diesel powered. That’s why most Shermans sent to the USSR were the M4A2 variant, as they had GM Diesel engines.

[hardspunned]

Henry Fonda, enough said. Garbage movie.

[centurion316]

The reenactments began while the battle was still being fought. Most people have seen footage of so called combat action of Germans attacking elements of a U.S. anti tank battalion belonging to the 14th Cavalry Group. The problem is that the film was made the day after the battle using real German soldiers and the destroyed American vehicles. Portions of this footage starts at 4:50 minutes into the film. No animals or German soldiers were harmed during the filming of that scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZgTo8xR_Ic

[wally_bert]

I miss the good years of the History Channel.

[wally_bert]

Never cared for him that much.

He was in a good ABC movie of the week, The Alpha Caper.

[StoneRainbow68]

-—Hollywood can’t even kill someone properly.
People aren’t launched through the air 6 feet when hit by a bullet. Sometime they don’t even know they’ve been hit and sometimes they just go limp. More than once I heard, “Where’s this blood coming from?”——

Right, because the bullet is moving so fast it often doesn’t transfer any of its kinetic energy to the body on the way through. How a body reacts depends on whether the bullet stays in the body, or what kind of tissue it hits on the way through, or how big the exit wound is.

I’ve had countless arguments with Oliver Stone -type JFK conspiracy people, who have absolutely no idea how a human body should behave when hit by a bullet.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

An OK war movie but NOT about the Battle OF The Bulge. In the end titles they even have a disclaimer stating they have”synthesized” certain scenes for dramatic purposes. how about 95% of the movie..

The movie runs almost three hours. When I saw it at the theater back in 1965, it ran just over 2:15 hrs with lots of scenes in the trailer deleted. That is so theaters can get more showings in a night, instead of just two showings.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Same for IS PARIS BURNING?

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

****Often times the soldiers in mid-fighting or going up the hill would stare at the camera. They had to be told to do that! That’s what normal soldiers would do!***

“DON’T LOOK AT THE CAMERA! DON’T LOOK AT THE CAMERA!”—Scene from APOCALYPSE NOW.

[xkaydet65]

I tend to agree. Actually Battle of the Bulge made a serious effort to get the sense of the equipment . They showed the difference between the TigerII and the Sherman by using M47s as Tigers and M24 Chafees as Shermans. It gave a good idea of the difference . The camouflage paint on the Chafees was ridiculous. OD 33 was the normal paint job for US vehicles. One fact I remember in the flick is a scene where some German pridiners have been taken and Fknda is examining their weapons and a very modern looking rifle is examined. I was in HS and had no idea what it was. Turns out it was a Stug44. That weapon armed many in the Volksgrenadier divisions.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***The rifles were trapdoor Springfields with hammer attachments to make them look like flintlock hammers.***

Like many others, I can spot a Springfield in a 1960s movie easily. Made to look like a Flintlock, or used as a muzzle loader. It’s fun to see what they can come up with.

Going back farther to WWII, I remember seeing those evil Japs in movies carrying 1898 Krag rifles, and I believe Carry Grant’s crew in DESTINATION TOKYO was using lever action Winchesters when they were put ashore.

If you really want to see a rifle change, watch the old Jeffery Hunter movie SAILOR OF THE KING. He escapes with a German rifle, but when he fires on the ship, he has a British Enfield. Several of the Germans are also carrying Enfields.

Yet, most people never notice. After all, That’s Entertainment!

[PAR35]

There is some information about the German terrorist attacks against the western occupiers, very little out there about attacks against the Russians.

This source might have some helpful information

Ziemke, Earl F.
The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Germany 1944-1946.
Center for Military History, United States Army; Washington, D.C.; 1975

[Political Junkie Too]

I loved the movie as a kid, but then, I'm a big war movie fan.

I had no idea at the time how accurate the movie was. As a kid, I didn't really care. As I got older, I stopped relying on movies for a factual source.

-PJ

[Wpin]

The movie is very entertaining...getting your panties all scrunched up over a movie is pretty lame...

[Mr. Jeeves]

I think maybe “The Horst Wessel Song” with updated lyrics...to become “The Jussie Smollett Song.” :)

[hanamizu]

I was born just a year after the end of WWII. I was among the first of the Baby Boomers.

---

Then we are pretty much the same age. Every adult, of course, knew all about the war and most were quite happy to have it behind them. But for me, the TV series Victory at Sea taught me a lot about the war, even though it was pretty much focused on the Navy’s role (as might be expected by the title). What made the series different from much of what was made later was the assumption that the audience was familiar with the war and didn’t have to be introduced to concepts such as ‘Zero’ or ‘Guadalcanal’ or ‘Normandy’.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Thank you very much!

I will read that.

[Victor]

Ping for later watching

[elteemike]

Did Robert Shaw ever turn in anything less than stellar performance? I’m not aware of any...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBn0fjHssC0

[Williams]

BOB has a lot of stars, including Henry Fonda, Telly Savalas, Robert Shaw, even Charles Bronson. It’s an inaccurate film but a lot of fun to watch. After reading a very well researched book on WWII, I realized the general story of the film is kinda sorta correct. Having first watched it as a kid, I remember just about all of its scenes.