1,752
edits
Changes
no edit summary
==Background to the battle==
The film opens with a narrator setting the scene but there are some inaccuracies in the narration. The narrator claims that the British Field Marshal Montgomery was stationed to the north of the Ardennes with his 8th army. This was not correct as the 8th army was in Italy in December 1944<ref> Shaw, Antony. World War II Day by Day, (Osceola: MBI Pub. Co, 2001), p. 156</ref>. The narrator also fails to mention that General Omar Bradley was in overall command of the US army group involved in the Battle of the Bulge. Despite this, perhaps the most accurate part of the movie are the early scenes. It successfully shows the atmosphere among the Germans and the Americans. The motion picture shows the Americans to be confident and complacent and believe that the war was already won. This was typical of the time and after all, they were now positioned on the border of Germany and the Third Reich seemed about to fall any day. In one scene General Grey, played by Henry Fonda is more interested in getting the G.I.s their Christmas dinner than preparing for any German attack. The movie captures very well how this complacency led to an intelligence failure. In several scenes in the movie before the offensive, American intelligence is shown as indicating that there would be a German offensive. The warnings are all ignored in the movie and this was also the case in 1944. The screenplay gives a very accurate portrayal of the Germans and their concerns prior to the Ardennes Offensive. One of the preoccupations of the Nazi Generals was the need to secure oil. They were very concerned that the offensive could grind to a halt because of a shortage of oil. It also shows many of the German Generals simply not believing that the offensive could achieve the goals set by Hitler. Publicly they agreed with the offensive but in private they knew that it was doomed, except for some hard line and fanatical SS generals. There was only a narrow window of opportunity for the Germans to inflict a decisive defeat on the allies and this is shown in one of the more memorable scenes. Colonel Joachim Peiper is briefed by his commanding officer and he states that Germany had only 50-hour to win the battle because they lacked resources such as men and oil. The reliance of the Germans on their ‘wonder weapons’ is also very well shown in the movie. Hitler believed that the massive Tiger Tanks and the V1 and V2 rockets could turn the tide of the war in Nazi Germany’s favor<ref> Parker, Danny S, The Battle of the Bulge, The German View: Perspectives from Hitler's High Command (London, Pelican, 1999), p. 13</ref>: This confidence was proved to be misplaced and this was evident in the outcome of the Battle of the Bulge, which was a resounding American victory.
[[File: Bulge 2.jpg|200px|thumb|left| American POWs with their German captors (1944)]]
== The Setting of the Battle==
While the opening scenes may be reasonably accurate not much else of the movie can be called historical. One of the main problems with the movie was that it was filmed in Spain. The terrain and geography of that country are not like the Ardennes region. The battle took place in often densely forested and hilly terrain<ref> Parker, Danny S, Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, 1944–1945 (Da Capo Press, NY, 2002), p. 157</ref>. The terrain shown in the movie was not really like the battlefield and this is a major weakness in the movie. At the time, it was noted by many movie critics and this glaring inaccuracy infuriated many veterans of the battle. Then there is the weather in the movie. This was very important in the battle and it directly impacted on its outcome. The initial success of the German advance is shown in the motion picture to be a result of their daring use of tanks. In fact, it was due to the weather. Snow storms kept the American P-45 and other planes grounded and this allowed the German Panzers to advance rapidly. When the weather changed the American air force attacked the German Panther and Tiger tanks and destroyed many<ref>Shaw, p 119</ref>. The weather in the movie does not really reflect the wintry conditions of the battle. There is snow shown but the actual battlefields of the Ardennes were covered deep in snow. Because the movie was shot in Spain, with its Mediterranean climate the wintry battlefields of the Ardennes offensive is not captured.
[[File: 1024px-Battle of the Bulge.jpg|200px|thumb|left|American G.I.s fighting in the Ardennes, 1944]]
