Changes

The ‘Battle of the Bulge’ is an enduringly popular American war movie. The director of the movie was Ken Annakin and it was released on the 21st anniversary of the battle in 1965. The original screenplay was based on the work of John Melson, but his original work was rewritten by other screenwriters. The movie was produced by the legendary Hollywood mogul Jack Warner Jr and he refused to hire several directors initially because he only wanted someone whom he could control. The Battle of the Bulge was filmed in Spain and had the support of the government of the dictator Franco. In many ways, the motion picture was a typical Hollywood epic with an all-star cast. Among the stars in the Battle of the Bulge are Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Henry Fond, Robert Shaw, George Montgomery, and Robert Ryan. The movie was premiered with typical Tinseltown glitz and glamor at the Pacific Cinerama Dome Theatre in Hollywood, CA. In the movie, the director tried to squeeze a series of battles that took place over three weeks into three hours and tried to give both the German and the American perspective <ref> Whiteclay, John and Culbert, David. World War II, Film, and History (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 156</ref>. The motion picture focuses on one German SS panzer unit and an American division. The movie is based on the Ardennes Offensive or the Battle of the Bulge. This was an attempt by the Germans to seize the Ardennes region in Belgium and then to capture the Port of Antwerp. This was to cut the Allied forces in two and Hitler hoped this would force the Americans and British to negotiate. The Germans did make rapid gains and inflicted heavy casualties on the Americans but the US army fought back and eventually drove the Nazis back into Germany. This was the last German offensive of the war. The movie was controversial at the time and since because it was claimed to be historically inaccurate. This article will discuss how accurate the movie the Battle of the Bulge isfrom a historical perspective.