Battle of the Bulge (1965) was an Anglo-American production directed by Ken Annakin (The Longest Day). The film debuted at the Cinerama Dome Theater in Hollywood on December 16, 1965, which was the twenty first anniversary of when the battle began. Filmed in ultra Panavision 70mm, the film also boasts a cast which includes Dana Andrews (Col. Pritchard), Charles Bronson (Major Wolinski), Henry Fonda (Lt. col. Kiley), Robert Ryan (Gen. Grey), Telly Savalas (Sgt. Guffy), and Robert Shaw (Col. Hessler).
Even though the film was made with an expensive budget and tried to convey the essence of the battle and its effects on the beginning of the end of the war in Europe, the film failed to bring realism to the screen. Battle of the Bulge for me is a guilty pleasure film because it has a great cast, great battle sequences, and a great score, but the film does make me laugh at certain aspects for instance, trying to pass off the Spanish desert as the the snow covered wilderness of northern Europe, or passing off American Patton tanks painted grey like German Tiger Tanks. These were major gripes from veterans who were astounded that the filmmakers could overlook such important details.
That would be like trying to recreate George Washington’s famous crossing of the Delaware River to capture the Hessian garrison while doing so on landing craft. In those days, it was hard to film on actual battlefield locations, or try to acquire many armaments, so the production designers had to do whatever was necessary. In my opinion, they should have tried a little harder for realistic landscapes and suitable German tanks.
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