Historian John McManus weighs in on the accuracy of theHenry Fonda movieBattle of the Bulge. The 1965 film depicts the World War II battle of the same name that became the last major offensive by Axis forces on the Western Front.Battle of the Bulgewas directed by Ken Annakin, and Fonda’s co-stars included Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan, and Dana Andrews.The movie received only mixed reviews from critics, largely due to its historical inaccuracies.
It seems historian John McManus agrees with the critical assessment at the time. In a video forInsider, he shared his take onBattle of the Bulgeand pointed out its many inaccuracies. His full quote and the video are below:
Oh boy. Where to start? You’re portraying tank battles. Maybe you ought to get your hands on some real World War II tanks rather than post-war and sort of end-of-war Chaffees on the American side and M47 Pattons on the German side. It’s so poorly portrayed.The way the tanks are moving, the way their formations are, are so linear and just wrong on so many levels.
Well, they try to portray some of the terrain challenges here, the cold, the wet, the trees, and forests, and some of the mud, but even that doesn’t quite look right. When you know the Ardennes Forest, where a lot of the Battle of the Bulge was fought,trees are spaced out a little too far rather than being fir forestswhich would be quite limiting to vehicles. The infantry is really quite vulnerable in these sort of ditches that they’re in.
Tank ramming is pretty rare, and for the Germans, it really makes no sense because you don’t want to be close to the Americans, you want to use your gunnery advantage, and you want to nail them at distance because you’ve got heavier guns, more armor.
You could hide from a tank because the line of vision from a tank was not very good for the driver. It’s basically like a vision block that you’ve got in front of you, so you didn’t have too much peripheral vision, so anything that you had rolled past, you probably weren’t going to see. That’s why it was really important to have a lot of infantry support on the ground who could act as your sort of eyes and ears.Why aren’t there any German infantry with the tanks?There’s that too. Then it looks so inauthentic.I’m going to give it a 3 out of 10. I’ll admit, this movie overall is a really bad film, so maybe that colors my bias a little bit here.
What The Historian’s Take On Battle Of The Bulge Means For Its Legacy
John McManus Echos Past Criticisms Of The Movie
McManus is not alone in his harsh take onBattle of the Bulge. Even back in 1965, critics were quick to point out its historical inaccuracies, withThe New York Timesreviewer Bosley Crowther calling the movie “offensive” and “a cruel deception” compared to what actually happened during the battle. Some of the other critiques of the film are in line with what McManus says as well – for example, it makes sense that the location doesn’t look right, asthe movie was shot in both Madrid and the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain rangerather than the Ardennes Forest.
It doesn’t help the movie’s legacy that theBattle of the Bulge was depicted far more accurately inBand of Brothers. The 2001 miniseries took great care in its portrayal of the battle and has been celebrated for how much it gets right.
Our Take On The Battle Of The Bulge Criticisms
Time Hasn’t Been Kind To The Battle Of The Bulge Movie
When assessing a movie that, at this point, is nearly 60 years old,I think it’s worth keeping in mind the limits of filmmaking at the time. For example,Band of Brothersfilmed the Battle of the Bulge scenes indoors, recreating the Ardennes Forest using a mix of real and artificial trees to get the look exactly right. That would not have been an option for a movie made in 1965 when both budgets and filmmaking techniques were more limited.
Still,I think McManus is fair in his criticisms– one or two inaccuracies could maybe be forgiven with time, but the sheer number inBattle of the Bulgeis surprising. It’s also worth remembering that the same critics who spoke out againstBattle of the Bulge’s inaccuracies when the movie was released were well aware of the filmmaking limits at the time and still didn’t hold back in their criticisms.Battle of the Bulge’s creative team may have had good intentions, but it’s clear they failed to deliver a historically accurate film.
Battle of the Bulge
Cast
Battle of the Bulge: Released in 1965, this war film depicts the historic 1944 conflict where Allied forces face a surprise German offensive in the Ardennes. The film focuses on the tactical battle that unfolds as Hitler attempts to disrupt the Allies' plans by targeting Antwerp.
