Battleground

Battleground. 1949 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, James Whitmore, Ian MacDonald
Director: William Wellman
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or part of the War Double Feature, or as part of the World War II Collection, Volume 1, and as one-fourth of TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: World War II.

Wait a second here...do you mean to tell me that someone in the old days actually made a Hollywood film about American soldiers where they're portrayed as vulnerable and not afraid to doubt themselves, or complain out loud, and they're not the kind of soldier that can't wait to get into combat, and they almost always come back as heroes?

Van Johnson and John Hodiak star as two infantrymen belonging to the 101st Airborne Division stationed in France, and they're hoping to depart on a long-awaited leave to Paris. Instead, their regiment is given orders to march to Bastogne in Belgium to hold back the advancing 47th German Panzer Corps. After some character development where we meet and learn about some of the corps, they depart for Bastogne.

Shortly after arrival, the Americans learn that the Nazis outnumber them considerably, and they have the region completely surrounded. Even as the casualties mount, and the survivors manage to capture a number of enemy soldiers, they still believe their situation to be hopeless. They still refuse to surrender, and as things seem their bleakest, reinforcements fly in. The Nazis are driven back, and the surviving Americans return to France.

Battleground won two Academy Awards (Best Cinematography and Best Writing), and is largely considered the first significant movie made about World War II after that war ended. Highly, highly recommended picture.