The Final Battle (1965)

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Movie
German title the last fight
Original title Battle of the Bulge
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1965
length 167 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Ken Annakin
script Philip Yordan
John Melson
Milton Sparrow
production Milton Sparrow
Philip Yordan
music Benjamin Frankel
camera Jack Hildyard
occupation

The last battle (alternative title: Panzerschlacht in den Ardennen, original title: Battle of the Bulge ) is an American war film by Ken Annakin from 1965 with Henry Fonda and Robert Shaw in the leading roles.

action

Winter 1944. World War II seems to be nearing its end and American soldiers are hoping to be home for Christmas. But the assumption turns out to be wrong, because the German Reich has not yet given up and is preparing a major offensive in the Ardennes with strong armored and infantry units. The Germans first manage to break through the opposing lines. The Americans, taken by surprise, are on the retreat and find it difficult to organize the defense of a few smaller towns and villages. This leads to the successful crossing of an intact bridge that was previously secured by German paratroopers (in GI uniforms). But soon there were problems with the fuel supply on the German side and the advance gradually came to a standstill. However, since the Germans have no reserves, they are dependent on the enemy's supplies. The fanatical Colonel Hessler therefore made the decision to conquer an enemy fuel depot with a few still roadworthy tanks and thus continue the attack.

Reviews

“Extra-long, technically perfect battle report full of historical and technical war inaccuracies, enriched with clichéd plot elements. Isolated critical accents are unable to cover up the basic militaristic attitude. "

- Lexicon of international film

"The German Ardennes offensive [...] in American selection and freely based on historical events. Above average only in length, equipment and colors, otherwise full of clichés and improbabilities. Superfluous."

- Protestant film observer

background

  • The Warner Bros. film was shot on Ultra Panavision .
  • The outdoor shots were shot in the Sierra de Guadarrama , other parts of the film were shot in Madrid .
  • Only US vehicles were used for the tank scenes: the German King Tigers were represented by M47 tanks, the American M4 Sherman by upgraded light tanks of the M24 Chaffee type .
  • With the exception of the roles of Robert Shaw and Ty Hardin , the German characters were played by Germans.
  • The German tank commander Meinrad von Lauchert , who himself took part in the Battle of the Bulge, was involved in the production as a technical advisor.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower , Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in Northwest Europe during World War II , criticized the film as historically incorrect at a press conference.
  • In the original German version, the shooting of American prisoners of war (“ Malmedy Massacre ”) and the storylines based on it were not shown. These have since been re-synchronized (as of 2014) and integrated into the current DVD versions of the film.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The final battle. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband Munich, Review No. 183/1966, p. 351
  3. ↑ Benjamin Maack: What is being played here? Errors in historical films. In: einestages.spiegel.de. Retrieved May 21, 2017 .