Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Acting
Van Johnson shatters his pretty-boy image permanently.
Direction
Wellman fought MGM executives to keep it bleak.
Production
Shot in 40-degree California 'winter'—actors suffered for real.
Director
William A. Wellman
Van Johnson
Holley
John Hodiak
Jarvess
Ricardo Montalban
Roderigues
George Murphy
'Pop' Stazak
Marshall Thompson
Jim Layton
Jerome Courtland
Abner Spudler
Don Taylor
Standiferd
Bruce Cowling
Wolowicz
James Whitmore
Kinnie
Douglas Fowley
'Kipp' Kippton
Leon Ames
The Chaplain
Herbert Anderson
Hansan
Denise Darcel
Denise
Richard Jaeckel
Bettis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released when WWII nostalgia hadn't been invented yet; audiences were exhausted, not nostalgic. It bombed financially then won Oscars.
The 'nuts!' reply to German surrender demands—referenced in dialogue—became a 101st legend; the film helped cement it in popular memory before it was widely known.
US
