Battle Circus

source: Battle Circus

. . . shot during the third year of the now 75-year-long Korean War. (I've heard of The Hundred Years War, but this Korean Conflict is on track to break that record by the time members of the Millennial Generation become great-grandparents.) BATTLE CIRCUS star Humphrey Bogart's "Major Jed" character says something about War and Futility. Maybe the Korean War being on target to out-live "Bogie" by a century illustrates this point. Therefore, it's another triumph of American Ingenuity that the U.S. decided to make these endless wars more fun, starting with Korea. BATTLE CIRCUS documents how the M*A*S*H units were set up as a three-ring circus version of The Dating Game, with six hot nurses vying for each available surgeon. The losing nurses are shown spending most of their time lighting cigarettes for wounded G.I.s, though they occasionally disarm grenade-wielding P.O.W.s for excitement. Soon the TV follow-up to BATTLE CIRCUS came along. Then TOP GUN, the high stakes video game of the air, hit the big screens. After which BATTLESHIP brought board game authenticity to the high seas. And who can forget AMER1CAN SNIPER (still playing in theaters), showing us how "Legends" are born? Since 1950, in the Carnival of Life, America has replaced Germany as the host of one big BATTLE CIRCUS!

This 1953 movie by MGM was filmed in the U.S. and hit theaters while the Korean War (then called a "police action" or conflict) was still going on. It was a precursor of the 1970 movie, M.A.S.H., and the long- running and highly popular TV series by the same name. It's only natural to compare the two films, and to compare them with the TV series that began 15 years after "Battle Circus." The TV series ran from 1972 through 1983 and was one of my all-time favorites. Some reviewers have commented on the more witty dialog in the later film and series, but I wonder how much of that might have been due to the change in our culture in the almost 20 years since the end of the Korean War. I wasn't aware of this earlier film about a MASH unit until recent years. But, viewing it now gives a good perspective on that time and the experiences of the MASH units and personnel. In WW II Europe, my dad was a medic who then became a medical officer. He served in Japan and then stateside during the Korean War. The medical corps officers who were not doctors in those days were the ones in charge of the rest of the work to keep the medical services going - administration, supply, transport, meals, moving and setting up, etc. "Battle Circus" shows what all the support people did, and gives us an excellent picture of the work that went into the mobility of the MASH units. So, for that aspect alone, this film tops the later movie and series in its realism. As to the match of Bogart and Allyson for a romantic touch, I ask, why not? Bogie's character had the rank of major, so he would likely have been an MD who stayed in the service - active or reserves - after WW II. It seems to me in real life that there have been some famous couples with considerable age differences. And during war, might not a young green nurse fall for an older doctor in the service? I think that's just another touch of reality for this film. Sometimes, matches other than the usual Hollywood fare, might be best or more real. I think this one was right on target. When viewing a film, I try to get into the movie before me with no preconceptions, and without a Hollywood-influenced agenda of what the proper match should be for a film romance. That lets me best consider the actors for their performances and how their roles fit in the story. The acting, script, cinematography and scenery chosen for this film were all very good. As one of the very few films that have shown medical care in modern war, "Battle Circus" scores an A for its historical value alone.

This appears to be more a demonstration of how MASH units work than in actually putting together a movie. Bogart is the only one who gives this film any life even though he seems to feel his time is being wasted, which it is. June Allyson is cute, but with a script this lame even cute can't go very far. Keenan Wynn as an army grunt spends his time raising and lowering tents and smuggling booze but his handlebar mustache is the most interesting thing about his role. It starts out with Bogart in a MASH unit clearly trying to hide his alcohol abuse which gets him in trouble, and then along comes June Allyson as a new nurse. He moves in on her in a way that would get him kicked out of today's army and then the movie gets more and more pointless with a completely predictable ending.

"Battle Circus" is interesting to compare to the TV series M*A*S*H. On TV, the camp of the medicos was a little too clean, and the doctors, especially Hawkeye, were always a little too ready with a joke. The one-liners never stopped at the 4077th, and there were few characters, especially in the last few years, who were not ever-ready to spew out endless dreary puns galore. Battle Circus is interesting in that it shows, I imagine, a more sober and realistic view of life in a MASH unit. Because they are located near the ever shifting front of the Korean conflict, the MASH must constantly move with it. This brings out the greatest strength of this film: a large number of scenes in this movie are dedicated to showing the teamwork and bee-hive like energy of the grunts of the unit, taking tents down, putting tents up, moving the hospital here, then to there, often through or frighteningly near enemy fire, all the while dedicated to keeping their patients alive. The many minutes of film spent on these thankless and glory-less activities increases our appreciation of the realities of the soldiers' daily routine. Here, there are few luxuries (unlike on the TV MASH, where many of the characters seem to have as many possessions as the Howells did on Gilligan's Island). Conditions in the personal tents of the characters are especially Spartan. Bogie's only possession seems to be a bottle of Scotch. When there is no time to bring everything with them, the soldiers burn whatever they must leave behind. Again, the starkness of existence suggests to this viewer a wonder that not all of the MASH members didn't go insane on a regular basis. Now I am not a June Allyson fan, and while the romance between Bogie and her is not all that interesting or convincing, it is not a complete waste of film either. I don't believe I have ever seen Humphrey Bogart smile and laugh and be so un-pessimistic in a film before, and this is quite entertaining (Bogie even falls in the mud, losing his dignity, and laughs about it with June Allyson! Yikes!). There is no such thing as useless celluloid when Bogie is on screen. However, these episodes of light-hearted Bogie are surrounded by plenty of periods of brooding and cynical Bogie, so he is not completely out of character. Robert Keith's colonel with the high-pitched voice complements Bogie's doctor very nicely in their scenes together. Keenan Wynn is also a terrific surprise; I usually find his raspy voice and abrasive characters unpleasant, but here he plays perhaps the most likable character (a can-do sergeant) in the whole film. His affection for a wounded Korean boy has the potential to be hokey, but he pulls it off very nicely. One more MASH comparison. Bogie's character, like Hawkeye Pierce, is a woman-chaser and a man who wants no more authority than necessary, as well as a first rate surgeon. But unlike Hawkeye, who is afraid of guns, Humphrey Bogart is as willing to pick up a rifle and fire at the enemy as he is top pick up a scalpel. A real man's man. Don't expect Gone With the Wind, and you will find this a quite interesting and quirky little war film.

Battle Circus (1953) ** (out of 4) MGM drama about a MASH unit in Korea and a doctor (Humphrey Bogart) who falls for a new nurse (June Allyson). This is a pretty strange film that didn't quite work with me and I think a lot of that is due to the rather poor screenplay that never knows what it's trying to be. It starts off as a war drama then moves into a romantic comedy and then at the end tries to turn into something else. The moods of the film are constantly changing to the point where you don't know what or how you're suppose to be feeling. Bogart was an interesting choice for the role here because he's having to put on the charm from scene one until the end. Many have found his performance bad here but I thought he handled it pretty well. The sweet talk stuff doesn't sound right coming from someone like Bogart but that's why I found it charming. Allyson isn't nearly as strong in her role but she's adorable enough. Bogart and her do a nice job together, although I had a hard time believing he'd actually fall so hard for her. I've read several comments that have attacked the film and Bogart's character because he's pretty much sexually harassing the woman throughout the movie. Even when she wants nothing to do with him he still uses his power as a doctor to touch her and so on. I personally didn't take this stuff that serious as I don't think it was meant to be seen as any sort of harassment. In the end, the film doesn't work and turns out to be one of the legendary star's lesser films.

The black and white photography, camera angles and editing of Battle Circus are top rate adding verisimilitude to an unusual story about medics during the Korean War. The dialog between Bogie and June is hard-boiled and cheesy and quite wonderful. It is entertaining to see a big-hearted 1950's female character (Allyson) deflecting an in-your-face, unapologetic wolf (Bogart) without need of feminist presumption, sexual harassment law and political correctness cops. With their distinct, defining and appealing faces and voices, both leads make the film's romance seem some what logical within the logic of 1950's Hollywood. It sure is fun watching them. And so too is a terrific Keenan Wynn and the mechanics and team work required to set up MASH units in a war zone. In the film, the tented hospitals were set up, taken down and hauled off and set up again by men and women who were clearly experienced in the service. The surgery tents and medical sequences in Battle Circus are sanitized compared to what one sees on television these days and what was depicted in the TV series M.A.S.H! Back then, the entertainment world respected the privacy of someone's innards particularly when their guts were spilling out of a body ripped by shrapnel.

Snoozer of a war picture about an Army surgeon (Humphrey Bogart) and a wide-eyed young nurse (June Allyson) falling in love on the battlefront. Notable (I suppose) for focusing on a MASH unit years before the film and TV series made that more widely known. But really it's not a very good picture. For a war movie, it's pretty dull and for a romance, it's nauseating. Bogart and Allyson have no chemistry. I've never been a big June Allyson fan to begin with, so that didn't help matters any. Poor Bogie, in his fifties at this point, plays a character that's supposed to be some kind of Romeo with the ladies. This movie has some of the most cringeworthy work I've ever seen from him. I had to look away at times because it was so awkward. It's actually kind of painful to watch the love scenes. Anyway, it's not something I would recommend unless you are a Bogart or Allyson completist. Best thing about it is the supporting work from Keenan Wynn and Robert Keith.

I pulled this one down off the shelf the other day to watch it for about the half a dozenth time. I couldn't get through it. The love story is not very realistic. Can somebody answer this one for me? Why is a US fighter jet firing on their own soldiers? The scene with the Korean threatening to blow up the hospital with a hand grenade and the one where they save the little boy's life were worth seeing the movie... once.

Another one I always avoided. Again, I grew up with this one on commercial television with an interruption ever 15 minutes. It just will not work that way. The only thing that didn't work here was when June and Humphrey tried to be funny by falling down in the puddles as the rain destroyed their tent. And June playing * teaser again when she is way too old, isn't believable. But this movie got some things right by not just making another WW2 patriotic movie. There are some real war horrors here. The tents and helicopter presage MASH. The scene with the grenade is tense. I found the developing love affair to be touching and honest which is something I never expected. The combination of Allyson and Bogart is great because it is hard to imagine two actors cast more against type; this is perhaps what made the romance credible. Then you get actors like Keenan Wynn and Robert Keith giving solid support. And don't ignore the fine actresses playing the nurses and exploring the challenges of doing such work with tremendous challenges. Way more adult than most war movies. Probably was not a success in 1953, but it is a really compelling work.