Customer Reviews

Battle Circus [VHS]

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I always tend to enjoy films where the casting is a bit off beat and where the leads are not at fist glance a likely combination. Such is the case in "Battle Circus" with the once off and very unlikely combination of Humphrey Bogart, veteran star of many tough guy roles at Warners, and June Allyson the 40's sweetheart of MGM. I must say it makes for an interesting and surprisingly compatiable star teaming.

"Battle Circus" while never being in the top range of Bogart films over the years delivers a vivid and well documented story set during the Korean war, 30years before the famed TV series MASH tackled the same topic. This film tells the story of one such MASH unit responsible for the care of the allied forces wounded at whatever front the fighting takes them. It focuses on the love /hate relationship that develops between cynical world weary unit doctor Major Jed Webbe (Humphrey Bogart) and dedicated unit nurse Lieut. Ruth McGara. While not love at first sight the story develops so that both these very different individuals learn just a little about life from each other. That is why the casting of Bogart and Allyson , much criticised at the time of release, I feel works so well. Tow contrasting types learning off each other to become better people. These two skilled performers have a great flow in their scenes together and while it is not like a teaming of Bogart and Bacall or Bogart and Hepburn or even Allyson and Peter Lawford it works very well. Both are very believable in the roles and bring a realism to their delivery that further aids the films story in painting a picture of the futility and horror of war.

Indeed "Battle Circus" has often been accused of playing up the romance to the detriment of the real war story happening in Korea. I feel that it offers a good balance and for a film made in the fifties it provides in some cases a very vivid view of the emotions and horrors that the Korean war produced. It portrays a sympathetic view of the ordinary Korean citizens caught up in the fighting and the plight of catured North Korean soldiers who are simply frightened more than being dangerous enemies.June Allyson's big scene when she confronts a terrified North Korean Prisone rof war who has armed himself with a grenade in the hospital is a very thrilling piece of action and she rises to the dramatic requirements of the scene superbly. The scenes as the camp has to pack up and move to the next war zone and when the camp itself comes under attack from the enemy are very graphically depicted and really give you a sense of the hardships endured by all during these times. The final piece of action as the wounded are moved in a convoy through rugged terrain often under enemy fire are very exciting and never once try to soft peddle the hardship of war.

"Battle Circus" will never be one of the great war stories but I find it a very well done and enjoyable saga, well acted and very honest in its attempts to show all the different sides of the war. It does play up the romance and it shows the humour too but equally it depicts the frustrations and fears encountered by all during this conflict after which our world was never the same. Enjoy Bogart and Allyson in their only teaming on screen.

Battle Circus is a war film that is set on the borderline of war. It follows the activities of a hospital near the front where wounded soldiers and prisoners go for aid. Humphrey Bogart plays a stubborn and war-worn surgeon who has an eye for a nurse played by June Allyson. The two have suprisingly good chemistry with each other, possibly because they were friends in life. Some might say this film is a lot like MASH, but it reads more like classic Hollywood than modern television.

They really do not make movies like this anymore. The romance between the doctor and the nurse seems stereotypical and doomed to fail, but with the chemistry between the two and the intelligence of the characters, it seems it might just work out despite everything working against them. There is a certain amount of hope projected that is rarely seen today. Too bad; it makes for a great ending and a great film.

"Battle Circus" is another vehicle written and directed by Richard Brooks, with less satisfying results... Very likely the major fault was in teaming Bogart with June Allyson, an actress of extremely limited range whose perpetually simpering attitude and breathy whining of lines must surely have kept Bogart's nerves on edge...

The idea of the film was a sound one, a semi-documentary approach at portraying the day-by-day activities of a mobile field hospital behind the front lines during the Korean War...

The film fell apart, however, when an almost juvenile love plot interceded... One laughable scene found Allyson disarming a partially crazed prisoner who was threatening to blow everyone up with a hand grenade, thereby proving her courage under fire to a rather uninterested Bogart, who finally falls in love with her...

Humphrey Bogart is always worth watching, even in an essentially bad film. "Battle Circus" falls into that category simply by virtue of his being paired with June Allyson. I'm not knocking June, but she was as awkwardly cast opposite Bogart as she was at home beside James Stewart. This movie is interesting for its portrayal of a MASH unit long before Robert Altman's more radical film, but it focuses on romance more than war. That approach may have worked with "Casablanca," but this isn't "Casablanca." After winning his Oscar for "The African Queen," Bogart was quoted as saying he would concentrate on "meat and potatoes" pictures, as opposed to more ambitious material. This is meat and potatoes without the gravy.

"Battle Circus" is a 1953 black and white Korean war film starring Humphrey Bogart and June Allyson and directed by Richard Brooks. It was originally entitled MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) but that title was rejected (someone should have told Robert Altman).

MASH units were introduced in the Korean War, partly as a result of recommendations by Dr. Michael DeBakey (1908-2008) who would later become a world renowned heart surgeon and who served in WW 2.

Little need be said about Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957). In the 30s, Bogart played second fiddle to Warner's biggest stars James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson, but in 1941 Bogart starred in "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" and from that point onward, Bogart became a big name star, eventually surpassing both of them in 1943 on the tail of his performance in "Casablanca". Although IMHO he did his best work in the 40s, in the 50s he put in some notable performances ("African Queen", "Caine Mutiny"). though this film is one of his lesser achievements. He plays a surgeon.

Perky and petite June Allyson (1917-2006) plays a nurse and Bogart's love interest. Allyson played in more than 50 films before transitioning to TV. She was famous for playing wives in films like "Strategic Air Command" (1955), "Executive Suite" (1954), and "The Stratton Story" (1949).

FWIW - Bogart wanted his wife (Lauren Bacall) for the part, but she was pregnant. MGM chose Allyson who was always good in this type of role, but she has no on screen chemistry with Bogart, partly due to the 18 year difference in age. She made one more film and then left MGM.

Keenan Wynn (1916-86) was the son of comedy genius Ed Wynn. He appeared in nearly 100 films and as many TV shows. He worked with Angie Dickinson on "Police Woman" and received an Emmy nomination in 1978. Wynn plays a Sergeant.

Robert Keith (1898-1966) plays the commanding officer. Keith is probably best known as the cowardly sheriff in "The Wild One" (1953) among the dozens of films he made between 1924 and 1961. Actor Brian Keith was his son.

Richard Brooks (1912-92) wrote and directs. He won an Oscar for "Elmer Gantry" (1960) and earned 4 more nominations ("Blackboard Jungle", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "The Professionals", "In Cold Blood"). Brooks was known as a very wordy writer and his films are far chattier than most films, especially his westerns ("Men of Texas", "The Last Hunt", and "The Professionals"). This is another of his chatty films. Bogart and Allyson spend far more time chatting than smooching.

FWIW - Bogart and Brooks bonded on "Key Largo" (1948) and Brooks directed him in 'Deadline USA" (1952).
This film is a serious film, unlike the MASH film and TV series. There are some very interesting scenes in which the surgical camps are packed up and moved to another location

1953 was a good year for film. The top grossing films were "Peter Pan", "The Robe", "From Here to Eternity", "Shane", and "How to Marry a Millionaire". The big Oscar winner was "From Here to Eternity" (Picture, Director, Supporting Actor and Actress). Other notable films that year were "Stalag 17", "The Wild One", "Titanic", the 3-D classic "House of Wax", "Roman Holiday", "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", "The Desert Rats", and "Niagara".

The NY Times called it "a commendably graphic tribute to American combat valor" but a "routine wartime romance". They praised Bogart but criticized Allyson.

Films about the Korean War remain rare, and were even rarer in the 50s. Sam Fuller's two 1951 films ("The Steel Helmet" and "Fixed Bayonets"), "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" (1954), and Gregory Peck's "Pork Chop Hill" (1959) were notable exceptions. Among the better films about Korea are "The Young and the Brave" (1963), "MASH" (1970) and "MacArthur" (1977) which features some good scenes about Korea, although the film is principally about WW 2.

Bottom line - the parts of this film about how a mobile surgical unit works are really interesting, but otherwise this is a relatively boring wartime romance flick.

This is a great movie in spite of the negative comments from previous reviewers and deserves to be put out on DVD. Do it!!!!!!!!

As the reviews I had seen described this movie as a sort of predecessor to MASH I thought I'd give it a try. In the way of a documentary it's interesting to see how fast a unit can pull up their tents and move on, but somewhere in there the movie turned out to be more of an off-beat love story than anything. It's a fair night's entertainment, but if you're expecting MASH you're better off getting the DVDs from the series.

He's Dr. Webb a major in a MASH unit. June Allyson is Lt. McGare a nurse & his main squeeze. I'm a big Bogart fan & this is one of the few I hadn't seen. Whenever I see June Allyson I think of Jimmy Stewart. But an aging Bogie does just fine in his only film with Miss Allyson. There is no Hawkeye or Hot Lips, but Bogart still has the heft of a leading man & Miss Allyson keeps pace with some very dramatic scenes of her own. Her confrontation with a Korean POW & a hand gernade is the best. The movie titled M.A.S.H. was made only 17 years later & the landscape in the real world had changed so much in that time. Most movies reflect the times they are made in. That movie & the tv series were, as we all know, a metaphor for the war in Vietnam. Now that movie is 40 years old. This is original MASH, adjacent to if not during Korea. Doctors & nurses & war & love. Keenan Wynn does a fine job in a supporting role. This is a pedestrian 1950's war movie but Bogart lifts it a bit above that.

My VHS tape is going bad. Make it into a D V D format!!!! I was stationed at K 55 twice. In '68 after the Pueblo was captured and lost a good buddy that was in a M A S H. And again in '72. This is and I suppose it still is a very nice country, the people are very friendly and outgoing. I have spent many a day with friends and family in Osan. The good friend was a Korean loading leader (air freight) and spoke very good English. His whole family, wife and three kids always welcomed me into their home. The war was extreamly rough on those people. The movie told it just about the way it was, dirty, bloody, and just plain rotten. !!!!