Battleground is a 1949 American war film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalbán, George Murphy, and James Whitmore.

It follows a fictional company of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division as they fight in the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, in World War II.

While they remain steadfast and courageous, each soldier has at least one moment in the film when he seriously considers running away, schemes to get sent back from the front line, slacks off, or complains about the situation he is in.

A widespread critical and commercial success, the film won Best Story and Screenplay (Pirosh) and Best Cinematography – Black-and-White (Paul C. Vogel) at the 22nd Academy Awards, out of six total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Wellman.

In the morning, Roderigues, a Latino from Los Angeles, is delighted by the novelty of snow from a heavy winter storm, but "Pop" Stazak, awaiting a "dependency discharge" that will send him home, is unimpressed.

Ashamed, Holley turns around and leads a flanking counterattack that stops the Germans, during which Abner Spudler is killed reaching for his boots, as he can't sleep with them on.

Later, while on guard duty, they encounter some Germans who have come under a flag of truce to offer Brigadier General McAuliffe surrender terms; his famous reply - "Nuts!"

(The chaplain had previously served as clergy at a Hanukkah ceremony, and when he asks a Jewish soldier how he did he responds, "Not bad for a beginner, sir.")

As the platoon is down to its last few rounds of ammunition, the weather finally clears, allowing Allied fighter aircraft to attack the Germans and C-47 transports to drop supplies, enabling the 101st to hold.

Neville Brand, a veteran of the 83rd Infantry Division and Silver Star recipient, made his film debut with an uncredited minor role, playing a soldier singing "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town".

The scenes depicting US troops quizzing each other about their culture (like sports and films) to verify they were not German infiltrators did occur once news of the operation became known.

The unit portrayed in the film is the fictional "2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon of Item Company" of the real 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

When the airborne divisions were conceived early in World War II, glider regiments were given two battalions; the first had companies named Able, Baker, Charlie, and Dog while the second got Easy, Fox, George, and How.

When Schary went to MGM, he purchased the rights to the script from RKO, over the objections of Louis B. Mayer, who believed the public was tired of war films.

At MGM, Robert Taylor and Keenan Wynn were reported to have been penciled in for the film, along with Van Johnson and John Hodiak, and the project was budgeted at $2 million.

[10] Wellman put the cast through some military training with Robert Taylor, a former navy officer who dropped out believing the role was not right for him.

Wellman and Pirosh's second choice was James Whitmore, a Broadway theatre actor and former Marine Corps officer, who also bore resemblance to Tracy.

James Mitchell took on the role, but was fired before shooting, as Wellman thought he lacked the proper physicality and attitude to play a Staff Sergeant.

A private showing for President Harry S. Truman was arranged[9] even before the premiere in Washington D.C. on November 9, 1949, which was attended[10] by McAuliffe, who commanded the 101st during the siege.