Battle Circus (1953)

Even though Bogart and Allyson appear in one comic scene in this 1953 film, the film is anything but a comedy.At the beginning, I thought that Allyson was out of her league here. However, as the film went on, she showed her mettle. For Bogart, even though he was war weary, he was somewhat subdued from his usual portrayals.The film depicted the successes and failures of a MASH unit during the Korean War. It does show how army nurse Allyson and surgeon Bogart fall for each other.The film deals with constant evacuations but even with the seriousness of having to evacuate so often, you never really get the feeling of dire circumstances prevailing.

. . . 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!

The Korean war had already found its way on to American movie screens when BATTLE CIRCUS came along. And some of those other films, like FIXED BAYONETS! and THE STEEL HELMET, are infinitely better. But this slick MGM production has its merits and should be watched, if anything for the script and direction by Richard Brooks.Less convincing, though, is the casting of June Allyson and Humphrey Bogart in the lead roles. Does anyone really think they have much chemistry? I will concede there is a slightly romantic scene where they run through the rain and fall in the mud. But eventually, that gets gooey (in more ways than one). And how does this make us relate to these characters and the deeply personal bond they have managed to forge given the circumstances of their immediate situation? What helps us temporarily forget the more inane aspects of their relationship are the key action sequences depicted in the story. And those moments convey a great deal of tension and are very well staged. The movie also gets points for knowing that the 'M' in M*A*S*H stands for mobile. We see the main characters uproot and move around to administer to the injured and dying like they would be required to do in such a dangerous environment.

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.