Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

utgard14 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.

jarrodmcdonald-1 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.

tieman64 A precursor to Robert Altman's "MASH", Richard Brooks' "Battle Circus" stars the inimitable Humphrey Bogart as a world-weary surgeon in the middle of war-torn Korea. Bogart is as watchable as always, but much of the film consists of a by-the-numbers romantic subplot in which he romances a new nurse (June Allyson, always miscast).As with most films set during the Korean War, "Battle Circus" entirely ignores politics. Elsewhere Brooks serves up a number of mildly tense sequences, like one in which nurses talk a wounded Korean soldier out of detonating a live grenade. Brooks would go on to direct a number of superior films, one of his best being "Elmer Gantry".Today, the US' bloody occupation of Korea has all but been erased from history. After WW2, the US hastily separated Korea (Roosevelt would suggest the separation to Stalin without even consulting the Koreans), essentially splitting it in two and giving the North to Russia whilst keeping the South for itself. This was meant to be a temporary division, but as was in the case in Vietnam (another country arbitrarily cut in half by the US), the US soon freaked out when it learnt that the Koreans wanted independence and were unanimously backing the Republican Party. Refusing to allow genuine self-determination to take root in Korea, and determined to destroy the majority supported Korean People's Republic party, the US hastily began scuttling all attempts at unifying the north and south, backed dictators in the south (some descendants of the old aristocracy), began supporting the local land-owning elite, outlawed the KPR and set about murdering "dissidents". On the Island of Cheju alone, as many as 60,000 of its 300,000 residents were murdered. South Korea, assisted by US forces, then conducted a ruthless campaign of cleansing the south of all dissidents, usually identifying them as "communists". Estimates of murdered civilians range anywhere from 400,000 to 800,000 by the time the hot war "officially" broke out in June 1950. The message was clear: you can have self-determination, but only if you do what we say.5/10 – For Bogart fans only. See "To Have and Have Not".

SimonJack 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 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.