SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

edwagreen 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.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . 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!

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.

audiemurph "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.