Battle Circus

Buy This Item Battle Circus by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $19.98  on 11-28-2008     A deadly barrage of "incoming mail" draws nearer. The frontlines are moving, so Mobile Army Surgical Hospital 8666 must also move. And quickly. The wounded are evacuated. Tents are struck and loaded. And if there's no tim to strike it, burn it. Then, like circus wagons rolling through hell, the medical convoy risks ambush as it bumps and rumbles to its next encampment. <P>Humphrey Bogart and June Allyson star and Richard Brooks (Elmer Gantry, In Cold Blood) scripts and directs this stark tale of love and war that matches M*A*S*H in setting but not in tone. Allyson plays a wide-eyed nurse who arrives in Korea oblivious to the dangers. Bogey plays a careworn surgeon who numbs his feelings with booze and romantic dalliance. "Three world wars in one lifetime," he says. "Maybe whiskey's as much a part of our life as war." Year: 1953 Director: Richard Brooks Starring: Humphrey Bogart, June Allyson Special Feature: Original Theatrical Trailer <P>B&W/90 Mins. Reader Reviews 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 Available from Amazon Price: $19.98 Updated on 11-28-2008.

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