Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. 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. The screenplay was written by Robert Pirosh, based on his own experiences during the battle.

This is a phenomenal hand-painted movie poster for the 101st Airborne, which may have been made for a showing of the film to soldiers of the 101st Airborne given the poster’s theme. The movie’s title is painted in red bubble letters with the 101st Airborne insignia painted to one side, with the caption:

STARRING
VAN JOHNSON
JOHN HODIAK
AND
MEMBERS OF
THE 101ST AIRBORNE DIV.
“THE SCREAMING EAGLES”

The poster measures roughly 15½ x 24¼” and does have some rips and tears as shown, with some loss of material in the bottom right. It is signed in the bottom right corner Joseph Pliscrich(?), a good research project. 

This is a fantastic and unique poster, ready for further research and display.

The film portrays American soldiers as vulnerable and human. 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. One writer – disregarding Warner's successful Fighter Squadron of 1948 – describes Battleground as the first significant American film about World War II to be made and released after the end of the war.

Battleground premiered in Washington, D.C. on November 9, 1949, and was distributed in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 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. James Whitmore, for his second-ever film role, was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe Award for his performance.