Article Sketch: Revisiting Castle Keep (1969) - The Battle of the Bulge goes art house

78 years ago the Battle of the Bulge began on 16th December 1944 in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium.?

Sydney Pollack took an arty look at Hitler's 'last throw of the dice' in adapting William Eastlake's 1965 novel?Castle Keep, which was based on his experiences in the battle.?

Despite the presence of Burt Lancaster and Peter Falk in the cast, the picture is a far cry from other movies* with a similar theme - including 1965's meat and potatoes Battle of the Bulge (which starred Robert Shaw, Henry Fonda, Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson).

A platoon of thrown together misfits hold out against the German offensive in a Belgian chateau stuffed with art treasures whose owner (the Count of Maldorais, played by French actor/WWII hero Jean-Pierre Aumont**) wants to preserve at all costs.

Pollack adopts a very European sensibility in terms of style, cutting and music (Michel Legrand, superb).

A dream-like picture which has accrued a cult following over the years,?despite accusations of pretension on the director’s part.

When Pollack returned to Europe with much less success in 1977's Remarque adaptation Bobby Deerfield.?

Incidentally, the very convincing castle Maldorais was apparently?made of?styrofoam. The movie was shot?in Tito's Yugoslavia - around Novi Sad, Serbia to be precise.

The picture also stars Patrick O'Neal (1927-1994), an underrated actor (and successful bar owner) with an agreeably cynical screen presence.

O'Neal starring in John Huston's The Kremlin Letter (1970):

* Battleground, Attack!, Patton, Hart's War etc:

Patton (1970 - full movie)

Ardennes Fury (2014) - lousy Asylum cash-in on the same year's Brad Pitt starrer Fury

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