A more modern audience coming into Battle Circus will have a harder time not comparing it to Robert Altman’s film M*A*S*H from 1970 and its even more successful spin-off series on network TV. Those comparisons are apt as both share many of the same type of characters, the same setting and production imagery, and a story that would seem tailored for the later series, especially the last few seasons. The primary difference between the two properties is tone. M*A*S*H played things very broadly at times, with tongue firmly in cheek, while Battle Circus mostly plays things straight, choosing to focus on many of the real life dangers of the Korean War and the stresses of being part of a mobile hospital near the front lines and having to uproot often and without much notice. Similar to M*A*S*H, though, it also focuses on relationships that can and did develop between the officers and the many nurses there, many of whom were just as eager to pursue the men as the men were in pursuing them.
The story begins with Army Nurse Ruth McCara (June Allyson) newly assigned to M*A*S*H unit 8666 (referred to throughout the film as simply the 66th). She immediately runs afoul of Chief Surgeon Jed Webbe (Humphrey Bogart), a no nonsense, hard drinking man who is getting burned out by the mobility part of a M*A*S*H unit made necessary by the ever shifting battle lines. In the last 23 days there have been 7 moves, all overseen by Sgt. Orvil Statt (Keenan Wynn), and the repetition has worn down the morale of everyone in the camp.
Webbe is highly regarded in the camp but doesn’t want the leadership and trust he finds bestowed upon him. Likewise, he is closed off to everyone around him, refusing to divulge even a hint at his background including whether he has a wife and family back home waiting for him. This doesn’t dissuade the nurses from fawning over him but becomes a major stumbling block for Ruth who inexplicably finds herself the target of his initially unwanted affection. Jed starts making advances on Ruth early into the film but she is only interested in a lasting relationship, the type that leads to a wedding and kids. This frustrates Jed but does not stop his advances which eventually wears down her resolve, despite the uncertainty of a real future with him.
The central drama here is the blossoming romance between Jed and Ruth, two people not expecting to fall in love during the Korean War. What threatens to derail it is the forcefulness behind Jed’s methods to get with Ruth. He is pushy, forceful and takes liberties that would never play with modern sensibilities. He refuses to take no for an answer and gets angry with her when she tries to enforce professionalism and distance between them. It makes it hard to be on his side early on. Once she softens towards him these hard edges smooth out but it creates a feeling of creepiness to his character that the latter half of the film struggles to shake off, even as the two grow closer to each other.
Ruth on the other hand is not much of a character at first. She is played a little too naive in the first act, nearly getting decapitated by a helicopter propeller and, shortly thereafter, almost blown up by enemy fire, saved in both cases by the more seasoned men who must rescue her from her own inexperience. This is then even more punctuated by her observing the striking of the tents, preparing for yet another relocation, and excitedly bursting into the nurses tent to proclaim the war must be over, much to the disdain of her eye rolling compatriots. Her character only really settles down when she stands up for a young Korean child who has been injured by shrapnel and will die if not operated on. Her determination to save this child convinces Jed into taking extreme measures to save the young boy when he otherwise wouldn’t have operated on him in the first place. It brings a depth of humanity to her that rubs off on the otherwise callous Jed.
Much of the middle part of the film suffers from too much focus on the budding relationship between Jed and Ruth. It’s not the sole focus but at times it feels like it. The only real shift comes in the form of a Korean P.O.W. brought in for medical attention who panics and threatens everyone in the operating tent with a grenade. This scene is brilliant and exciting, showing the doctors continuing to operate, knowing that they may die at any moment but their patients will surely die if they stop operating for even a moment. Ruth is forced to the center stage during this potential crisis and afterwards is left trembling from a combination of fear, relief, and emotional exhaustion. Even better than the scene of her trying to talk the man down from killing them all is the scene immediately afterwards as she goes off alone, shaken and overcome in the aftermath of the moment.
Ultimately the film lives or dies based on our investment in the relationship between Jed and Ruth. After all a majority of the runtime is devoted to their growing romance. When Jed finally opens up and tells her information about his past life it is a real revelation as she is learning, alongside us, things no one else in the unit knows. It creates a sense of intimacy between them, as well as with the audience who are now also in on his secret. If this intimacy were rushed or underdeveloped it would ring false. Fortunately Battle Circus allows that relationship to grow naturally throughout the film in such a way that when the war interferes and forces the two apart we care whether they will find each other again. It is well staged if a little abrupt in its resolution. Still, the two leads do an adequate job at portraying the romance and keeping audiences invested, assisted heavily by a good screenplay penned by Richard Brooks and husband and wife duo Allen Rivkin and Laura Kerr. Bogart and Allyson are likable, if a little too rote at times, making for a solid drama about love growing out of the backdrop of a war that was raging on even as the film was being made.
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