Henry Fonda narrates this documentary, "Filming of 'The Battle of the Bulge.'" It's a short that introduces us to Gen. Meinred von Lauchert, who served as a technical expert for the film. He was the real commander of the 2nd Panzer Division that spearheaded the German breakout in the Battle of the Bulge. Lauchert survived the war and when this documentary was made, he was living in retirement in a small town in Germany.
This short film doesn't have a lot more in it. It does show some of the shooting locales, and Robert Shaw talks about the cold and the heat of being in the tanks. He plays Col. Kessler, commander of the Panzers that spearhead the Battle of the Bulge for the Germans. The account and character are fictitious, but the character closely resembles Gen. Lauchert.
Fonda says that the studio brought in tons and tons of weapons and ammunition. Hundreds of vehicles and tanks were brought to battle readiness. I doubt that a movie could be made like this today because of the lack of realistic outdoor locations and ever-dwindling numbers of actual vehicles and weapons. Today, it would probably be done with CGI artwork.
This documentary came with the DVD of the main movie that I have in my library.
