<P> Unlike most World War II epics, Battle of the Bulge contains virtually no portrayals of actual senior Allied leaders, civilian or military . This is presumably because of controversies surrounding the battle, both during the war and after . Though Allied forces ultimately won the battle, the initial German counteroffensive caught them by surprise and caused many casualties . </P> <P> It is December, 1944 . Military Intelligence officer and former policeman Lt. Col. Daniel Kiley (Fonda) and his pilot, Joe (Robert Woods), are flying a reconnaissance mission over the Ardennes forest . Spotting a German staff car the plane buzzes the car and photographs the officer . Alarmed, the chauffeur flees the car, leaving the engine running . "Petrol is blood," rebukes the German officer, marking a theme of the film, the German shortage of fuel . </P> <P> In a subterranean lair, it is revealed the officer is Col. Martin Hessler (Shaw), a fictional Panzer tank commander loosely based on SS - Standartenführer Jochen Peiper . Hessler is briefed by his superior, Gen. Kohler (Werner Peters), on a new German attack, piercing west against the American lines . Kohler points out a clock with a 50 - hour countdown, which is the time allotted for the operation, beyond which Germany has no resources for full - scale attack . At the same time German soldiers disguised as American troops, led by Lt. Schumacher (Ty Hardin), are tasked with seizing vital bridges and sowing confusion behind the Allied lines . </P> <P> Meanwhile, Kiley returns to headquarters where he warns that the Germans are planning one more all - out offensive . His superiors, Gen. Grey (Robert Ryan) and Col. Pritchard (Dana Andrews), dismiss it out of hand: all available intelligence points to Germany not having the resources and manpower to launch another attack . </P>

German tanks in battle of the bulge movie