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===Development and casting=== ''Battleground'' was originally an [[RKO]] property, titled "Prelude to Love" to hide its subject matter,<ref name="tcmarticle">{{cite web| last= Thompson| first= Lang| url= https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2199/battleground#articles-reviews |title=Battleground| website=TCM }}</ref> but was shelved when production head [[Dore Schary]] resigned, despite $100,000 having been put into the property to that point. When Schary went to [[MGM]], he purchased the rights to the script from RKO, over the objections of [[Louis B. Mayer]], who believed the public was tired of war films. At MGM, [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]] and [[Keenan Wynn]] were reported to have been penciled in for the film, along with Van Johnson and John Hodiak, and the project was budgeted at $2 million.<ref name="tcmnotes">TCM [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2199/battleground#notes Notes]</ref> Wellman put the cast through some military training with Robert Taylor, a former navy officer who dropped out believing the role was not right for him. He was replaced by Van Johnson.<ref>pp. 93β94 Davis, Ronald L. ''Robert Pirosh Interview'' in ''Words into Images: Screenwriters on the Studio System'' Univ. Press of Mississippi, 01/05/2007</ref> Twenty veterans of the 101st were hired to train the actors and appeared in the film as extras. [[Lt Col]] [[Harry Kinnard]], who had been the 101st's deputy divisional commander at Bastogne, was the film's technical advisor. Pirosh also consulted with McAuliffe, who was enthusiastic about Pirosh's intention to show World War II strictly from the grunt's eye view. The role of Staff Sergeant Kinnie was first offered to [[Spencer Tracy]], but he turned it down. Wellman and Pirosh's second choice was [[James Whitmore]], a Broadway theatre actor and former Marine Corps officer, who also bore resemblance to Tracy. However, the producers insisted a more well-known actor be cast. [[James Mitchell (actor)|James Mitchell]] took on the role, but was fired before shooting, as Wellman thought he lacked the proper physicality and attitude to play a Staff Sergeant.
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