Hollywood and the W.W.II Jeep. Jeeps have long starred in and played supporting roles in many films and television shows to come out of Hollywood, California, USA.

WWII Jeeps in Movies, on TV, and in Song

Hollywood and the W.W.II Jeep.
Jeeps have long starred in and played supporting roles in the many films and television shows to come out of Hollywood, California, USA.

M*A*S*H -  The WWII MB/GPW Jeep of the 4077th MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) with Major Margaret J. Hot Lips Houlihan, Captain Benjamin Franklin Hawkeye Pierce, M.D, Captain Trapper John Francis Xavier McIntyre, M.D., and Lieutenant Colonel Henry Braymore Blake, M.D.
M*A*S*H -  The WWII MB/GPW Jeep of the 4077th MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) with
Major Margaret J. "Hot Lips" Houlihan,
Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M.D,
Captain "Trapper" John Francis Xavier McIntyre, M.D., and
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Braymore Blake, M.D.


Here's a list of some of the television shows and movies that the Willys, Ford & Bantam jeeps made appearances in.

Rat Patrol Fan Club for the TV show.  The famous LRDG Rat Patrol Desert Rats and their World War 2 Jeeps flying across the sand dunes .50cal's  blazing away! How I fell in love with jeeps as a kid. The famous LRDG Rat Patrol Desert Rats and their World War 2 Jeeps flying across the sand dunes .50cal's blazing away. Another Rat Patrol site list / index. LRDG = Long Range Desert Group, by the way. This series, set in North Africa during World War II, chronicles the adventures of a 4-man team of LRDG commandos. Consisting of 1 British, and 3 American (huh? that part is historically inaccurate as the LRDG was a UK operation), the team was equipped with several Browning M2 HB .50-caliber machine gun armed Jeeps, and an almost endless supply of ammunition, and daring-do. The Desert Rats waged a highly irregular war against Rommel's Afrika Korps. 
The WW2 action show Combat! - TV Series Fan Club. Many shows featured the World War Two Willys MB and Ford GPW Jeeps. COMBAT! : The classic WWII drama. The WW2 action show COMBAT! - TV Series Fan Club. Many shows featured the World War Two Willys MB and Ford GPW Jeeps. On ABC from 1962 through 1967, COMBAT! was TV's longest running WW2 drama. For 5 1/2 years, the one-hour WWII drama series centered on the lives of the men from King Company. The men of King Co. faced the enemy starting with the landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and it followed this frontline American infantry squad as they battled their way across Europe. These frontline U.S. infantrymen evolved as the show progressed from a squad of individual men into a family. With mud-splattered realism, COMBAT!, which starred Vic Morrow as Sergeant Saunders and Rick Jason as Lieutenant Hanley, offered character studies of men trying to maintain their own humanity in the midst of a world torn by war. Best of all, many episodes involved a Jeep at some point in the action.
M*A*S*H Fan Club:  The image of Hawkeye, and the rest, sitting in a WWII era MASH Jeep is one that is MASH 4077 : Hawkeye, Trapper, BJ, Hot Lips, Radar, Frank "Ferret-Face" Burns, Col. Blake, & Col. Potter, et al. in the Korean War. Who can forget the theme song from MASH - the Movie/TV show? The image of Hawkeye, et al sitting in a WWII era MASH Jeep is one that is burned in many a TV viewer's mind. There were some goofs made in the filming of the movie M*A*S*H, several involved a jeep. Where are the mash Jeeps, Ambulances, etc. today?  Mash Filming Location. Here is a photo of some of the Mash Vehicles in the wilderness as they are today. After being abandoned where they were when filming was over, a brush fire burned through the site. Add to that several years of rusting away and they are no longer in very good shape.  A Jeep and an ambulance were some of the abandoned vehicles. Rumor has it that what happened is: In the final episode Klinger looks up and comments on the sunset and Potter tells him that it is the smoke in the East and it is a fire. This was a real fire that was not planned, but it was written into the script and the vehicles still on the site were destroyed by this real-life fire. The area was a ranch then, but is now a California State park. UPDATE: M*A*S*H movie site restored!!
HBO's Band of Brothers was one of the best mini-series ever made.  The authentically restored World War Two MB/GPW Jeeps played a prominent role in several episodes and in many scenes! HBO's Band of Brothers was one of the best mini-series ever made.  Jeep Corporation helped support this 10 part series. Authentically restored WW2 MB/GPW Jeeps played a prominent role in scenes in several episodes! (Easy Co. 506PIR, 101 AB Reality).
Reality of world war two depicted in Saving PVT Ryan. WWII Jeeps played a very small role in this movie. Saving Private Ryan was awesome, but did anyone notice that the jeep in the glider had a homemade spare tire mounting plate, and it was missing the jerry can strap as well. WWII Jeeps played a very small role in this movie.
Message Board from Hollywood Military Movie Advisors. They can advise on many details re: military life, weapons, military vehicles, and equipment. HOLLYWOOD vs. MILITARY HISTORY! Message Board from Hollywood Military Movie Advisors. They can advise on many details re: military life, weapons, military vehicles, and equipment.
The History Channel shows many shows featuring the WWII Willys MB and Ford GPW Jeeps are shown on this cable TV channel. The History Channel's Web site. Airplanes, Tanks, Battles, Spies, Events Leading to WW2. The History Channel shows many shows featuring the World War Two Willys MB and Ford GPW Jeeps
The latest World War Two Jeep to be immortalized on film is 'Sarge', from Walt Disney / PIXAR's Animated movie CARS. The latest World War Two Jeep to be immortalized on film is 'Sarge', from Walt Disney / PIXAR's Animated movie "CARS".
Real Hollywood Heroes of WWII A website where actors who served in the military are identified along with what they did, and what medals & awards they earned. Unlike many of today's misguided Hollywood stars, the movie stars of the past were as patriotic as everyone else in the country. Many risked their lives.

List of Movies and TV Shows that Military Jeeps have made appearances in.
List of MOVIES and TV SHOWS
that Military Jeeps have appeared in:


Bantam BRC-40 Jeep 
   on TV & in the movies:
Laurel and Hardy Join the Army; 
Rat Patrol;
Ford GPA in Movies: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) 
Hi Brian - I think the GPA you mentioned in the above movie is actually a GAZ 46 - the Russian copy of the GPA. I was fortuate enough to see a GAZ 46 in Prague and also 2 in the French Military Vehicle Club in Paris - they do look very similar but the Gaz 46 has a gunnel about 6 inches higher than the GPA and has bigger diameter wheels.
I lke your site - very informative. 
Cheers, Graeme Person - Lake Macquarie - Australia
Willys MB / Ford GPW Jeeps in the movies:
1942;
A Beautiful Mind; 
A Bridge to Far
A Midnight Clear; 
Bad Day at Black Rock
Battleground (need to verify)
Battle Hymn; 
Battle of Bastogne; 
Battle of the Buldge; 
Blastfighter; 
Brass Target; 
Bridge at Ramegen; 
Canterville Ghost; 
Carman Jones, - Jeep
Cars; 
Cast A Giant Shadow - John Wayne in Jeep
Castle Keep - Jeep & MBT Trailer
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion; 
Come September; 
Das Todesauge von Caylon; 
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951);
Devil's Brigade; 
Eagle Has Landed; 
The English Patient; 
Enola Gay; 
Execution of Private Slovik; 
Exorcist: The Beginning 
Four Jills In A Jeep (1951) - Jeep
Go For Broke - Watch It Now Link
God is My Co-Pilot; 
Gomer Pyle; 
Guadalcanal Diary; 
Guns of Navarone; 
Hell is For Heroes; 
In Harm's Way; 
Independence Day; 
Island of Dr.Moreau; 
Kelly's Heroes; 
Kings Go Forth (1958); (MBT Trailers as well)
M*A*S*H; 
McHales Navy; 
Memphis Belle; 
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence; 
Naked Gun; 
Never so few; 
Packing It In; 
Patton; 
Philadelphia Experiment; 
Play Dirty; 
Private Buckaroo (1942) - Watch It Now Link
The Purple Rain (1954); 
Remo Williams; 
Run Silent Run Deep; 
Sahara; 
Salem's Lot; 
Saving Private Ryan; 
Spy Game; 
Stalag 18; 
Teahouse of the August Moon; 
Theirs is the glory; 
Three Jills in a Jeep;
To Hell and Back; 
War and Remembrance; 
White Christmas; 
*Note: Many war movies were made with civilian jeeps painted OD green. 
Many WWII movies were made using 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's jeeps that were passed off as WWII Jeeps. How lame.
Willys MB / Ford GPW Jeeps on TV: Band of Brothers; 
Combat; 
Hogan's Heroes; 
Hulk; 
M*A*S*H; 
Rat Patrol; 
Spiderman; 
Pokemon; 
M-38, M-38A1, M-151 Jeeps on TV & in the movies:
A Bridge to Far; 
Air America; 
The Argentine; 
The Assignment; 
Blues Brothers, 
Camouflage; 
Carnosaur 3: Primal species; 
Chill Factor; 
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion; 
Coming Home; 
Command 5; 
Coming Unglued; 
A Decade to Remember: The 1950's; 
Deer Hunter; 
Desert Warrior; 
Diamonds Are Forever; 
Doctor Who; 
Eva Perón; 
Freedom Strike; 
Gojira tai Megagirasu: Jî shômetsu sakusen; 
Good Morning Vietnam; 
In Harm's Way; 
Invasion of the Bee Girls; 
Iron Eagle; 
Kingu Kongu no gyakushû; 
Kings Go Forth (1958);
Long Hot Summer; 
Man in a Suitcase 
The Mist; 
Octopussy; 
Riding with Death; 
Sliders; 
The Swarm; 
Venomous; 
Zhong hua zhan shi;
*Notes: Many war movies were made with civilian jeeps painted OD green. 
Many WWII movies were made using 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's jeeps that were passed off as WWII Jeeps. How lame.
Early Willys Civilian CJ jeeps on TV and in the movies NELLYBELLE - Roy Rogers & Pat Brady - Roy Rogers Show + Roy Rogers Movies, books, etc.
One of the most famous Jeeps of all time is NELLYBELLE. She became famous first in the movies in the early 1940's starring Roy Rogers, the "King of the Cowboys", and later on TV on "The Roy Rogers Show", broadcast from 1951 until 1957.  A 1946 Willys CJ-2A civilian jeep, Nellybelle was owned by Cowboy Roy Rogers and driven by Roy's comic sidekick, Pat Brady. The modified Willys flat-fender jeep had sheet metal doors fabricated and painted with her name "Nellybelle" visible in most shows.  Her name came about due to a long-standing tradition of Pat having trouble with transportation; first with an ornery mule in the early movies where he used phrases like "Whoa, Nelly!"; Later it became Nellybelle the jeep that he had trouble operating. [Rumor has it that "Whoa, Nellie" was also a frequent cry given by Cowboy Gene Autry's pal Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) as he tried to stay aboard his horse, Ring-eyed Nellie. This "Whoa Nellie" use by Gene's sidekick would predate the use by Roy's side-kick by some years, since Gene Autry 'discovered' Roy Rogers.]  On Roy Rogers Western Adventure show, the jeep was always conking out or acting up on the poor cook & friend of Roy & Dale, Pat Brady. It was a standard ploy for Nellybelle the jeep to have bad brakes and/or some other mechanical problem that got Pat into trouble. Often as Pat drove Nellybelle around Mineral City (the mythical town of the shows setting), he would talk sweetly to his jeep hoping his verbal compliments could convince Nellybelle to run better. NellyBelle the jeep made it on the cover of 2 coloring books as well (1) (2). Roy Rogers considered Nellybelle to be part of the family and even says so in one episode telling wife Dale Evans; "Well, she (Nellybelle) is part of the family, Dale."  Roy kept the jeep Nellybell until the day he died. Nellybelle was displayed at the Roy Rogers - Dale Evans Museum in California for many years. The museum moved from Victorville, California to Branson, Missouri in 2003. The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Branson, MO finally closed it's doors December 12, 2009 with most of the museum's items going to the auction block. Nellybelle was sold at auction in New York on 14 July 2010 to a private museum for $116,500. (More on Nellybelle).  Nellybelle's license plate number was 3P5-388. Speculation: Roy Rogers chose to include a Jeep in his program because he noticed that Jeeps were very popular, especially with children, after WWII. Rogers himself owned a Jeep which he used for hunting, off road cruising and travel to and from his studio.

WWII news re: Roy Rogers: Roy and his horse, Trigger (in LIFE 1943), toured the country during World War II raising millions in the sale of bonds to aid the war effort.
WWII news re: Pat Brady: In 1943, Pat was called into the army and was with Patton's Third Army in Europe and won citations for valor and two purple hearts. The Sons of the Pioneers back home made sure he had his share of their earnings while he was away. Karl Farr state that "Pat was with Gen. Patton’s third army in Germany and was once in a newsreel. The top of his tank was blown off at close range just as he was bending over to pick up a shell. He had the Purple Heart. He slept in a dentist's office in Germany and sent home all the drills, also a German officer’s uniform and about 30 guns. Anything he could get his hands on he sent home before the crack down."  He returned to the Sons of the Pioneers in 1945. He also owned a Willys CJ flat-fender he named the "new Nelly Belle" which he drove around Colorado Springs CO. (A nice webpage on Pat Brady).

WWII MB / GPW If you spot a Military Jeep on a TV Show or at the moives on a Film screen and you check this list and it isn't listed, please drop me a line and let me know. - Brian
List of Songs & Song Lyrics about 
Military & Civilian Jeeps:
Four Wheel Drive 
 - by C.W. McCall

CJ-5 Featured

YouTube link

We is screamin’ through the valley
Where the Nishnabotna flows
Through the mud and crud and cornfields
Where the mari-ju-wana grows
’cross the railroad tracks of persia
Down the hills and up the dale
Had a CJ-5 with 4-wheel drive
And smokey on my tail.

Well, he picked me up at exit 12
On the I-Six-Eighty ramp
I was doin’ 67 per
When I rumbled through his trap
He commenced to whirl his flashin’ lights
And he made his siren wail
I slipped on down to 4-wheel drive
With smokey on my tail

Now I got racin’ stripes and dual pipes
And smokey’s got a ford
Got a mill with a four pot carb, you know
But smokey’s stroked and bored
Well, the chase was on, but I had the edge
With a rig that’ll never fail
Got a CJ-5 with a 4-wheel drive
And smokey on my tail

Yeah, he was.

Well, I dropped on down to granny low
And I made a hard right turn
My big ol’ fat commando tires
Went slashin’ through the corn
Well, the tassels blew
And the kernels flew
And it looked like yella hail
Just cookin’ alive in a 4-wheel drive
With smokey on my tail

Well, we went screamin’ through the valley
Where the Nishnabotna flows
Through the mud and crud and cornfields
Where the mari-ju-wana grows
’cross the railroad tracks of persia
Up the hills and down the dales
My CJ-5 with four-wheel drive
And smokey on my tail.

Look out, now. here he come.
Oh, we gonna get it on now.
We gonna swim this here creek now, smokey.
Yard wide and a foot deep.
Nishnabota River, they call it.
Might haveta winch out.
Gonna do a wheelie on that there gopher mound now, smokey.
Can you dig it, smokey? 
Got four on the floor and four in the air on that one, didn’t we? 
Goodness gracious. ’bout ta bust my shocks.

Well, that jeep of mine made smokey whine
His rig was made of lead
He was mired in fourteen feet of mud
So he radioed ahead
I pulled up onto the blacktop
Went crashin’ on through the rail
Sakes alive! I had twenty-five more
Smokeys on my tail!

Now I had racin’ stripes and dual pipes
And smokey had a ford
Had a mill with a four pot carb, you know
But smokey’s stroked and bored
Well, the race was on, but I had the edge
With a rig that’ll never fail
Got a CJ-5 with a four-wheel drive
Settin’ out back a’ the jail
    (by Bill Fries and Chip Davis)

Black Bear Road
 - by C.W. McCall

Army Jeep Featured

YouTube link

Me and RJ and the kids was on a camp-out in the mountains, and we had us one of them "You-Drive-Em" Army Jeep cars which we rented from a fella by the name of Kubozke for thirty bucks a day, buy your gas along the way, take a rabbit's foot, and leave a pint of blood for a dee-posit.

And he explained it all to us how we was supposed to get to Telluride, which is fifty miles away by way of the regular highway.  However, there was a shortcut, but unless we had drove the Black Bear Road before, we'd better be off to stay, stay in bed and sleep late. 

Well, we took up off of the highway and we come upon a sign says "Black Bear Road. You don't have to be crazy to drive this road, but it helps." I says, "RJ, this must the shortcut Kubozke was talkin' about." She didn't pay no mind, 'cause she was makin' peanut butter sandwiches for the kids in the back seat, throwin' rocks and drinkin' kool-aid, and playin' count-the-license-plates. But they wasn't havin' too much fun a-countin' license plate or cars; 'cause there weren't no other cars.

We went about a mile-and-a-half in about four hours.  Busted off the right front fender. Tore a hole in the oil pan on a rock as big as a hall closet. Went over a bump and spilt the kool-aid, and Roy Gene stuck his bolo knife right through the convertible top, and the dog threw up all over the back seat. Peanut butter don't agree with him, you see.

So we had to stop and take off the top, and air everything out and clean it up. The dog run off and RJ says she felt her asthma comin' on. I was sittin' there wonderin' what to do when the entire Scenic San Juan "You-Drive-Em" Army Jeep car sank in the mud. At thirteen thousand feet above sea level.

Well, we shoveled it out and ate our lunch.  The dog made a yellow hole in the snow, and Roy Gene got out this instamatic and took a snapshot of it. Mary Elizabeth drawed a picture of the road; it looked like a whole bunch a' "Z"s and "W"s all strung together. And RJ took one look at it and said that the only way that Jeep car is goin' down that road is over her dead body. Then a rock slipped out from under the wheel and the "You-Drive-Em" Army Jeep car went right over the edge of the cliff.    ---- Yahoo-oo-oo-oo!

"Doggone-it, Roy Gene! How many times do I have to explain it to you? When I tell you to put a rock under the wheel, I mean a ROCK! Now look at that, what you have there is no bigger'n a grape-fruit.                                                                (by C.W. McCall, Bill Fries and Chip Davis)

Black Bear Road Info:
Black Bear Road is a notorious four-wheel drive only jeep trail that starts from 11,018 foot summit of Red Mountain Pass on U.S. Highway 550 (between Ouray and Silverton) to Telluride, Colorado. The Black Bear Road crests at Black Bear Pass, elevation 12,840. The road descends over a set of infamous switchbacks as it navigates the heights above Telluride. The road passes Bridal Veil Falls (Colorado), the highest waterfall in Colorado. The road was made famous in a spoken word song by C.W. McCall of the same name.

Black Bear Road is only open a few months out of the year, in the late summer and early fall. Black Bear Road usually doesn't open until the last week of July. The road is traveled one way only, downhill (except for the annual Jeeper's Jamboree in which the path is reversed for one day only), from the Red Mountain Pass side. The start of the trail is marked along U.S. 550 with the famous sign that reads:

TELLURIDE ——>
CITY OF GOLD
12 MILES - 2 HOURS
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE
CRAZY TO DRIVE THIS
ROAD - BUT IT HELPS
JEEPS ONLY

Black Bear Road is a difficult, dangerous trail even for four-wheel drive vehicles. If you have to be rescued, expect a towing bill in four figures. In 2004 a jeep slipped off the slope near the beginning of the switchbacks and fell several thousand feet, killing two of the passengers and severely injuring two others. Do not attempt this trail if you are not a highly experienced jeeper. Guided tours are available.

Jeep Jockey Jump
 - by Glenn Miller

YouTube link  /  MP3

Glenn Miller & The Army Airforce Orchestra - Jazz instrumental - no lyrics.  Dance = the Lindy Hop 
Jazz was the most popular form of music during World War Two. One of the most famous musicians from the 1940s was Glenn Miller.
Tex Beneke took over after Glenn Miller died in the war.
Jeep Boogie
 - by Cow Cow Davenport
Charles "Cow Cow" Davenport - Jazz instrumental - no lyrics
Jeep Rhythm
 - by Jimmie Lunceford

YouTube link

Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra - Jazz instrumental - - no lyrics.  Recorder at Jefferson Barracks, MO November 23,1945.
Six Jerks in a Jeep
 - by Andrew Sisters, 1942
  from the movie;
    Private Buckaroo

WWII Army Jeep Ford Pygmy Prototype (GP protoytpe) featured

YouTube link  /  MP3

 Anyone want to type these up & email them to me?
Little Bo Beep Has Lost Her Jeep
 - by Spike Jones and His City Slickers, 1942

WWII Army Jeep featured

YouTube link

Private Jackson had a girl he fondly called Bo-Peep
Now Jackson didn't have a car, so drove by in a jeep
They took a ride, the time flew by, and Bo-Peep was in heaven
Till Jackson cried "Bo-Peep, this jeep's gotta be in camp by eleven"

So little Bo-Peep has lost her jeep
And don't know where to find it
Her soldier boy took it back to camp
And left Bo-Peep behind it

It didn't have doors, the seats were hard
But Bo-Peep never minded
It didn't ride like a Cadillac
She wondered who designed it

Roller coasters nearly killed her
Aeroplanes they never thrilled her
But with Jackson at the wheel
She got that jeep, jeep, jeep appeal

Now little Bo-Peep wants to find her jeep
And find her soldier chappie
If he comes chug chug in his old blitz buggy
Bo-Peep will be happy

(Musical Break – Spike Jones Style)

Now little Bo-Peep has lost her jeep
Her boyfriend made an error
He let her drive, goodness, sakes alive
That Bo-Peep she's a terror

The throttle pushed down,
She tore through town
The red lights didn't stop her
The soldier knew that they both were through
When she side-swiped a copper

(Car sounds - "Look Out" - Crash sound)

Now little Bo-Peep has lost her jeep
Oh my, why must her joy end
Now her little jeep is layin' in a heap
And the guard house has her boy friend

Four Jills in a Jeep?  I want the Jeep! Not that I wouldn't like 4 Jills too.
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  alt spellings: Nellie, Nelly, Nell, Belle, Bell, Nelliebell, NellyBell, NellieBelle, nelly belle, rodgers