The Big Lift

4/26/19502h 0m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ From the Ruins came Hope and Despair ~

Overview:

The Berlin Air Lift from the point of view of two Air Force NCOs who navigate romance in a bombed out post WW2 Germany.

Director:

George Seaton

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

berlin, germany
u.s. air force
woman between two men
airlift
post war germany
aviation
semi-documentary
war bride
airfield
berlin airlift
air force base
forced landing
manipulative woman
dating deception

Cast

Montgomery Clift

~ as ~

Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough

Paul Douglas

~ as ~

MSgt. Henry "Hank" Kowalski

Cornell Borchers

~ as ~

Frederica Burkhardt

Bruni Löbel

~ as ~

Gerda

O.E. Hasse

~ as ~

Stieber

Dante V. Morel

~ as ~

Capt. Dante V. Morel

John R. Mason

~ as ~

Capt. John R. Mason

Gail R. Plush

~ as ~

Capt. Gail R. Plush

Mack Blevins

~ as ~

Capt. Mack Blevins

William A. Stewart

~ as ~

Capt. William A. Stewart

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
This is certainly an authentic, atmospheric looking depiction of immediately post war Berlin as the erstwhile allies start carving up the spoils of victory. The story focusses on Monty Clift as "Danny", a flight engineer working for the US Air Force as the Soviets blockade all ground-based access to the bombed out city, and his pal Paul Douglas ("Kowalski") and follows their various escapades, loves and adventures during the short period of the siege. The story itself isn't really up to much and Clift always suited me better in a cowboy hat than in a military one - somehow he just isn't a particularly plausible soldier. Douglas, on the other hand has much more of a backstory to get our teeth into - his time in a POW camp has hardened his attitude to the German people (though the odd fling isn't entirely out of the question). There is some good aerial photography and that helps keep it interesting for a while, but at two hours long, the plot and characters start to wear quite thin and it begins to look more like a propaganda exercise for domestic consumption. Still, fans of Clift ought to enjoy it.