The Big Lift

1950

2h 0m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

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War

Drama

Romance

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

Directors

George Seaton

Writers

George Seaton(writer by)

Stars

Montgomery Clift

Paul Douglas

Cornell Borchers

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Top cast

Montgomery Clift

Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough

Paul Douglas

MSgt. Henry "Hank" Kowalski

Frederica Burkhardt

Gerda

Stieber

Capt. Dante V. Morel

Capt. John R. Mason

Capt. Gail R. Plush

Capt. Mack Blevins

Capt. William A. Stewart

Alfred L. Freiburger

1st Lt. Alfred L. Freiburger

Gerald Arons

1st Lt. Gerald Arons

James Wilson

1st Lt. James Wilson

Richard A. Kellogg

1st Lt. Richard A. Kellogg

Roy R. Steele

1st Lt. Roy R. Steele

Directors

George Seaton

Writers

George Seaton(writer by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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.

Geronimo196727 Dec, 2022