The Big Lift (1950)
The Berlin Air Lift from the point of view of two Air Force NCOs who navigate romance in a bombed out post WW2 Germany.
- George Seaton
- George Seaton
Rating: 6.7/10 by 23 users
Alternative Title:
Sitiados - ES
Die viergeteilte Stadt - DE
En yankee i Berlin - SE
Country:
Germany
United States of America
Language:
English
Deutsch
Runtime: 02 hour 00 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: 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
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.
