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The Big Lift

The Big Lift

  • Status: Released
  • 26-04-1950
  • Runtime: 120 min
  • Score: 6.708
  • Vote count: 24

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

Montgomery Clift

Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough

Paul Douglas

MSgt. Henry "Hank" Kowalski

Cornell Borchers

Frederica Burkhardt

Bruni Löbel

Gerda

O.E. Hasse

Stieber

Dante V. Morel

Capt. Dante V. Morel

John R. Mason

Capt. John R. Mason

Gail R. Plush

Capt. Gail R. Plush

Mack Blevins

Capt. Mack Blevins

William A. Stewart

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

CinemaSerf

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.