The Red Beret (1953)

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Sy Bartlett (screen adaptation)
Richard Maibaum (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 November 1953 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Alan Ladd is the focus of this story based on the wartime raid on the German radar station at Bruneval...

Plot Keywords:

Paratrooper | WWII | Based On Novel

Cast

Alan Ladd	...	Canada
Leo Genn	...	Major Snow
Susan Stephen	...	Penny Gardner
Harry Andrews	...	R.S.M.
Donald Houston	...	Taffy
Anthony Bushell	...	General Whiting
Patric Doonan	...	Flash
Stanley Baker	...	Breton
Lana Morris	...	Pinky
Tim Turner	...	Rupert
Michael Kelly	...	Dawes
Anton Diffring	...	The Pole
Thomas Heathcote	...	Alf
Carl Duering	...	Rossi
John Boxer	...	Flight Sgt. Box

Also Known As:

Paratrooper (USA)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1954) | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #16111)

Filming Locations:

RAF Abingdon Parachute School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Warwick Film Productions

Trivia:

Stanley Baker is dubbed.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When McKendrick, Penny and Major Snow are waiting for the arrival of the DC3 Dakotas, we see a DC3 landing with the markings of the United States Air Force, which was not formed until 1948. During the time period of the film it was still The US Army Air Corps.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Terence Young: Bond Vivant (1999) (V)

disappointing.

At the time this film was made (1953) many of the men who took part in ww2 wearing the RED BERET were still around and expecting to see a movie depicting what they had accomplished, and the opening text pays tribute to them somewhat, the film then goes on to a disappointing plot about an American leading man Alan Ladd,whose sole purpose seems to be to sell the movie in the U.S. The action depicting the raid on the Bruneval radar installation is o.k. but the later action which I think is supposed to be the fight in Tunisia gives a very seedy type of appearance,amateur,and certainly unconvincing acting and generally cheap looking sets, possibly a gravel-pit somewhere,(I guess most of the budget was spent on the leading star's salary) although the training scenes were very accurate. It was shot at R.A.F. Abingdon,near Oxford, the Parachute Training School at that time, the Guardroom at the rear gate can be recognized, where they are issued with their Red Berets.Considering all the hard fighting that this regiment actually did in fact do in so many places this had the potential to be a great movie. What was required was a good plot,a good script and less of a romantic storyline and some tight direction, sadly this did not happen and no serious attempt at a movie was made about the heroic actions of the Airborne Forces until "A Bridge Too Far". Other movies like The Cruel Sea, Twelve O'Clock High, Bridge on the River Kwai, King Rat and Das Boot etc.depict the sacrifices made by these men accurately I think, the men who wore the Red Beret must have left this screening very disappointed,I certainly did. Worth having a copy in your collection as I have, if only to think of what might have been.