The Big Lift (1950)

Experiences of two Air Force sergeants during the 1948 Berlin Airlift.

Director:

George Seaton

Writer:

George Seaton

Stars:

Montgomery Clift, Paul Douglas, Cornell Borchers

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Montgomery Clift	...	Danny MacCullough
Paul Douglas	...	Hank Kowalski
Cornell Borchers	...	Frederica Burkhardt
Bruni Löbel	...	Gerda
O.E. Hasse	...	Stieber (as O. E. Hasse)
Dante V. Morel	...	Dante V. Morel (as Capt. Dante V. Morel)
John R. Mason	...	John R. Mason (as Capt. John R. Mason)
Gail R. Plush	...	Gail R. Plush (as Capt. Gail R. Plush)
Mack Blevins	...	Mack Blevins (as Capt. Mack Blevins)
William A. Stewart	...	William A. Stewart (as Capt. William A. Stewart)
Alfred L. Freiburger	...	Alfred L. Freiburger (as 1st Lt. Alfred L. Freiburger)
Gerald Arons	...	Gerald Arons (as 1st Lt. Gerald Arons)
James Wilson	...	James Wilson (as 1st Lt. James Wilson)
Richard A. Kellogg	...	Richard A. Kellogg (as 1st Lt. Richard A. Kellogg)
Roy R. Steele	...	Roy R. Steele (as 1st Lt. Roy R. Steele)

Storyline

In 1948, the Soviet Union blockades the Allied sectors of Berlin to bring the entire city under their control. A semi-documentary about the resulting Berlin Airlift gives way to stories of two fictitious U.S. Air Force participants: Sgt. Hank Kowalski, whose hatred of Germans proves resistant to change, and Sgt. Danny McCullough, whose pursuit of an attractive German war widow gives him a crash course in the seamy side of occupied Berlin.

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Plot Keywords:

berlin airlift | aviation | airlift | semi documentary | u.s. soldier | 

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Taglines:

From the Ruins came Hope and Despair

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

20 July 1950 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Quartered City

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,300,000, 31 December 1950

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The plane featured in the film is the Douglas C-54 Skymaster. 1,170 were produced from 1942-47. This was the military version of the DC-4 civilian airliner. After WWII many surplus C-54s were converted to civilian use.

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Goofs

The Airlift was in 1948. Paul Douglas's character (an ex-POW who wears an 8th AF shoulder patch) says that for the past seven years he'd sought revenge against the former German prison guard who'd mistreated him. The US bombing campaign against targets in Nazi-occupied Europe didn't begin until 1942, meaning that Douglas could not have been shot down and captured in 1941.

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Quotes

Alfred L. Freiburger: [speaking into radio mike] 37, roger.
[to cockpit crew]
Alfred L. Freiburger: We'll use the new runway.
William A. Stewart: I hear it's a bowling alley with lights.
Alfred L. Freiburger: [reading check list] Heater switches, off.
William A. Stewart: Off.
Alfred L. Freiburger: Booster switches, high.
Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough: High.
Alfred L. Freiburger: Fingers crossed.
Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough: [with the others, in unison and crossing fingers] Crossed!

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the movie, the "Hollywood" stars (Clift, Douglas etc.), are not credited, however a panoramic coda does credit the principal military service members who portrayed themselves in the film. It shows them standing at attention in front of a C-54, with their names and ranks scrolling across.

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Connections

References Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

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Soundtracks

National Emblem
(uncredited)
Music by Edwin Eugene Bagley
Played after the air field ceremony

User Reviews

Has a documentary feel to it.

Montgomery Clift had made his screen debut in 1947 in The Search and in the short period of four years made some films considered now as classics. He was also in Red River. The Heiress, and A Place in the Sun. The Big Lift doesn't belong in that category.

Still it's an intriguing idea that George Seaton. With only five actors in the plot, have the rest of the film be actual army personnel and German civilians. And the amateur cast does fine playing themselves. I guess it saved a whole lot salary. It gives the movie a documentary feel to it.

Monty and Paul Douglas are two American GIs participating in The Berlin Airlift. This was America and it's allies Great Britain and France in a joint effort to airlift supplies into Berlin after Stalin closed off ground access to Berlin in an effort to force the other three occupying powers out of Berlin.

It was a great propaganda victory for the west at the beginning of the Cold War. Fed a hungry city at the same time calling Joe Stalin's bluff. One Harry Truman's best decisions as President, a win/win for sure.

The story involves Clift and Douglas and their interaction with some German civilians they hooked up with. Clift is a sensitive soul as he always is and Douglas is the rough hewn, but kindly type he usually is. They have differing views about the Germans from fighting them in the late War which was only five years old at the time The Big Lift was made.

Let us say that both of them learn something from their experiences by the time the film ends and the Berlin Airlift is officially over.

Not in the pantheon of great films for Clift and Douglas, but an interesting and in this case historical piece of cinema.