The Big Lift main backdrop
The Big Lift main poster

The Big Lift

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6.7/10 • 23

1950-04-262h 0m

WarDramaRomance

From the Ruins came Hope and Despair

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
Writters
George Seaton
Editors
George Seaton, William Reynolds

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Montgomery Clift

    Montgomery Clift

    Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough

  2. Paul Douglas

    Paul Douglas

    MSgt. Henry "Hank" Kowalski

  3. Cornell Borchers

    Cornell Borchers

    Frederica Burkhardt

  4. Bruni Löbel

    Bruni Löbel

    Gerda

  5. O.E. Hasse

    O.E. Hasse

    Stieber

  6. Dante V. Morel

    Dante V. Morel

    Capt. Dante V. Morel

  7. John R. Mason

    John R. Mason

    Capt. John R. Mason

  8. Gail R. Plush

    Gail R. Plush

    Capt. Gail R. Plush

  9. Mack Blevins

    Mack Blevins

    Capt. Mack Blevins

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Dec 27, 2022

6/10

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.

Media

  • The Big Lift poster
  • The Big Lift poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
berlin, germanyu.s. air forcewoman between two menairliftpost war germanyaviationsemi-documentarywar brideairfieldberlin airliftair force baseforced landingmanipulative womandating deception