User reviews

This movie surprised me a little bit. From the title and the description of the movie on the DVD jacket, I was expecting to find almost a quasi-documentary about the Berlin airlift. There is some interesting stuff about the airlift. The challenges of flying in and out of Berlin in the era seem to be well documented, and there was what seemed to me to be a wholly authentic picture of American military life in that era, heightened by the fact that aside from Montgomery Clift and Paul Douglas, all the military personnel portrayed played themselves. Having said that, the movie really turned out to be more of a slice of life depiction of what it was like to live in Berlin during these post-war years, and especially during the airlift.

The movie focuses really on the budding relationship between Sgt. MacCullough (Clift) and a German woman he meets and falls in love with (played very well by an actress named Cornell Borchers.) As we watch their relationship develop we are introduced to the situation in Berlin - a city still largely in ruins 5 years after the end of World War II, food and electricity in short supply, hopelessly divided into the different zones of occupation, some Germans struggling with a Nazi legacy, others co-operating with the Russians just to survive, and (in the greatest irony of all) a people totally dependent on the Western allies (who had so recently been their enemies) for their survival. Douglas offered a pretty good portrayal of an American soldier (Kowalski) who had been held in a German POW camp during the War and who struggled with his anti-German feelings all the way through. After being a bit taken aback to discover that this movie wasn't what I had expected it to be, I ended up getting quite caught up in the story. As a very early piece of Cold War movie-making propaganda, it obviously glorifies the American ideal, but it's pretty well put together and enjoyable all the way through. 7/10

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.

Just saw The Big Lift. Bought the DVD for 3 dollars. Out-dated since it was filmed on location in Berlin in 1950 at the beginning of the Cold War. However, the camera work, the on-location shots, the use of real military people as actors, and the out-standing performances by Monty Clift and Paul Douglas make this an entertaining night at the movies.

The acting is so good, it doesn't seem like a film at all. Somewhat slow in parts, but overall pretty good. Even a surprise ending. Paul Douglas steals the movie & there is one very disturbing scene in the film in which he is fantastic. Also, you get to see how really handsome Monty Clift really was before the car accident and party-life style aged him way before his time.

This is film is one of the best true-life adaptations of an historical event - The Berlin Airlift. It was made on location in Berlin with the full cooperation of the US Military who actually played minor acting roles with the exception of the principal actors. The movie does an excellent job in portraying the bleak situation that the Berliners had to endure as a result of the Soviet blockade along with all the wrecked structures all of the city and the hording of black market staples such as coffee and coal. The most interesting portrayal in this film is the Paul Douglas character of that of an American seargant who has no love for the Germans and goes out of his way to be rude and act like a true "occupation" taking revenge out on a former Nazi prison guard that tormented him while he was a prisoner.

Its probably the most realistic portrayal of an American soldier after the war when technically the US Army was an occupation force along with the British and French. In addition, the portrayal of the German widow who really hated the Americans was probably realistic as well. These characters seemed more than stereotypes which was common in films portraying the political situation at the time. It does a good job in showing how ordinary soldiers and people can have divided loyalties and wrestle with the adverse situation that befell them in Berlin at the time. Truly a time capsule of Postwar Berlin.

Part docu and part drama--it's a look at life in post-war Germany. It's entertaining and educational. Clift made this and "The Search" while in Germany in the late 1940s. Seeing Berlin as it was then-is shocking and eye opening. Then look at Syria, among other places today, and see how far we haven't come....

The movie, "The Big Lift," starring Montgomery Clift as Flight Engineer Danny MacCullough, represents a time machine back into the beginnings of the Cold War. It's shot in gritty black and white by director George Seaton to enhance the images of life among the ruins of post WWII Berlin. It's also a very nice slice of Air Force flying in the early 50's and as a professional pilot, I can say that the flying sequences showing the C-54 cockpit are quite realistic. In one scene, Clift runs cockpit checklists for the pilots who are flying that are completely authentic. There is also a nice description of how GCA approach control works, which still exists as a backup at todays airports.

Some claim that Paul Douglas' character, "Kowalski," isn't believable as an anti-German bigot, but I thought he was "spot-on." There are men in their 80's today who still feel the same way.

German actor O.E. Hasse portrays "Stieber, the Scrounger." He's a bit of comic relief as a spy for the Russians, watching Templehof field, counting the Allied aircraft as they land. He says that he has to lessen the count so that the Russians will believe him. Look for Hasse in another excellent war picture, "Decision Before Dawn", where he plays Wehrmacht Colonel Von Ecker of the XI Panzer Corps, deployed east of the Rhine to counter the American Seventh Army during the closing months of the war. Also like "The Big Lift," this movie was shot amongst the ruins of Germany and used real Army personnel on screen.

"Decision Before Dawn," "Battleground," "The Best Years of Our Lives" and "The Big Lift" are four b+w movies made in this era which attempted to get a real taste for the movie goer of what the men experienced during World War II and the period just after. All four are favorites of mine and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Thank you for reading my comments.

Following Montgomery Clift's success in his debut film The Search, he played another soldier stationed abroad in The Big Lift. In this one, he's paired with overnight sensation Paul Douglas, providing an opposing physical and energetic force. They play Air Force Sergeants stationed in Berlin who are trying to balance post-war goodwill and natural post-war prejudice. Although the two leads didn't get along during filming, that really didn't matter to the overall integrity of the movie. Since their characters' personalities clash, it all worked out.

Paul's character is the more cynical one. He doesn't really think the Germans and Americans can get along, and that all the goodwill gestures are merely that. Providing food and helping build reconstruction can only go so far, so they should only take the Germans' gratitude with a grain of salt. Monty thinks they're really making progress, and when a German widow, Cornell Borchers shows romantic interest in him, he believes it's proof that German-American relations can be mended.

There was a fantastic category at the Golden Globes that no longer exists: Best Film Promoting International Understanding. I wish they'd bring it back, because that's part of the significance of the Golden Globes, for the foreign press to award international films and expose audiences to art outside their borders. Retired in 1964, this excellent category has been sorely missed. The Big Lift was nominated during the 1950 season, and when you watch it explore the different viewpoints of international relations, you understand why.

You really have to be in the mood for this one. More like a grainy tapestry of newsreel and realism. Dramatic and at the same time remarkable visions of the ruins of war torn Berlin. This film evolves around the trials and tribulations of two Airmen during the great airlift and their romancing of German women. Montgomery Clift is sullen and wooden as Sgt. MacCullough. On the other hand, Paul Douglas makes an ass of himself as the arrogant Sgt. Kowalski. I enjoyed the photogenic locales more than the story line itself. Also in the cast are:Bruni Lobel, O.E. Hasse and the mystical Cornell Borchers. Writer and director George Seaton deserves kudos for presenting the harsh realism of post-WWII Berlin.

I viewed this from the internet archive and three things struck me - the authenticity of actual location shooting and thus its natural, 'bombed out' look of Berlin and Berliners, the inclusion of military officers doing their job, whilst being filmed and included and the three leads.

The aerial shots give a unique geographical placing, which made it all watchable. However, despite one of my favourites, Montgomery Clift, at almost the start of his all-too-short career and Paul Douglas, both very different officers dropped in to help sort out the problems caused by the newly created Russian exclusion zone, the story is rather ordinary.

Yes, that old chestnut, romance and how to sort out loose ends that creates. Whether a bit of propaganda on behalf of the U.S war machine, I don't know. Somehow, I learnt nothing much new and the whole thing seemed to drag. Like the planes stuck in the fog, I wanted it to move a bit!

A lot worse have been made, of course and in conjunction with the later 'Judgement at Nuremberg', where Clift makes an incredible, Oscar nominated performance, a real picture of postwar Berlin and the Allies' efforts to rehabilitate it, emerges.

As "The Cold War" begins, Soviet Russians attempt to blockade the divided, isolated German city of Berlin; Montgomery Clift (as Sgt. Danny MacCullough ) and Paul Douglas (as Sgt. Henry "Hank" Kowalski ) are among those flown in to assist, by airlifting into the beleaguered city. Most of the Germans are grateful for the assistance, of course; and, there are German women, like British-accented Cornell Borchers (as Frederica) and Bruni Lobel (as Gerda) who are able to catch a soldier's eye…

The documentary-style location scenes of Berlin are starkly realistic; especially, after Clift and Douglas hit ground in Berlin. There, an actual story begins to take shape -- with bigotry, romance, and democracy featured. However, the story's arrival is too little, too late. While not mesmerizing, the performances are uniformly well directed, and delivered. Clift, Douglas, and the others do not disappoint, but the slow-moving film does... big time.

*** The Big Lift (1950) George Seaton ~ Montgomery Clift, Paul Douglas, Cornell Borchers

This is an unusual movie. The footage of Berlin in 1949 is revealing, and probably a good enough reason in itself to watch the movie. The themes of war guilt, patriotism, morality, and human nature are sometimes handled in a hamfisted way; but at other times, they are handled with nuance. The Americans are of course the good guys and the Germans the bad, but neither is wholly so. In some ways, the movie seems realistic; in others, it's Hollywood. Anyway, it's worth a look.

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.

Spooky airlift film in which the bad seem good and visa versa. This movie was made in 1950. As such, Berlin is accurately portrayed as a destroyed city. Portrayed is perhaps the wrong word. The reason is because the city was still a giant rubble pile. Great dialogue and excellent story make this the premiere film concerning the American and British airlift to save Berlin from the Soviets. The malevolent opportunism demonstrated by the German locals, lend a tragic, yet realistic touch to this movie. Lovelorn American servicemen eat up female German desperation, and thus the stage is set for tragedy.

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.

I don't know what to make of this film. It's an oddball.

Part story telling part propaganda.

Monty Cliff is barely in the first half.

I didn't like it much. Too disjointed for me

First of all, this is an entertaining movie with two great actors, Montgomery Clift and Paul Douglas. It could have been a trite "boys away from home" movie, but it doesn't end up that way. The good looking guy, doesn't get the girl, and almost gets taken for a chump. Paul Douglas keeps his girl despite his original hatred for Germans and everything German. Douglas decides to teach her about Democracy, only to find that he creates a new democrat, who expects Douglas to treat her with the respect due to any human, whether former enemy or not. I thought this was one of the best "messages" in this movie. Practicing what one preaches is usually the more difficult task. There some other messages that probably had support from the military. Many lonely soldiers were falling victim to unscruplous persons who only wanted a ticket out of war ravished Germany via marriage vows. The government's "red tape" was there for a good reason.

This movie was made in 1950, and has some relevant aspects that apply to our country in 2006. Our country went to war on Dec 7, 1941 against Japan but we spent most of our resources and time fighting Germany which was considered the more serious enemy. Does this have a current similarity today? In 1941, the enemy was military and political totalitarianism. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian system also, but when it was attacked by the Nazi's, we formed devil's pact as military allies. War and national defense means cooperating with people and nations that do not share our beliefs or traditions. It also means that many innocent people are going to get killed. In order to get to Berlin, we invaded France and killed a of innocent Frenchmen including children.

Once the shooting war was over in 1945, our former ally, Soviet Russia reneged on pre-war promises and took over most of Central and Eastern Europe for almost 50 years, and our troops still remain in Europe today. Berlin was the physical heart of the cold war, and the Berlin Wall was its most visible sign.

There were many reasons to leave Berlin to the Soviets. We had just fought a terrible war against Germany, and thought we had won a victory. Many thought we had no reason to help our former enemy who seem ready to fall prey from one intolerant system to another.

This movie obviously was made with the idea that it was a good thing to save our former enemies from the Soviets. Good for us, as well as them.

This movie shows a real sketch of the devastation and deprivations of Berliners. Starving children did not start the war, but now they were being victimized by the political motivations of the Soviets, who reneged on their pre-war agreements. They wanted the US out of Berlin. This movie shows the men and the machines that saved Berlin from complete Soviet domination. The cold war lasted in Germany for almost 50 years. Those who expect miracles in Iraq today, should keep this recent history in mind. Had the US decided to bug out of Berlin, the history of Germany and Europe would be much different. Without a productive and prosperous Western Europe, the freedom enjoyed now by Central and Eastern Europe might not have been possible.

Creative people generally do not like the restrictions placed on them by Government. I can understand a writer, artist or actor who hates restrictions. Which makes me constantly curious as to how so many people in the entertainment industry failed to see the Soviet's and their form of Communism for what it really was.

This movie touches on our imperfections too. We fought the Germans in the name of freedom for all, with a segregated military. We were, and we are and remain an imperfect democracy, but our system was and remains light years ahead of others in granting artistic and journalistic freedoms.

What was true 50 years ago unfortunately remains a problem today. We live with another demon just as evil as the Nazi ideology. The muslem ideology that does not tolerate any other beliefs is a threat to our existence as a free nation and people. I have lived long enough to know that tolerance is a goal, not a reality. I have also lived long enough to know which countries, and which political systems preach and try to practice tolerance. This movie is an accurate reflection of the times and troubles of a divided Berlin and the men who eventually saved it from tyranny.

Unlike so many war time dramas of that time where characters one dimensionally and the Americans were always the good guys this one is a breath of fresh air. Most of the characters are simply trying to survive and behave in a manner consistent with that aim while some, like Clift's character, are at little too saintly to be plausible. How the two women handle the war reflects how when people are faced with the face crisis can respond in dramatically different ways. The American government deserves kudos for allowing its soldiers to be used in the film.

Some of the images are haunting such as seeing a devastated Berlin and others like planes landing and taking off are just plain cool. ('Scuse the pun.)