Paratrooper

Like THEY WERE NOT DIVIDED, THE RED BERET is a 1950s war effort made by the team (Albert Broccoli, Terence Young, etc.) who would later go on to make the early James Bond films and thus kick-start a whole genre of cinema. This film stars Alan Ladd as an Canadian soldier who joins forces with a squad of British paratroopers to go on missions behind enemy lines in both France and North Africa.

It's a fairly typical war movie from the era, a little stodgy in places and ridiculous in others. The silly bar-room brawl is straight out of a western and seems to come from nowhere, it's so sudden. Ladd plays a perpetually grumpy fellow but Susan Stephen doesn't have any trouble falling for his less-than-ideal charms. The supporting cast of British talent is better: in his first film role, Harry Andrews is a scene-stealer as the RSM, and there are parts for Stanley Baker, Donald Houston, Anton Diffring, and Leo Genn.

THE RED BERET seems to be suffering from a low budget, because the action sequences aren't quite up to scratch and never convince too much, although there's a novel use for a bazooka which is worth something. The skydiving stuff is better and more thrilling, and Ladd's back story, when it eventually comes to light, is an acceptable one.

In real life, Alan Ladd was scared to death of flying (he preferred trains), but you'd never know it in this exciting action adventure set in early World War II.

The old English method of training paratroopers by jumping from balloons is accurately depicted, as is the result of landing with an unopened parachute (the British, like the German airborne, eschewed the use of reserve parachutes).

It's actually a pretty standard war movie, though the score is exciting and memorable, and the combat scenes, though dated now, are pretty well done, considering this movie was shot in 1953.

Definitely worth watching!

The Red Beret (AKA Paratrooper) is directed by Terence Young and stars Alan Ladd & Leo Genn. It is based on the book of the same name written by Hilary Saint George Saunders.

"This story tells of one small part of the war. The story of those men who joined the parachute regiment — Men from many different countries and creeds, who were to find themselves one day in a parachute training establishment. Only in the telling and in the spirit of these men themselves do history and fiction meet — even if we dare not show in this film what some of these men did in fact and in real life achieve. For nobody would ever believe it."

Somewhere in England. The year 1940 after Dunkirk.

A rather popular film at the Worldwide box office on release, this in spite of some British complaints about American actor Ladd playing the lead in a British war story, The Red Beret is serviceable as an action character piece. The story is in effect a play on real war hero John Frost, who is here played by Genn as Major Snow (Frost was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in A Bridge Too Far). With this in mind it's obvious that Ladd, who does OK in his role of the reluctant leader, is purely there for American audience enticement. However, the makers do a good enough job of not letting Ladd's part in the film be the sole point of reference and detract from the real heroes from which the core of the film is based. There's some poor technical aspects to put up with, such as major superimposed sequences that stick out like a sore thumb, but these are off set a touch by the well constructed battle scenes.

If in an undemanding war film mood this just about leaves a favourable impression. 6/10

Not too bad for a typical Alan Ladd movie of its time (released in 1953). Not a must-see but it is entertaining. Having seen this movie a number of times, I was recently surprised to see what appears to be a lot of blue screen shots overlaid on backgrounds. Much of the static dialog seems to be shot on a sound stage and then superimposed on whatever was supposed to be going on in the scene.

Of particular interest is the difference in equipment and training between British and American paratroopers. As with most Alan Ladd movies he's portrayed as the arch-typical quiet loner who, when pushed, reacts with sufficient violence as to be given plenty of space. In reality, Ladd was too small to be much of a menace to most (unless he's pulling a trigger). To give you an idea of how diverse his career was at this time, this movie was released in the same year as his hits "Botany Bay" and "Shane".

The character of Maj Snow is based upon John Frost - the same character played by Anthony Hopkins in A Bridge Too Far. John Frost's paras were those involved in the Bruneval Raid and the drop into North Africa depicted in The Red Beret and were the ones attempting to hold the bridge at Arnhem, depicted in A Bridge Too Far. The film is normally shown in its American version under the title "Paratrooper" This was likely done because in the 1950's few Americans would have understood the significance of a "Red Beret" despite the emphasis given to its presentation during the film. The brief battle scenes depicting the assault on the radar station at Bruneval were also considered authentic enough, at the time, to be used as training films for urban combat.