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      The Paratrooper

      1953 1h 28m War List
      Reviews 17% Fewer than 50 Ratings Audience Score A former Army officer (Alan Ladd) posing as a Canadian joins British paratroops bound for France and North Africa. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Ian W Terrible script and oriduction value. It's a B movie with some good acting. Give it a miss. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Truly one of the worst war films I have ever seen, strewn with continuity errors, dreadful acting and thick with cliches. Since when could Wales double as the African desert? And don't get me started on the intrusive and frankly bloody awful music. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Has some points of interest, not least a good dollop of old reliables like Andrews, Baker, Genn, Houston and Diffring. And for Bond fans, the great Terence Young cuts his teeth and even Walter Gotell gets a pay packet. The film is endearingly old-fashioned and stilted particularly the romance between Ladd and Susan Stephen (who went on to marry Nic Roeg). The climax is set in North Africa but clearly the budget had run out as it looks like the Scottish moors or the hills of Wicklow. Once is more than enough. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member good WWII tale post WWII Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member So-so World War II actioner. Notable for being in color and for putting an America (pretending to be Canadian) in with British soldiers. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting WWII romance drama with Alan Ladd of the States re-enlisting in the Canadian armed forces. While not up to our standards today visually, Alan Ladd shines in this man with a mysterious past. [img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQKD8jPCX2R88d8tJNtvq2nPWbo9Q5fdM7_SoJrvwGGtTq7oe-6[/img] What's particularly interesting about this film is that it was co-produced by the now legend James Bond producer Albert Broccoli. Broccoli is most notable as the producer of the many early James Bond films. [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/AlbertBroccoliPass.jpg[/img] He and Harry Saltzman saw the films evolve from relatively low-budget origins to large-budget, high-grossing extravaganzas, and Broccoli's heirs continue to produce new Bond films. [img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTwHFIR9XBH4phMBRXdNTqMWhKswnKa2F7yMhYI3c2uFaD2kpyH[/img] While Red Beret is largely a WWII British army film, it becomes largely a backdrop to a romance story. Ladd's character known as "Canada", while of course talented from previous military experience unknown to the British, earns a promotion to be an officer. But Ladd declines the "honor" claiming he takes orders and does not give them. SEE the entire film here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mnRXN3u318&list=PLEE54950D026DAC24 [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fc/Redberpost.jpg/220px-Redberpost.jpg[/img] NOTES: 1 The Red Beret title comes from the movie story itself. The British adopt a red beret for the paratroopers over the previous green hat of the day. Doesn't seem particulary a good title in that it really doesn't say much about the film. 2 The film cost US$700,000 to make and grossed US$8 million worldwide. 3 Ladd was paid US$200,000, first class travel and accommodation for himself, his wife, their four children and their nurse, and 10 per cent of the gross receipts over US$2,000,000 for his eleven weeks work filming The Red Beret. Since the film grossed 8,000,000... that 10% means Ladd pocketed 600,000 OR put another way, 3 times more than his original salary for the film. Not bad for a film no one remembers today. Remember, these were 1953 dollars! 4 Ladd's most popular and critically acclaimed film Shane though filmed earlier was also released in 1953 making him a prime box office attraction. [img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS3N0_LFv-TX2s8dRhOOfazA7KWkFl73BdFlfglgBWQcmpeeZnATg[/img] Cast Alan Ladd as Canada Leo Genn as Major John Snow (based on Colonel (then-Major) John Frost) Susan Stephen as Penny Gardner Harry Andrews as R.S.M. Donald Houston as Taffy Anthony Bushell as General Whiting (based on General Browning) Patric Doonan as Flash Stanley Baker as Breton Lana Morris as Pinky Tim Turner as Rupert Michael Kelly as Dawes Anton Diffring as The Pole Thomas Heathcote as Alf Carl Duering as Rossi John Boxer as Flight Sergeant Box [img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSZGL5s4zWxqB5ko9CgZmzwX2MiaM44bOPbKxG2lWeFJ6aC7o4EUw[/img] Alan Ladd wearing the new red beret hat Directed by Terence Young Produced by Irving Allen Albert R. Broccoli (of James Bond fame, see NOTES) Written by Richard Maibaum Sy Bartlett Frank Nugent partly based on a book by Hilary Saint George Saunders Music by John Addison Cinematography John Wilcox Editing by Gordon Pilkington Studio Warwick Films Distributed by Columbia Pictures Release date(s) 11 August 1953 (UK) Running time 88 min Country United Kingdom Budget US$ 700,000 Box office US$ 8 million (world wide) [img]http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQduCLT0ta_yEhYH4i2_mPK4Kx8yRD3C7iNv4GLf8Ah6XGGb75_[/img] Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Paratrooper

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis A former Army officer (Alan Ladd) posing as a Canadian joins British paratroops bound for France and North Africa.
      Director
      Terence Young
      Screenwriter
      Richard Maibaum, Frank S. Nugent
      Genre
      War
      Original Language
      English
      Runtime
      1h 28m