The Big Lift

The Big Lift is a 1950 drama film shot in black-and-white on location in the city of Berlin that tells the story of "Operation Vittles", the Berlin Blockade in 1948, through the experiences of two U.S. Air Force sergeants. As British and American forces break a Russian blockade of the divided German city, a pair of American soldiers fall in love with local women against a backdrop of increasing Cold War tensions. Ground control specialist Hank Kowalski (Paul Douglas) finds happiness with the idealistic Gerda (Bruni Löbel), but, when pilot Danny MacCullough (Montgomery Clift) falls for the beautiful, mysterious Frederica (Cornell Borchers), his friends question her motives.