User reviews

If you`ve no interest in war movies THE RED BERET may just appear to be yet another B movie about the war . It contains all the old cliches like dying soldiers making a speech just before they draw their last breath and as soon as someone is tasked to do something dangerous they`ll do it in a completely blase manner then die in a blackly comical famous last words scene .There`s some corny dialogue from the American characters like " Holy cow , check out those crazy beefeaters " while the Brits are all stiff upper lipped . It should also be pointed out that the " location filming " in North Africa was obviously carried out somewhere else , my guess would be the Highlands of Scotland with its peat bogs and rolling hills . But despite these flaws I can remember seeing this film from my childhood where it retains a soft spot and watched it again for the first time in something like 30 years.

Despite the somewhat patchy production standards I wasn`t really disappointed with this movie and as an adult I was able to notice a few interesting points . One point is that it`s very very similar to SHANE . Both star Alan Ladd and he plays a very similar character in both , in this case a North American called McKendrick who has a guilty past . Also if you look at the production credits you`ll notice that the producer , screenwriter and director would almost 10 years later go on to make DR NO * a movie that changed the face of British cinema . In many ways THE RED BERET is much more enjoyable than most of the British war movies at the time probably down to the fact that it`s made in glorious technicolor rather than monochrome and I`ll probably be accused of being a heretic by saying that it`s more enjoyable than the depressing BAND OF BROTHERS a mini series that has a lot in common with THE RED BERET

* Watch the scene where Major Snow walks into the office and throws his hat onto a hat stand . Sean Connery also does this in the Terence Young directed Bond movies . No doubt a director trade mark

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

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.

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".

Paratrooper which played under the title of The Red Beret originally across the pond was one of three films that Alan Ladd did for Warwick Pictures in the United Kingdom to be released by Columbia in the USA. The old standby gambit of having an American film star playing in a British location be a Canadian was once again used. Only this time it was an integral part of the plot.

Ladd in fact is an American who left the American army when in training he gave an order that cost a friend his life. He's decided he does not want to have responsibility and enlists in the Canadian army when war breaks out. Time and circumstance have put him in Paratrooper school where a unit is being trained under Major Leo Genn. There's also a little time for romance with perky Susan Stephens who looks like an early version of Hayley Mills.

The Red Beret is what is given the British Paratroopers as well as wings upon completion of their training. It's a point of pride with them just as the Green Beret is with the US Army Special Forces. But back in the day it was felt US audiences would not know exactly what the significance was. The British audiences did when Alan Ladd got into a brawl with some visiting Americans when they insulted the Red Beret.

A commando style raid to get some radar equipment and the beginning of the western North African campaign provide all the well executed combat sequences that director Terrence Young provided us. Harry Andrews, Donald Houston, and a favorite British player of mine, Stanley Baker are among some of the other Paratroopers Ladd is in training and combat with.

Of Ladd's British films Paratrooper and Hell Below Zero are pretty well done. But The Black Knight was a disaster. Of course none of these were as good as Shane.

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.

From the onset, this movie starts with a serious deficit. Like too many Alan Ladd movies, it inexplicably has Ladd playing an angry man--too angry. He sulks and barks incessantly--like he's suffering from a bad case of PMS. While this sometimes works, here it just makes no sense. Even when you later learn about the supposed source of his anger, it still makes no sense. Having Ladd play a NON-CRAZY guy would have made this a better and more realistic film.

Angry Alan has joined the Canadian Army and has volunteered for paratrooper duty. He's such a good soldier that they want to make him an officer but he refuses each time it is offered. Through the course of his training, he somehow gets a girlfriend--though what she see's in grouchy-boy, I don't know. The audience knows that despite his attitude, somehow Alan will make good by the end of the picture.

In some ways this is a very good production and in others it's a disappointment. The paratroop scenes are very good and appear pretty realistic. Genuine American and British planes were used and the fights look nice as do the jumps. However, at other times it comes off poorly--because the little details were wrong. A few examples include post-WWII markings on an airplane (a minor problem but it should have been fixed) and a scene where the sky color changes back and forth in a sloppy manner. So, in a jump early in the film it's dusk and then looks about half an hour earlier and then half an hour later. Again, not a huge problem but seeing the change so quickly was baffling. The final odd thing is a common cliché--but a dumb one. Again and again you see guys pulling the pins from grenades WITH THEIR TEETH! This is a great way to lose teeth--and no one really ever did this--yet you see it in films repeatedly.

As a result of some decent action, wooden characters (especially Ladd) and a few flubs, I think this is in the category of 'time-passer' and nothing more. Even if Albert Broccoli, Terrence Young and a lot of other future James Bond film crew worked on this, it's only average at best.

A war drama starring Alan Ladd and Leo Genn, about the British Parachute regiment in the early days of the Second World War. It was a solid war movie and was quite well done, although some of it felt a bit cliched. I watched the US version, which was retitled Paratrooper, and so several of the actors were dubbed, including Stanley Baker, presumably to make them more understandable, although it was strange to hear Baker speaking with a completely different voice. I liked the film and the action sequences were good, but there weren't enough of them, and the characters didn't feel developed enough to keep the plot going in between. Still, it was entertaining and well crafted, if not exceptional.

Alan Ladd made a lot of these WWII movies that are sort of telling real stories, mashing in a love story and turning out a very formulaic result.

They'd be so much better if Alan Ladd wasn't such a wooden actor.

At the time this film was made (1953) many of the men who took part in ww2 wearing the RED BERET were still around and expecting to see a movie depicting what they had accomplished, and the opening text pays tribute to them somewhat, the film then goes on to a disappointing plot about an American leading man Alan Ladd,whose sole purpose seems to be to sell the movie in the U.S. The action depicting the raid on the Bruneval radar installation is o.k. but the later action which I think is supposed to be the fight in Tunisia gives a very seedy type of appearance,amateur,and certainly unconvincing acting and generally cheap looking sets, possibly a gravel-pit somewhere,(I guess most of the budget was spent on the leading star's salary) although the training scenes were very accurate. It was shot at R.A.F. Abingdon,near Oxford, the Parachute Training School at that time, the Guardroom at the rear gate can be recognized, where they are issued with their Red Berets.Considering all the hard fighting that this regiment actually did in fact do in so many places this had the potential to be a great movie. What was required was a good plot,a good script and less of a romantic storyline and some tight direction, sadly this did not happen and no serious attempt at a movie was made about the heroic actions of the Airborne Forces until "A Bridge Too Far". Other movies like The Cruel Sea, Twelve O'Clock High, Bridge on the River Kwai, King Rat and Das Boot etc.depict the sacrifices made by these men accurately I think, the men who wore the Red Beret must have left this screening very disappointed,I certainly did. Worth having a copy in your collection as I have, if only to think of what might have been.

One of the worst WW11 movies I've ever seen.And I reckon I've seen em all. That's the greenest looking North Africa I've ever seen and the final action(considering the acting talent at hand) is utterly unconvincing, unremittingly bad visual effects and the bazooka minefield escape all seems a bit pointless as relief by the Scots is not far away.The memory of the great John Frost is so much better preserved in A Bridge Too Far..and Alan Ladd in the leading role, with the whole clichéd redemption thing going on..just phones it in.The only reason I haven't rated this film awful(1)is the work of Leo Genn..great actor/great voice...apart from that .. truly astonished at its craptacular badness...Intriguing though to see regular 50/60's Nazi Anton Diffring turning up as a British para.

Somehow 'The Red Beret,' by no measure a fine film, remains one of my sentimental favorites, perhaps because in my teens it aired often on late night TV, under its U.S. title 'Paratrooper.' Alan Ladd, even when he wasn't acting, appeared as the sexy strong stoical silent type, and here he again fills that bill. I also love this film because it's one of the many that carved out for Harry Andrews his reputation for playing tough-tender sergeants and sergeant majors; in 'The Red Beret' his last-words line, "Pity the man who hears the pipes and was na born in Scotland," has stuck pleasantly with me into my sixth decade; he also gives a lovely little take when the red berets are issued to him and his men and his character must part with his beloved regimental headgear. Also very sexy here, in his own astute, urbane way - quite different from Ladd's, is Leo Genn (who, in my experience, never gave a poor screen performance, and who was very good as the psychiatrist in 'The Snake Pit' and as Mr. Starbuck in John Huston's adaptation of 'Moby Dick'). Pert, pretty Susan Stephen - in a curls-and-frizz hairdo that was fifteen years ahead of its time! - doesn't act very well here, but I still find her effort affecting as Ladd's character's love interest.

I suppose my affection for 'The Red Beret' is one more proof that "There's no accounting for taste." Which helps to explain, if not to excuse, most of the rubbish studios churn out nowadays for uncritical mass consumption. I wish 'The Red Beret' would release on disc so that once, and many times over, in the wee hours I could snuggle down on the sofa and enjoy it as I did when I was a teenager.

I first saw this four decades ago and as a young lad thought it was true to life. One of my uncles was a paratrooper during the war and told he it was bunkum. The character played by Ladd wouldn't have lasted a day in real life. They made him (or he played it ) like a tough guy. Maybe in the American market this works but not in 1940's wartime Britain. But hey Ho this film was made to make money for people and not anything else. It's a yarn.

The exact quote is, "I'm sorry for the man who hears the pipes and who was na born in Scotland."

The 6/8 march (featured twice and played very smartly) is The Piobaireachd of Dhonald Dhu. It is a regimental duty tune used for "Minutes to the Commanding Officer's Parade."

Ladd's character tries to go for sexy-cool by being difficult and cocky. Sparse moments of unfunny wit, lots of silent suffering and his apparent difficulty reading are supposed to soften his character, but manage to come off as a bit psycho.

The Technicolor is a treat. Colors are so bright and sharp you would think it was colorized.

The supporting cast is phenomenal. Stanley Baker (Lt. John Chard in Zulu) has a brief, but important role. Harry Andrews is wonderfully over the top. Leo Gunn, the epitome of polish, is outstanding as always.

Alan Ladd stars as Steve "Canada" McKendrick, a cantankerous American who acts like he's better than the other trainees (apparently he already has some experience) and enlists in the Canadian Army to join the British paratroopers before the U. S. gets into the war. He already doesn't fit in because he's not a Brit, and to make things worse, he fights or threatens anyone that looks at him the wrong way. There's no reason given for his bad attitude, so maybe it simply stems from the filmmakers' opinion of Americans. Later in the film there is an American flight crew that is very casual in terms of their military courtesy and none of them salute the British colonel when he briefly speaks to them, so the filmmakers obviously regard Americans as a bunch of cowboys, or whatever.

After his unit's first op, Canada is offered a commission due to his leadership ability, which he must have demonstrated off-screen. Maybe the British filmmakers in 1962 didn't think that Brit corporals, sergeants, and other NCOs during the war had any leadership ability, so privates that showed such ability became officers.

The script is bad, and the effects are stupid. A shell from a Navy gun creates the same size blast as a hand grenade, and neither one causes any casualties. However, in one scene, a grenade explodes at the feet of the British commander, causing him to lose his balance and fall over. War is Hell, I guess.

The throwing knives are pretty lethal, though. At one point a Brit soldier throws a knife at a German sentry, which sinks about an inch deep (we see him pull it out right after) into the sentry's back below his shoulder blade and kills him instantly.

Early in the film he hits on an English lass who works as a parachute packer. She quickly warms up to him (it's anybody's guess as to why), and their relationship serves as a subplot. He keeps being a jerk to her and ticking her off, but after one argument, she storms off, he catches up to her, grabs her and says, "Here's one thing you will understand," and kisses her in a very manly 50s fashion. After that things are smooth between them until they have an argument at dinner one evening, and Canada walks off saying, "So long, Baby." That's the last we see of the gal in this fictitious story, which ends with a (probably wildly inaccurate) portrayal of the real-life Operation Biting.

It's a pretty typical film for its era, though certainly not one of the better ones in my opinion.

This film is a very good look at the start of the British airborne forces during World War II. "Paratrooper" was released in America in late December 1953, more than four months after it premiered in the U. K. where it was called "The Red Beret." That is the name of the book from which the film is adapted, written by Hillary St. George Saunders.

Columbia studios clearly made the film for people on both sides of the pond. So, the plot includes an American who enlists in the British Army in Canada. That's OK, and we know quite a few American fliers joined the war effort early by serving in the RAF. Here it provides the love interest part of the film that Hollywood often included for wider audience appeal. But, I think any number of other actors might have filled the role better than Alan Ladd. His Private McKendrick (aka, "Canada") seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. We learn of his background halfway into the film, and one can understand his experience affecting him. But, not that he would be so touchy and angry toward other men. Whatever the reason, his character doesn't come across as genuine.

That aside, I give this film eight stars for its interesting and early look at jump school training and the start of the British Airborne. Years later, I served as a paratrooper in the U. S. 504th and 509th Airborne regiments (1962 through 1964). Americans train at the Ft. Benning, GA, jump school. I became familiar with the British Airborne while stationed in what was then West Germany. We had NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) military exercises in Europe with the Brits, West Germans, and others. And, I was in charge of our airborne PIO (Public Information Office) when we sent one of our troopers through the British jump school. He photographed and reported on it. And, yes, the Brits were still jumping from balloons in training.

From its very beginning jump training has undergone changes, just as the aircraft, equipment and other things have changed. The film shows the first planes the Brits used. They were modified Wellington bombers and men dropped through an opening in the floor. Soon, "Dakotas" (Douglas C-47s) arrived from the U. S., and troopers jumped out of side doors behind the propellers. In 1962, I trained in C-119 "Flying Boxcars," and then jumped from C-130s (Hercules transports) and helicopters in Germany.

The Brits needed to make seven jumps to earn their parachutist wings. We had to make five jumps in the U. S. The film shows training in hand-to-hand combat. Americans got that in advanced infantry training before Jump School. We don't see any other physical training in the film, but all paratroopers have much more rigorous physical conditioning. One thing was glaring to me - I didn't see a single trooper land with a PLF (parachute landing fall). Maybe this wasn't developed until well after the war, but PLF landing had tremendous results in reducing injuries. In a nutshell, the trooper is trained to turn or orient his chute for a side landing, and then in a relaxed position as his feet touch the ground, he rolls his body to the right or left, with his calf, then hip, then side absorbing the impact. In the 17 jumps I made, I only got hurt once, when I landed on a big boulder right in the middle of my back.

In this movie, Stanley Baker plays one of the training cadre, Sgt. Breton. On the first airplane jump, his chute fails to open and he falls to his death. The Brits called his malfunction a Roman candle. In the American airborne, we call it a cigarette roll. But it's interesting that the Brits apparently didn't carry reserve chutes. They didn't appear to have them on in the film. So far as I know, American paratroopers always have had a reserve chute on the front. If anyone had a cigarette roll or other malfunction, he would release the main chute and pull the ripcord on his reserve. I saw half a dozen or more uses of the reserves in my airborne service. Some other things missing from this film were training jumps from towers. In one scene, I can see what looks like a 250-foot tower in the background. I also enjoyed the portrayal of the chute packing unit. It's too bad they didn't show the actual packing tables. And the funniest thing in this film is the strange looking headgear the Brits wore in jump school.

"Paratrooper" is a good portrayal of the early action of the British Airborne. I thank Steve Crook from London, who's review tipped me off to the background of Major Snow. Leo Genn plays the part very well in this film. Snow was John Frost in real life. He became best known after his paratrooper battalion took the north end of the Arnhem Bridge in Operation Market Garden in September 1944. The Brits held out four days against a German Panzer division. They were captured only after they ran out of ammunition. In the 1977 blockbuster movie, "A Bridge Too Far," Anthony Hopkins plays Lt. Col. Frost beautifully. Frost retired as a Major General in 1968, and was a close adviser on that film.

The only thing I see wrong in this movie is the name of the first operation the troopers had. Major Snow calls it "Operation Pegasus." In fact, it was called Operation Biting, also known as the Bruneval Raid. There was a real Operation Pegasus, and it was the escape plan across the Rhine River for many of the Brits trapped by the Germans in Operation Market Garden.

War movie fans and those who like history especially should enjoy this film.

Don't know why this movie appeals to me this much except for the excellent Leo Genn who makes any movie better. It is one of those that I can watch over and over. I think it is that there are so many great British character actors and Allan Ladd isn't bad but his usual self. The story line is simple but then I was a small child at the beginning of the war and all the movies were very simplistic. I think that is what I enjoy. Not a lot of side drama, just a straight forward telling of men at war in the old idealized style.

The editing is a bit choppy in places and the old blue screen is obvious in odd places but "Sorry for the man who hears the pipes and was na born in Scotland."