Filmed on location, The Big Lift (1950) gives us a glimpse at life in Berlin after the Russians blockaded the city, and at the 1948 British and American airlift that kept the city alive.

Writer / director George Seaton (Airport) pulls no punches here. Shot only five years after WWII, Berlin is seen as a ruin, a pile of rubble. Paul Douglas' character can't overcome his hatred of Germans. The soldiers prey upon the desperation of women. And the Berliners use the soldiers.

In 1950, Montgomery Clift was a hot property. Howard Hawk's Red River and The Search (another story of postwar Berlin) made him a big star in 1948. Paul Douglas was hot, too, and would also star in the great Panic In The Streets in 1950. They're both excellent here, though they didn't get along on the set.

Much of the realism comes from its devastated locations, with Charles Clark's cinematography setting the mood, as it did for Suddenly (1954) and Guadalcanal Diary (1943). The supporting cast helps, too; Seaton used real soldiers and Berlin locals.

Seen today, The Big Lift not only succeeds as drama, it documents the early days of the Cold War.