Future James Bond director Terence Young, who later helmed "Dr. No," "From Russia, with Love," and "Thunderball," doesn't muck about in "The Red Beret," a low-budget but entertaining World War II thriller about British paratroopers. Clocking in at 88 nimble minutes, this Columbia Pictures release is a fast-moving epic with a first-rate supporting cast. Masquerading as a Canadian, Alan Ladd of "Shane" fame joins His Majesty's Army and trains as a paratrooper. He hides a flaw in his character. It seems that Private Steve 'Canada' McKendrick (Ladd)was an officer in the Army Air Corp who had problems and no longer relishes the idea of being an officer. The sparks fly between former pilot turned English and pretty Penny Gardner (Susan Stephen of "Three Spare Wives") who packs his parachute and sticks a handkerchief in it. This turns out to be a quaint old custom that Penny defends. Naturally, any wartime thriller about paratroopers features scenes where chutes don't open, soldiers collide in the air, or they injure themselves when they land. Leo Glenn is well cast as real life Major Snow who saw action against the Germans. Interestingly enough, Anton Diffring plays a Polish paratrooper; later, Diffring would specialize in roles as a German officer. The initial training jump from a balloon goes awry when their sergeant drops out of the balloon but his chute fails to open. Stanley Baker plays that unlucky sergeant. The first mission takes them into Occupied France where our heroes launch an assault on a German radar installation at Bruneval. Young and "Hell Below Zero" lenser John Wilcox stage some exciting combat scenes, especially in the castle setting during the radar raid. Later, the British start jumping from America aircraft, unlike British planes where they jump through a hole in the bottom of the fuselage. Producer Albert R. Broccoli would team up with Young in later Ladd vehicles and eventually they would make the Bonds. Scenarists Richard Maibaum, who penned several 007 epics, and veteran American scribe Frank Nugent of "Fort Apache" insert scenes of battlefield gruesomeness. Not only does one soldier jump to his death, but also another loses his legs during a mission. After the raid on the radar station, the British are flown into North Africa where they are ordered to destroy an airfield held by the Germans. During the battle, Ladd and company stumble onto a deadly minefield and the Germans arrive and set up mortars and machine guns to wipe them out if they refuse to surrender. Something similar to this happened later in the Clint Eastwood war movie "Kelly's Heroes." Anyway, Ladd rounds up a rocket launcher that they use it to clear a path and escape. I don't know why they did resort to their own firearms and blast their way through the minefield the same way that Rock Hudson would do in "Tobruk." Altogether, "The Red Beret" chutes the works with an atmopheric orchestral score from John Addison.

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 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.