Paratroop Command

Paratroop Command is a 1959 American war film directed by William Witney, starring Richard Bakalyan, Ken Lynch and Jack Hogan. American International Pictures originally released the film as a double feature with Submarine Seahawk.

This article is about the 1959 film. For the general topic, see paratrooper. For military units, see List of paratrooper forces.

Paratroop Command
Film poster
Directed byWilliam Witney
Written byStanley Shpetner
Produced bySamuel Z. Arkoff
James H. Nicholson
Stanley Shpetner
StarringRichard Bakalyan
Ken Lynch
CinematographyGilbert Warrenton
Edited byRobert S. Eisen
Music byRonald Stein
Distributed bySanta Rosa Productions
American International Pictures
Release dates
February, 1959 (USA)
Running time
71 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Charlie is a paratrooper that is mistaken for a coward by fellow soldier Ace because he lies still in an attempt to ambush a group of German soldiers. He then suffers the scorn of his unit because he accidentally kills his friend Cowboy, who was wearing a German uniform in an attempt to infiltrate enemy lines, and was apparently holding a gun on the rest of the squad. Ace threatens him, and in subsequent action in Salerno, curses him with his dying breath. Charlie is hanging from a tree in his parachute and carrying a vital generator, with both the Lieutenant and Sergeant wounded, on the wrong side of a road that is mined. Following the Lieutenant's instructions, he clears the mines with hand grenades, but a dud grenade leaves him stranded and short of his destination. Sacrificing his life, he runs the final distance and explodes the remaining mine. . The film is set in World War II in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.

Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):[1]

ActorRole
Richard BakalyanCharlie
Ken LynchLieutenant
Jack Hogan'Ace' Mason
Jimmy MurphySergeant
Jeff MorrisPigpen (as Jeffrey Morris)
James BeckCowboy (as Jim Beck)
Carolyn HughesGina
Patricia HustonAmy, a WAC
Paul BuschGerman Captain
Sydney LassickInterpreter (as Sid Lassick)
Brad Trumbull (credits as Trumball)C-47 Pilot

A full cast and production crew list is too lengthy to include, see: IMDb profile.[1]

Reception

Quentin Tarantino, an admirer of Witney's work, considers this film to be among his four best.[2] Tarantino called it "the best of American-International’s WW2 potboilers. But I think it’s even better than that. It contains a realism that sets it apart from most other WW2 movies done in that same era. So much so that it makes a lot of good and similar movies from that same time, Robert Aldrich’s Attack and Don Siegel’s Hell is for Heroes, look theatrical and stagey by comparison."[3]

References
  1. The Story on Page One credits
  2. Lyman, Rick (September 15, 2000). "Whoa, Trigger! Auteur Alert!". The Los Angeles Times.
  3. Tarantino, Quentin (April 6, 2020). "I Escaped from Devil's Island". The New Beverly Cinema.


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