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IMDb > Red Ball Express (1952)

Red Ball Express (1952) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.3/10   168 votes
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Director:
Writers:
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View company contact information for Red Ball Express on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
29 August 1952 (Finland) more
Genre:
Tagline:
FROM BEACHHEAD TO BATTLEFRONT! THEY CARRY THE AMMO FOR PATTON'S TANKS! (original print ad - all caps)
Plot:
Story of the military truck drivers who kept the Allied armies supplied in Europe during WW2. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
Somewhat Dated more (5 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Jeff Chandler ... Lt. Chick Campbell
Alex Nicol ... Sgt. Red Kallek
Charles Drake ... Pvt. Ronald Partridge / Narrator
Judith Braun ... Joyce McClellan

Sidney Poitier ... Cpl. Andrew Robertson
Jacqueline Duval ... Antoinette Dubois
Bubber Johnson ... Pvt. Taffy Smith
Davis Roberts ... Pvt. Dave McCord (as Robert Davis)
Hugh O'Brian ... Pvt. Wilson
Frank Chase ... Pvt. Higgins
Cindy Garner ... Kitty Walsh
Gregg Palmer ... Tank Lieutenant (as Palmer Lee)
John Hudson ... Tank Sergeant Max
Jack Kelly ... Pvt. John Heyman
Howard Petrie ... Major General Lee Gordon
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Additional Details

Runtime:
83 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Movie Connections:
Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) (TV) more

FAQ

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6 out of 16 people found the following comment useful.
Somewhat Dated, 21 November 2005
6/10
Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland

RED BALL EXPRESS is alright I suppose . It's no masterpiece just a B war movie produced to be shown before a main feature . It involves a bunch of civilian truck drivers drafted into Uncle Sam's army in 1944 and it's those men who keep the allied front lines supplied . It's a rather predictable story of Americans fighting against Germans and where you think the most likable guy in the squad has bought the farm only for them to appear minutes later alive and well . Like I said very predictable

I guess somewhere the producers wanted to point out ( Though this would probably be known to an American audience in 1952 ) why every American war film made at the time always revolved around white American soldiers fighting . This was because the American army was segregated until 1947 and with very few exceptions black Americans didn't serve in the front lines . Despite the producers wanting to speak up fr the Black American war effort it looks painfully dated now since the blacks have lovely singing voices and sing in unison about beating Hitler which comes across as being very stereotypical and highly patronising and I doubt if a studio would be able to get away with this nowadays . Thankfully it serves to remind a wider audience in the 21st Century why war movie GIs are almost always white

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