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.
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, Cowboy's best friend, threatens him, and in subsequent action in Sicily, tries to kill him twice, but fails both times. In the subsequent landing in Salerno, Ace curses Charlie 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, and the rest of the squad dead, 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):The Story on Page One credits Actor Role Richard Bakalyan Charlie Ken Lynch Lieutenant Jack Hogan "Ace" Mason Jimmy Murphy Sergeant Jeff Morris "Pigpen" (credited as Jeffrey Morris) James Beck "Cowboy" (credited as Jim Beck) Carolyn Hughes Gina Patricia Huston Amy, a WAC Paul Busch German Captain Sydney Lassick Interpreter (credited 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.
Reception Quentin Tarantino, an admirer of Witney's work, considers this film to be among his four best. 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."
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