Absolutely brilliant

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

"M-G-M Presents a Thrill-Packed Action Story of World War 2" is the main heading in M-G-M's campaign book for this "B" feature of virtually no distinction whatever. True, the direction is slightly more stylish than William Witney's usual humble standard, and gorgeous Carolyn Hughes is in the movie, but her footage is brief. The other players are no more than adequate -- and often less! Characters are one-dimensional, and the plot is really nothing more than a wearying series of skirmishes and shoot-outs, interspersed with some equally tedious dialogue of the "Let me tell you the story of my life" school. Credits are no more than routine, production values are tight, but there is a generous amount of obvious stock footage.

***SPOILERS*** Charlie, Richard Bakalyn, has always been a screw up for as long as he could remember. Having and losing as many jobs as fingers and toes on his hands and feet Charlie was also married and divorced twice before he was even old enough to either vote as well as drink and smoke.Joining the US Army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Charlie hoped to do something right for a change and serve his country with honor. This turned out to be a total nightmare where, as a US paratrooper, he was dropped behind enemy lines in Tunisia with his fellow GI's. Falling behind Charlie spotted what looked like a German holding his fellow paratroopers at bay and opened fire killing him. As it turned out Charlie screwed up again shooting US Army paratrooper Cowboy, James Beck. Cowboy had donned a dead German solider's uniform and had helped storm a pillbox that the Germans were strafing the advancing US troops!The tragic killing of Cowboy haunted Charlie all throughout the North African as well as Sicilian campaigns. Charlie not only had to deal with killing, because mistaken identity, a fellow GI but the men in his unit who hated him like poison. Despite him Desperately wanting to redeem himself Charlie was purposely left out in any action that his unit was in making him look more like a deadbeat then, which many of the men in his unit eventually became, dead man. Finally during the fierce fighting at Salerno on the tip of the "Italian Boot" Charlie finally got his chance to prove himself. Again , like in Tunisia and Sicily, Pvt. Charlie's unit was dropped behind enemy lines to prevent the German Panzers from wiping out the some 40,000 GI's fighting for their lives on the Salerno beaches.***SPOILERS*** With almost his entire unit wiped out by German machine-gun and motor fire Charlie took it upon himself to clear the way, by clearing a German minefield, for the trapped forces of the US 5th Army to get to safe ground and away, by being hopelessly boxed in on the Salerno beaches, from the impending and fatal German counter-attack. Risking his life and losing it Charlie finally did something right finishing a job that he started. Something he was never able to do his entire life. But in this case the job that he finished was not only beneficial to Charlie but to the thousands of GI's whose lives he eventually saved as well as to the course of the US, and its allies, efforts in winning the war in Europe.

In the short running time of 71 minutes Paratroop Command follows a small group of soldiers participating in landing in North Africa, Sicily, and Salerno which in actual time was about a year and a half. One of them, Richard Bakalyn accidentally kills one of his comrades in friendly fire and can't quite win the trust of the other men, including his lieutenant Ken Lynch.Not that the incident was his fault, it wasn't. In fact it was a rather stupid way for the other guy to get killed if you watch the movie. Still Bakalyn just can't get the others to trust him.Directing Paratroop Command is William Witney who was one of Herbert J. Yates's best B western directors. He directed films with all of Republic's western stars. His grind them out style honed with years working for Yates shows in Paratroop Command.Nothing terribly special here, just some veteran movie makers doing their thing.

Charlie (Bakalyan) joins the paratroops because he has failed at everything else in his life. When he accidently kills another GI, things really take a turn down. The cast of relative unknowns does a fine job, and Bakalyan shows flashes of brilliant acting ability that thus far have gone undiscovered. This one is low-buck all the way, puts stock war footage to good use, but well worth catching on the late show.