WHEN THE AIR LIFT phases out completely in the next few weeks it will leave behind an important page in U.S. history and at least one semidocumentary motion picture.

The movie "Quartered City," was filmed during July and August entirely at Rhine-Main and Tempelhof Air bases and in the streets and cafes of Berlin.

Writer-director George Seaton and producer William Perlberg brought eight tons of equipment and 12 key technicians to Germany for the job but only two actors, Montgomery Clift and Paul Douglas.

Remainder of the roles are filled by USAFE fliers, given time off for the job, German civilians, and a new Hollywood "find"—a blond, native Berliner, 24-year-old Cornelia Borchers.

Cornelia plays the feminine lead in the film and her contract, for seven years at a rising scale of from $250 to $2,000 a week, depends on whether she makes good in the part.

The story itself concerns S Sgt Danny McCollough (Clift) a flight engineer from St. Paul. Minn., who came over with the 19th Tp Carrier Sq from Hawaii, one of the actual units flying the lift.

After a few missions from Rhine-Main, Danny gets curious about the city and where all the "vittles" are going that he delivers.

Through devices transplanted from Hollywood to Berlin he meets Frederika Burkhardt (Cornelia), goes shopping with her, stains his uniform carrying groceries, and while it is in the cleaners, makes a tour of Berlin with her in civvies. He gets a good look at it through German eyes — including black markets and some rough treatment by unthinking Allied troops.

The girl, meanwhile, has told him a good deal about herself. The story is sad; the flying engineer is only human, and when his 24 hours off are over, he wants io marry her.

Seaton, whose films are noted for a minimum of "schmaltz," however, has cooked up an ending that will probably surprise Stateside audiences and gratify those familiar with postwar Germany.

Included in the 20th Century Fox film are two GCA (ground controlled approach) landings actually filmed at Tempelhof. The GCA operator, one of the main characters in the film, is played by Paul Douglas.

There are about 110 speaking parts in the film, and some 600 Germans will be employed as extras for street scenes and mass shots. Only five or six U.S. civilians will have speaking parts; AF personnel will make up the rest.

Many of the actual flight scenes were filmed earlier this year, before the cast and technical staff arrived on location. Scenes shot this summer include those at the two lift bases, in Cornelia's apartment overlooking Tempelhof — with lift planes droning overhead every two or three minutes — and in a small cafe in the British sector where Danny and the girl have their evening out

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