The Train

The Train

By

  • Genre: War, Thriller
  • Release Date: 1964-09-24
  • Runtime: 133 minutes
  • : 7.527
  • Production Company: Les Productions Artistes Associés
  • Production Country: France, Italy, United States of America
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7.527/10
7.527
From 318 Ratings

Description

As the Allied forces approach Paris in August 1944, German Colonel Von Waldheim is desperate to take all of France's greatest paintings to Germany. He manages to secure a train to transport the valuable art works even as the chaos of retreat descends upon them. The French resistance however wants to stop them from stealing their national treasures but have received orders from London that they are not to be destroyed. The station master, Labiche, is tasked with scheduling the train and making it all happen smoothly but he is also part of a dwindling group of resistance fighters tasked with preventing the theft. He and others stage an elaborate ruse to keep the train from ever leaving French territory.

Trailer

Reviews

  • JPV852

    9
    By JPV852
    Great war suspense-thriller from John Frankenheimer. Heard of this one but never got around to checking it out, just excellent from beginning to end, not to mention wonderful use of sound design along with Maurice Jarre's score. Performances all around were great, especially Paul Scofield. Surprising to see it didn't receive more Oscar love outside of the writing. **4.5/5**

  • CinemaSerf

    7
    By CinemaSerf
    I think this might be my favourite Burt Lancaster role, as he leads the French resistance through an ethical maelstrom involving a trainload of looted artworks. It's "Col. Von Waldheim" (Paul Scofield) who manages to coax and cajole his Göring-fearing superiors into allowing him to load up a train with priceless artefacts and convey them to safety in Germany. The Nazis are starting to lose the war, though, and their logistics are stretched to the point where he basically has to lie to get his train packed and moving. "Labiche" (Lancaster) is in charge of the railway station and is generally charged with thwarting the activities of their occupiers - be here he sees merit in letting this train depart. He decides that maybe it can be diverted away from Germany and thus be preserved for the posterity of the French people. "Papa Boule" (Michel Simon) is a curmudgeonly old driver not averse to a bit of sabotage, but when he is caught and summarily shot, the Colonel concludes that only "Labiche" can be trusted with the train, so he is co-opted on board and the two now play a delicate cat and mouse game with both scrutinising the other closely and neither trusting the other. Their journey is riddled with peril - from the allies, from the French, the Germans - just about everyone. The colonel is becoming more obsessed - everything will be sacrificed to protect the convoy as it rattles along - but to where? There's a nice cameo from the always reliable Jacques Marin - he likes cheese; and another from Jeanne Moreau as the guest house owner who is trying to tread on the eggshells between patriotism and survival. There's a great chemistry on screen between Lancaster and Scofield with the latter's almost maniacal behaviour captivating to watch. Will the train survive? Well I guess everyone wants it to - but...

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