Review of Night Train to Munich (1940) by Stephen T — 15 May 2015

There is something about British films produced during the war, which they all share: survival. Especially, those produced prior to American involvement in 1941-42. There is a strain of desperation against a relentless Nazi war machine.

As a result, most Nazis portrayed in films like A Night Train to Munich or even The Lady Vanishes (1938, Alfred Hitchcock) are machine-like or robotic in their determination to control and defeat England.

Yet they lack the cleverness or wit to successfully grasp the feisty British. Enter the cartoonish Nazi villains portrayed in A Night Train to Munich, they are easily outsmarted by the British. Part propaganda, part marketing; the charming Rex Harrison and lovely Margret Lockwood (portraying a wealthy Czech) clash with the Nazi stooges led by Paul Henried (of Casablanca fame).

Henried is wooden, Harrison annoying, and only Lockwood brings beauty, brains, and Britishness to an impossibly difficult situation (a.k.a. the plot). A spy film at its heart, director Carol Reed tried too hard to mimic his rival Alfred Hitchcock in themes and content; only later will Reed perfect his spy craft filmmaking in the 1940s with his masterpiece The Third Man (1949).

Also, it's very hard to buy Harrison in the part he plays (you'll see). A slightly silly, but solid film produced at a critical period in history - World War II - a fact that cannot be overlooked as it adds the only real depth to the storyline.

Recommended for fans of Rex Harrison, Carol Reed, and British cinema.