Review of The Train (1964) by Jonathan B — 31 Jul 2011
Brilliant and underated war film from master director John Frakenheimer which deserves to be ranked alongside his best work.
Burt Lancaster is on top tough guy form here as Labiche a railway man working for the resistance who is drawn into the protection of a Nazi train carrying the stolen paintings of the great masters.
He is pitted against Von Waldheim played with suitable understated menace by Paul Scofield who will sacrfice the lives of hundreds to get his train behind enemy lines and into Germany.
What follows is a brutal game of Cat and Mouse with both sides giving as good as they get in order to stop the train and to keep it moving.
The brilliance here is that the entire film is shot on location and the trains used are all real and the film nevr falls short in the action stakes.
Its also to Frakenheimers cedit that he makes the whole thing feel realistic and throughly entertaining ,from the moment the train leaves Paris to the final duel between Labiche and Waldheim the director never lets up and the film is bt turn tragic and action packed.
A stonewall war movie classic .
This review of The Train (1964) was written by Jonathan B on 31 Jul 2011.
The Train has generally received very positive reviews.
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