Review of Von Ryan's Express (1965) by Sean T — 31 May 2008
Back in the 1960s you had the all-star WWII buddy film. Lots of these movies were made including this often overlooked entry into the genre. At this point in his career, Sinatra was basically playing himself but he did that very well.
The key conflict in this film is between Sinatra and Trever Howard. Sinatra's character is a "90-day wonder," a commercial pilot drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force and made an officer.
Howard is the professional soldier, and an officer and a gentleman in a British regiment that can trace its lineage back to the Napoleonic Wars. The personality clash between the two fuels the film. It is very suspensful, Ryan leads his POWs to take over the train but then they are stuck on the train in German-occupied Italy heading north into Germany and followed by a troop train full of German soldiers.
Old "Blue Eyes" keeps thinking on his feet, however, and manages to keep one step ahead of the Nazis. Edward Mulhare plays a chaplain who can speak German and puts on the uniform of a Nazi officer to fool the officials at one German-run railway station.
It is one of the best bits in the film.
This review of Von Ryan's Express (1965) was written by Sean T on 31 May 2008.
Von Ryan's Express has generally received positive reviews.
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