The Train

Director: John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn John Frankenheimer

Overview

John Frankenheimer directs Burt Lancaster in the tense spy thriller The Train. Lancaster plays Labiche, a French railway inspector. Allied forces are threatening to liberate Paris, so Col. Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) is ordered to move the priceless works of art from the Jeu de Paume Museum to the fatherland. The head of the museum (Suzanne Flon) attempts to convince Labiche that he should sabotage the train on which they are transporting the art. Labiche is more focused on destroying a trainload of German weapons. After his friend is killed trying to stop the train with the art, and after a consciousness-raising conversation with a hotel owner (Jeanne Moreau), Labiche resolves to save the antiquities. Lancaster and Frankenheimer had worked together previously on both Birdman of Alcatraz and Seven Days in May.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/17/2023
UPC:	0738329264444
Original Release:	1964
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Time:	2:13:00
Sales rank:	2,842

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Burt Lancaster	Labiche
Jeanne Moreau	Christine
Paul Scofield	Col. von Waldheim
Suzanne Flon	Mlle. Villard
Michel Simon	Papa Boule
Wolfgang Preiss	Herren
Richard Munch	Von Lubitz
Charles Millot	Pesquet
Jacques Marin	Jacques
Paul Bonifas	Spinet
Jean Bouchaud	Schmidt
Donald O'Brien	Schwartz
Jean-Pierre Zola	Octave
Arthur Brauss	Pilzer
Jean-Claude Bercq	Major
Howard Vernon	Dietrich
Bernard Lajarrige	Bernard
Louis Falavigna	Railroad Worker
Daniel Lecourtois	Priest
Richard Bailey	Sgt. Grote
Christian Fuin	Robert
Helmo Kindermann	Ordnance Officer
Roger Lumont	Engineer Officer
Christian Remy	Tauber,Actor
Max From	Gestapo Officer
Jean-Jacques Lecomte	Lieutenant of Retreating Convoy
Jacques Blot	Hubert
Wolfgang Saure	Actor
Victor Beaumont	Actor
Albert Rémy	Didont,Tauber
Richard Münch	Gen. von Lubitz
Gérard Buhr	Corporal
Michel Charrel	Bit Part
Nick Dimitri	German Soldier
Maurice Jarre	Composer

Technical Credits

Franklin Coen

Walter Bernstein

Howard Dimsdale

Albert Husson

Frank Davis

John Frankenheimer	Director
Jules Bricken	Producer
Lee Zavitz	Special Effects
Franklin Coen	Screenwriter
Bernard Farrel	Producer
Walter Bernstein	Screenwriter
Howard Dimsdale	Screenwriter
Albert Husson	Screenwriter
Jacques Carrère	Sound Effects
Joseph de Bretagne	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Jacques Maumont	Sound Effects
Arthur Penn	Director
Frank Davis	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

In this story based on an actual World War II incident, the mandate to save treasured paintings provides a thought-provoking backdrop for exceptional action sequences. Shooting on location in deep focus black-and-white, and surrounding Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield with a French supporting cast (including Jeanne Moreau), director John Frankenheimer grounds the French Resistance's efforts to stop a stolen art-laden German train from leaving France in a gritty realism that underlines the human cost of a mission that offers only symbolic rewards. Extending that realism to the train exploits, Frankenheimer used actual trains and stations to action scenes that were as suspenseful as possible, particularly when the art train will be too close to a German munitions train targeted by Allied air forces. The depth of characterization renders the action (and its outcome) all the more potent; Lancaster did his own stunts, adding an extra dash of intensity to his onscreen deeds. Praised for its masterfully and intelligently composed thrills, The Train was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Its influence can be seen from the hair-raising car chases in Bullitt (1968) and The French Connection (1971) to the one-vehicle actioner Speed (1994).

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola