The Train (1964)

Directed by

John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn

Genre

drama film, action film, war film, thriller film

Country

France, Italy, United States

Runtime

2h 13m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.6 of 10 from 382 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In August 1944, a French Resistance fighter tries to stop a German colonel from shipping stolen art to Germany by train. The film follows their cat-and-mouse struggle as the Resistance works to intercept the train before it leaves France.

tensegrittyurgentsuspensefulbleakmethodicalvisceralstark

What happens

The Train is a 1964 action war film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield and Jeanne Moreau. The picture's screenplay—written by Franklin Coen, Frank Davis, and Walter Bernstein—is loosely based on the non-fiction book Le front de l'art by Rose Valland, who documented the works of art placed in storage that had been looted by Nazi Germany from museums and private art collections. Arthur Penn was The Train's original director but was replaced by Frankenheimer three days after filming had begun. Set in August 1944 during World War II, it pits French Resistance-member Paul Labiche (Lancaster) against German Colonel Franz von Waldheim (Scofield), who is attempting to move stolen art masterpieces by train to Germany. Inspiration for the scenes of the train's interception came from the real-life events surrounding train No. 40,044 as it was seized and examined by Lt. Alexandre Rosenberg of the Free French forces outside Paris. The film received critical acclaim and grossed $6.8 million at the box office. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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