From the 1960s: The Train

1964 War Drama

From United Artists

Directed by John Frankenheimer

Starring

Burt Lancaster

Paul Scofield

Jeanne Moreau

Suzanne Flon

Wolfgang Preiss

Albert Rémy

Michel Simon

Jacques Marin

Most war films have a singleness of purpose... take out long-range field guns, overpower a city, free POWS, destroy a bridge, kidnap an enemy leader and so forth.  This film is no exception although its mission is unusual.  

It opens on August 2, 1944 in Paris, the 1,511th day of German occupation.  As Paris is about to be liberated and troops are making preparations to leave, a fanatical German colonel (Scofield) comes across a cache of art treasures (paintings by Renoir, Gauguin, Picasso, Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Degas and others) at the Jeu de Paume and is determined to have them for Germany.  The museum's curator (Flon) begs him not to take them, stating, among other things, that they are priceless and part of France's national art heritage.  Her pleas fall on deaf ears and as the opening credits roll, we watch the invaluable cargo being packed in crates to be loaded onto the title star.  (It's quite fascinating to observe.)

Flon enlists the help of the area inspector of French railways (Lancaster) who also happens to be a member of the Resistance.  She is heartbroken when he refuses the assignment.  He says that sabotaging an armaments train while trying to keep the paintings safe, not to mention the unnecessary loss of lives, is not something he wants any part of.

He knows nothing of art but he does come to understand what's packed into three train cars is worth billions and he changes his mind.  He may never have come around on the art itself but after he meets the colonel, his hatred is immediate (and shared) and he is ready to roll up his sleeves.  At different times he will have only 3-4 men assisting him.  Lancaster will be the engineer of the train and of the unfolding plot... under the colonel's close supervision.

Lancaster arranges a complicated plan to delay the train's departure and oh what excitement is created as a result.  Aside from a continual cat and mouse game between Lancaster and Scofield and a power struggle between Scofield and his right-hand man, Priess, there is much to admire,  The intricate, absorbing story (with a few small moments of tedium perhaps) deals with Lancaster's derailment of the train, several train crashes and an ending that is both nail-biting suspense and almost completely without dialogue.

The Train is loosely based on a non-fiction novel, Le front de l'art, by Rose Valland who documented that works of art had been looted by Germans from museums and private collections.  (Flon, by the way, is essentially portraying Valland.)  Inspiration for the train's interception came from real-life events based on the seizing of the train by Free French forces outside Paris.

In real life the train made it no further than a couple of miles from the station due mainly to being held up by the French Resistance and mired in endless red tape and paperwork.  Frankenheimer had envisioned a more intimate, personal film dealing with why Lancaster's character would involve himself in such a dangerous scheme.  But Lancaster had other ideas... he wanted an action film that would help with box office receipts.

Production started with Arthur (The Left-Handed Gun, The Miracle Worker) Penn in the director's chair.  Within the first week he and Lancaster had serious differences on the way things were proceeding and United Artists preferred to placate the star and Penn was fired.  

Frankenheimer was brought aboard at the actor's suggestion.  They had just finished working together on Seven Days in May and had previously worked together on The Young Savages and Birdman of Alcatraz and would go on to work on their least successful collaboration, the tepid The Gypsy Moths.  The Train, although a war film, is also an action-thriller, something Frankenheimer knew a little something about which you know if you saw his The Manchurian Candidate.  Lancaster called him extraordinarily talented but failed to mention that he tended to overpower the director.

Director Frankenheimer and Lancaster

Frankenheimer greatly admired Lancaster as an actor, often citing his perfectionism.  But he also found him to be over-the-top demanding and not easy to be around.  He said he would never want to be his friend.

The actor uses few of his usual tricks, as I see it.  One sees nary a hint of a smile much less his famous toothy grin.  As usual, he performed almost all of his own stunts, some of which (like rolling down a mountainside and onto the road below) are staggering to contemplate for a highly-paid actor.

I have wondered why he didn't even attempt a French accent.

During the filming, the actor took a day off to golf.  As a result he reinjured an old knee injury and he could not stop limping.  Rather than shutting down production (it had been shut down a couple of times already) so he could recover, a scene was inserted where he is shot in the leg so he could limp for the rest of the shoot.

Lancaster and Scofield

Scofield is most compelling as the icily disturbed colonel.  I was mesmerized by his performance when I first saw this film and had no idea who he was.  He was next in A Man for All Seasons for which he would win an Oscar.  I also loved him in A Delicate Balance and Quiz Show.  By the end of his life, he'd made only 18 big-screen appearances.  

The Train was only the third movie he appeared in and it had been six years since he'd made his last one.  He found it to be a difficult shoot but not because of any personalities.  Lancaster greatly admired Scofield's Shakespearean and stage background and as a result treated him well.  The two actors must have gotten on well enough because they would work together nine years later in another European thriller, Scorpio.

Lancaster and Moreau

Moreau worked on the film for a week and has just a few scenes as an embittered widow who runs a hotel near the train station and reluctantly helps and hides Lancaster as he escapes notice of his German captors.  Moreau accepted the part (which hardly tapped into her acting prowess) because she wanted further exposure in American and international films.

She didn't so much enjoy her exposure to Lancaster.  She commented that she was exasperated working with a Method-trained actor who delayed constant scenes by wanting to know what his motivation was.  Just exactly why would I pick up this ashtray, he says as she mumbled under her breath.  She also noticed what a control freak he was but decided she could let it pass while she worked for a mere week.

I have heard other of his costars (from different films) refer to him as Method-trained which is alluding to his being a member of The Actors Studio.  That is not the case.

Wolfgang Preiss

Over the years I have seen Priess in numerous films, usually in the role of a Nazi.  He excelled in villainy.  Here as a subordinate to Scofield he tests his leader at every opportunity.  Their scenes together ripple with suspense.

Maurice Jarre's music is most appropriate, certainly in the film's many exciting moments.  The black and white cinematography of Jean Tournier and Walter Wottitz certainly added to the dreary, grim and haunting look Frankenheimer was looking for.  The director also said there were no serious special effects used.  All those train crashes were the real thing.

Reviews were generally very kind and often quite enthusiastic.  And while Lancaster is certainly very good in his role, it was often cited that his acting took a back seat to Scofield and Moreau.

Trains Magazine ranked this film number one in its special edition of The 100 Greatest Train Movies.

Here is the trailer...

Next posting:

Visiting film noir