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The Train
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The Train (1964) More at IMDbPro »

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The Train (1964) -- A French railway inspector goes up against the Nazis in order to prevent a trainload of France's most treasured paintings from being stolen.

Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   3,996 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 3% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Franklin Coen (screen story) and
Frank Davis (screen story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Train on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
7 March 1965 (USA) more
Genre:
Thriller | War | Action more
Tagline:
It carried their hopes, their nation's honour!
Plot:
In 1944, a German colonel loads a train with French art treasures to send to Germany. The Resistance must stop it without damaging the cargo. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination more
User Comments:
An intense suspense War drama from the beginning to the end… more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Burt Lancaster ... Labiche

Paul Scofield ... Von Waldheim
Jeanne Moreau ... Christine
Suzanne Flon ... Mlle Villard
Michel Simon ... Papa Boule
Wolfgang Preiss ... Herren
Albert Rémy ... Didont (as Albert Remy)
Charles Millot ... Pesquet
Richard Münch ... Von Lubitz (as Richard Munch)
Jacques Marin ... Jacques
Paul Bonifas ... Spinet
Jean Bouchaud ... Schmidt
Donald O'Brien ... Schwartz (as Donal O'Brien)
Jean-Pierre Zola ... Octave
Arthur Brauss ... Pilzer (as Art Brauss)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Il treno (Italy)
John Frankenheimer's The Train (USA) (complete title)
Le train (France)
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Runtime:
133 min | UK:140 min
Country:
USA | France | Italy
Language:
English | German
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Filming Locations:
Acquigny, Calvados, France more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
John Frankenheimer said of this film, "I wanted all the realism possible. There are no tricks in this film. When trains crash together, they are real trains. There is no substitute for that kind of reality." more
Goofs:
Continuity: In the switch tower, after the sirens sound, Labiche uses binoculars to watch Papa Boule engineering the train. Next shot the binoculars disappear. more
Quotes:
Colonel von Waldheim: Labiche! Here's your prize, Labiche. Some of the greatest paintings in the world. Does it please you, Labiche? Give you a sense of excitement in just being near them? A painting means as much to you as a string of pearls to an ape. You won by sheer luck: you stopped me without knowing what you were doing... more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
27 out of 29 people found the following comment useful:-
An intense suspense War drama from the beginning to the end…, 30 March 2008
9/10

The big star of Frankenheimer's film is the train itself... And the plot is based on the characteristic of railroads—engines and cars all over the tracks, cabs and steam—all shown on enough detail to keep the viewer in great suspense… The aerial strike shots are also wonderfully taken…

The film begins in Paris, August 2, 1944…

It's 1511th day of German occupation… The liberation of Paris seems very close…

Nazi Colonel Von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) decides suddenly to remove by train to Germany the best of Impressionist masterpieces… His objective is clear: "Money is a weapon. The contents are as negotiable as gold and more valuable."

Mademoiselle Villard (Suzanne Flon) informs the Resistance of the shipment…The Resistance reaction is to stop the train without damaging the national heritage… "They are part of France." But stopping the train is not a simple task… You can get killed especially if you are French and the train is German…

Labiche (Burt Lancaster), the Chief Inspector of the French Railway System, is not impressed… However, he never communicates his political, ideological, or nationalistic convictions, "For certain things, we take the risk," he said; "but I won't waste lives on paintings."

When an aged engineer, Papa Boule (Michel Simon), is accused of sabotage in spite of saving the train through the Allied's bombs at the risk of his own life, Labiche is forced into combat…

It begins with a long sequence where an armament train and the art train are both trying to leave the yard in the morning… As they are being moved back and forth across the tracks, the viewer knows that British planes will hit the yard in that moment at exactly 10:00 o'clock…

New complications are introduced, but the central conflict always returns to an obsessive art lover against a man with no appreciation for art… Labiche's only concerns is to slow down the Nazis keeping himself and his compatriots alive…

Now, two forces control the film… The first is Frankenheimer's cleverness to choreograph the real trains… Frankenheimer and his cinematographers capture the heat of the engines, the noise and sound of the cars in motion, the fault in the oil line, the crushing strength implicated when the machines come into collision and the derailment… The second force is Lancaster, the "headache" of the fanatical obsessed Colonel whose desire is to see the priceless paintings in Nazi Germany...

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Remake steve_vanes
Tracking shot Mark_Alldridge
The tank engine beckersheinz
Unnecessary Destruction of France's railway heritage. de_niro_2001
Similar war movies Alfabeta
The Battle of the Rails (La Bataille du Rail) eThink
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