Product Information
At the end of World War II the retreating Germans try to smuggle a fortune in art treasures out of Paris on an armoured train. Burt Lancaster leads the Resistance in a desperate bid to stop them.Product Identifiers
ProducerJules Bricken
EAN5050070010015
eBay Product ID (ePID)3963048
Product Key Features
ActorJeanne Moreau, Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Remy, Paul Scofield, Jacques Marin, Michel Simon, Richard Munch, Burt Lancaster
Film/TV TitleThe Train
DirectorJohn Frankenheimer
Release Year2003
FeaturesBlack & White
GenreWar
Additional Product Features
CertificatePG
Number of Discs1
ComposerMaurice Jarre
Production DesignerWilly Holt
Additional InformationThe duo of director John Frankenheimer and actor Burt Lancaster again join forces with the latter starring as French railway inspector Labiche. With Allied forces closing in on occupied Paris, Herman Goering orders Col. Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) to move the priceless art from the Jeu de Paume Museum to Germany by train. The museum's curator, Mme. Villard (Suzanne Flon) tries to cajole Labiche into stopping the art train, but he's far more concerned with blowing up a German armaments train. Meanwhile, Papa Boule (Michel Simon), an aged railwayman, uses the distraction of the Allied bombing of a nearby munitions train to burn out the engines of the train carrying the art, and is killed by the Nazis for his efforts. Hotelkeeper Christine (Jeanne Moreau), has managed to persuade Labiche of the importance of the art, and when the livid Waldheim orders him to drive the treasure-bearing train, he's formulated a plan to foil the Nazi theft. He fabricates a series of interlocking ruses which lead the Germans to believe that the train has crossed into Germany, when, in reality, it's simply going in circles around Paris. Lancaster leads an exceptional cast in this engrossing film, based on a true story. Michel Simon is especially memorable, as is the gritty, minimally-lit black and white photography of Jean Tournier.
ReviewsUSA Today - ...Lancaster, the greatest physical actor ever, does his own stunts...
ScreenwriterFranklin Coen, Albert Husson, Walter Bernstein, Frank Davis
Sound sourceMono
EditorDavid Bretherton
Movie/TV TitleThe Train
Music DirectorMaurice Jarre
Director of PhotographyWalter Wottitz, Jean Tournier