Stop Train 349 (1963)
"Verspätung in Marienborn" (original title)

At the height of the Cold War, an East German refugee slips aboard an American military duty train leaving West Berlin, deep inside East Germany. The Russian and East German authorities ... See full summary »

Director:

Rolf Hädrich

Writers:

Will Tremper (story), Jim Henaghan (adaptation),

Stars:

José Ferrer, Sean Flynn, Nicole Courcel

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
José Ferrer	...	Cowan the Reporter (as Jose Ferrer)
Sean Flynn	...	Lt. Novak
Nicole Courcel	...	Nurse Kathy
Jess Hahn	...	Sgt. Torre
Yossi Yadin	...	Maj. Menschikov (as Yoseph Yadin)
Hans-Joachim Schmiedel	...	Banner (as Hans Joachim Schmiedel)
Christiane Schmidtmer	...	Karin (as Christiane Schmidmer)
Joy Aston	...	Mrs. Abramson
Lothar Mann	...	East German Conductor
Arthur Brauss	...	I.M.P. (as Art Brauss)
Edward Meeks	...	Capt. Kolski
Fred Dur	...	Maj. Finnegan
Len Monroe	...	U.S. Soldier
Wolfgang Georgi	...	Russian Officer Gorski
Antonella Murgia	...	Teenager

Storyline

At the height of the Cold War, an East German refugee slips aboard an American military duty train leaving West Berlin, deep inside East Germany. The Russian and East German authorities stop the train and demand that the "criminal" be handed over to them. The young American officer in charge of the train doesn't want to do it, but fears that he may have no choice in the matter. The movie is based on a true incident.

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Plot Keywords:

train | cold war | refugee | stowaway | man hunt | 

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Taglines:

Roaring across the danger zone of europe...A sealed international express, with a human cargo that can explode a continent!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Italy West Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 July 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Delay in Marienborn

Company Credits

Production Co:

Da Ma Produzione, Hans Oppenheimer Film, Hoche Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in The Postgraduate Course in Sexual Love (1970)

User Reviews

Sean Flynn & the Cold War

This film starts with some fabulous twilight location shots around 1960's Berlin. - The dim and somber photography of bleak cityscapes shot from the departing train does much to enhance this vehicle to show off Errol Flynn's son, Sean. --And the handsome young actor does pretty good with the second-rate material.

Made in Europe on a shoe-string budget, almost all of the action takes place on a west-bound (from Berlin) train carrying American soldiers, a pair of newlyweds, a nurse and her patient, an all-girl group of performers, and a loud-mouthed reporter (Jose Ferrer).

During the journey, an East German refugee secretly boards the train, and the 'east-west' cold war tensions begin. The train is detained by the Russian military who want the refugee handed over to them.

The dialog is not good, the character assortment is not bad, and Sean Flynn and Jose Ferrer do their best with the material they have.

Ferrer shamelessly over-acts, but what choice did he have with such hammy lines? Sean Flynn has to work hard at it, as well, but Flynn had the added advantage of being so adorably handsome (even prettier than his famous father). Moreover, the grubby location work, as well as the confining train interiors, actually add to this film's appeal and make it easier to get past some of the tired 'cold-war-formula' dialog.

As fate would have it, while working as a war correspondent, Sean Flynn mysteriously disappeared in Viet Nam in 1970-- about 7 years after this film was made.

The cold war got him in real life, too.....