The Last Train from Madrid

I had not seen "The Last Train from Madrid" since I was a child when it was broadcast regularly on KTLA-5 in Los Angeles. I watched it tonight, not expecting anything beyond a B film. I watched it because I like Lew Ayres' acting and I didn't realize that he was in this film.

I watched it and, although the film put a disclaimer about not taking sides in the Spanish Civil War (which was a recent world event and going on when this film was made), the script displayed enough anti-militaristic messages and a sense of dread offer a muted, veiled support of Republican Spain. Nonetheless, the film states that it is focusing on the dramas that play out in times of war among people.

Many commentators are judging this film with 21st Century eyes. No one can go back in time and redo the film to suit subsequent historical research and people's sense of justice. It was made in 1937 and reflected the largely isolationist attitudes that most Americans had about the war. It was writers and actors, in and out of Hollywood, that were committed to tell Americans about the horrors of the civil war. To be fair, no other film industry was making films with the Spanish Civil War as a theme.

Nevertheless, I was engrossed way beyond my expectations by the story written by Robert and Elsie Fox, writers that I had never heard of before but I will research them now that I've seen one of their scripts produced. While there are elements of "Grand Hotel" and "Shanghai Express" in this film, the interweaving of characters surviving to get out of the Spanish Civil War was done masterfully and, with the exception of Dorothy Lamour's character, the other characters were compelling individuals, within the constraints of an 87-minute running time and plausibility. Although I felt that Robert Cummings displayed the weakest acting of the entire cast, I was taken with the complexity of behaviors displayed by Karen Morley's, Lee Bowman's, Helen Mack's, and Anthony Quinn's characters. They were as three dimensional as such a film would allow in that period about so complex a topic. Anthony Quinn was impressive in his acting and in the fact that, only a year acting in films, he gets and commands a lion's share of importance to the plot and characterization. He carried the weight of this film beautifully. Although Lee Bowman played a stock character, his short time onscreen was effective and nuanced, displaying, once again, what an underutilized actor he was by studios, showing an acting range that was rarely utilized and developed. See his portrayal of Gary Mitchell in the Doris Day musical "My Dream is Yours" to show how he had presence to carry a film. Gilbert Roland displayed more acting range than he was usually allowed, making his story suspenseful and intriguing. If anything, the script left me wanting to know more about Roland's character of Eduardo de Soto and his friendship with Capt. Alvarez, Anthony Quinn's character. A fine ensemble chat!

The cinematography is pure 1937 Paramount and that's, overall, a good thing. The cinematography at Paramount during this period was still being influenced b Lee Garmss and Leo Tover, who were influenced by one of Paramount's premier directors of this period, Josef von Sternberg. Whenever a Paramount film of this period had a foreign locale, the black and white photography gave a sensual, exotic, hothouse effect that was both inappropriate for realistically portraying a place and time but it was also exciting to watch, making it easy to immerse oneself in the world the Paramount cinematographers created. This has the virtue of really placing me in a world I would never otherwise experience but it does make the scenes of the film involving Lola's lover being shot dead or Maria escaping the march to Cardoso jarring in their artificiality. To the credit of director James Hogan, the bombing scenes filmed at Paramount had almost-seemless intercutting with newsreel footage of the bombings in Spain during the war.

All in all, this film, while not of the top tier of classic films, is fascinating as a time capsule, better-than-expected characterizations, and good acting from a true ensemble cast that gave some of these actors one of their best roles. It was an effective story of suspense and character. "The Last Train from Madrid" does need critical reconsideration, greater opportunities to view it, and deserves far more recognition than it currently has.

The film is set during the Spanish Civil War which was being fought at the time and it centres around 3 unrelated groups of people trying to obtain a boarding pass for a train that will leave Madrid that night. It is the last train out of the city to freedom before the track is blown up. Destination Valencia.

Everyone has until 11:00pm to obtain a boarding pass and these passes will be rigorously checked so it is bad news for anyone who is on the run. Every group we follow as at least one character who is wanted in this way.

There is some good acting as well as some tiresome sentimentality - army deserter Robert Cummings (Ramos) and Helen Mack (Lola) get bogged down in trite dialogue with each other although their final journey to the train station has a good moment. Game over for someone. Similarly, army deserter Olympe Bradna (Maria) is too sickeningly sweet in some of her scenes with American journalist Lew Ayres (Bill). Dorothy Lamour plays the love interest for 2 friends - soldier Anthony Quinn (Alvarez) and escaped prisoner Gilbert Roland (de Soto) - but it is rather ludicrous how she is top billed. More could have been made of this love triangle but as things stand Lamour only needed to show up for one scene. She does not merit headlining this film. That privilege should go to Quinn and Roland. Also in the cast is a very effective Lionel Atwill who plays the military Colonel and Karen Morley who plays a wealthy lady and is the most interesting female character.

Quinn, Roland, Atwill and Morley give the film the excitement and are the best of the cast. The film loses interest when these characters are not on screen because we just get lovey-dovey nonsense dialogue outside of the tensions relating to the build-up to the escape from Madrid at the film's climax. Not everyone makes it out.

There are several well schooled and effective actors in The Last Train From Madrid. They all give performances which, for this era of movie making, are consistent with a high level of accomplishment. Unfortunately, due to the lack of real life detail about the Spanish civil war that is the background for the movie, it does not get an overall good rating from this 21st century commenter (who has made use of the contemporary historical writings that are now available about the Republican/Francoist civil war). Although this film is made early in the career of Anthony Quinn his part, such as it is, gives a 21st century person some evidence of why Mr. Quinn's career grew so rapidly. Some actors labor for years, crafting an image that eventually rises to a level to be appreciated by the general public. When one looks at the complete works of Anthony Quinn it is evident that he also worked hard at the craft of acting and developed a manner of presentation that became more and more effective as the years progressed. However, from the very early Anthony Quinn presentations one sees a persona that, even though a work in progress, carries the strength of actors who had much more experience and schooling in the trade.

Another commenter lamented that the movie did not have any big name actors. I guess the performances of Dorothy Lamour, Gilbert Roland, and Robert Cummings were somehow missed by the commenter. While without historical merit, the film is entertaining and provides a window into the acting methods of early 20th century film making.

Before America's involvement in the Second World War, Hollywood's attitudes towards events in Europe were, to say the least, ambiguous… Greed (the fear of losing foreign markets), and the threat of backlash from powerful isolationist groups within the country meant that the films tended to avoid the controversial issues of fascism… Hollywood as a whole – though there were a few dedicated anti-fascists – prided itself on not taking sides…

Two films claiming to be about the Spanish Civil War somehow managed to evade mentioning who the combatants were and what the fighting was about…

'The Last Train From Madrid' is a conventional melodrama about the plight of a group of people waiting to board the last train out of a besieged Madrid… The war has no other function here than to provide the element of suspense… More serious is 'Blockade,'1938 directed by William Dieterle… The film stars Henry Fonda as a Spanish peasant who reluctantly takes arms to defend his country

The 56 year old Cecil B. DeMille appeared as an extra in a crowd scene in this film. There were no big names to draw audiences to this film which means that the quick glimpse of DeMille was the only thing to watch in this film. Apart from that, I thought it was a waste of money.