There is nothing like a puzzling thriller on a rattly train, and there have been many successful ones including NARROW MARGIN (1952) and NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) . Prior to these and after the Hitchcock Brit ones of the 30s is this terrific Jacques Tourneur RKO surprise package BERLIN EXPRESS. Filmed in the rubble of German cities in 1946 this film, basically is a very good and constantly weaving espionage drama; and not unlike NORTH BY NORTHWEST in deception, missing persons, terrific set pieces in ruins and epic visuals of genuine locations. Robert Ryan as the US everyman, all casual but tough, Merle Oberon gives ze Fronnch occent a good go, and a solid cast enjoying a provocative script . I especially liked the Russian soldier Roman Toporov and his witty snarls. BERLIN EXPRESS also explores the unusual brief reality of Nazi resistance to the US victory over Germany, and offers some really intriguing plot devices (a clown in a cabaret) some identity swapping and a fantastic shootout in a ruined brewery. There are quite a few gasp-out-loud moments. Did Jacques Tourneur ever make a dud? I actually do not think so. The only annoyance to modern audiences are the obvious studio process shots where characters have dialogue before a projected background screen. I suggest you catch the BERLIN EXPRESS next time it is scheduled.
62 Reviews
very unusual suspense film
planktonrules9 February 2006
This film is about the only one I can recall that deals with the anti-West resistance that the US and its allies received from the conquered Germans after WWII. Apart from this movie, you'd think that ALL the Germans easily adapted to their new rule, while in reality there were murders and scattered resistance for several years in an effort by ex-Nazis to destabilize the peace. For historical reasons alone, it is an important movie. Robert Ryan plays our hero who finds out about a Nazi murder plot and, with the help of a multinational team, he goes to action. I think that having help from the Russians, French and British is interesting, but highly improbable and seemed like a bit of a cliché, but nevertheless it's a great film and well wroth seeing.
Occupation Noir
bkoganbing9 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Fresh from the acclaim he got for Out of the Past, director Jacques Tourneur went to Europe with his cast and crew and became the first film maker from the west to do a movie in occupied Germany. It's a good noir thriller, but it is also a plea for unity and understanding among nations, specifically those who were occupying Germany at that time.
It's quite a little United Nations on a train from Paris to Berlin with Robert Ryan American agricultural expert, Robert Coote British school teacher, Roman Toporow Russian soldier, Charles Korvin French bon vivant and Merle Oberon another French national with a German VIP Paul Lukas.
Lukas is quite a VIP indeed, he's the prototype for Konrad Adenauer an anti-Nazi leader who is going to a conference to present a plan for a reunified Germany. But the former regime has a few adherents who skulk in dark places and when they fail at an assassination (they kill a double)they kidnap Lukas to prevent the conference from getting off the ground.
The grand alliance that defeated Hitler is fraying at the seams, but these folks get together for one more endeavor to find Lukas and incidentally clear themselves of complicity in what's happening.
Tourneur did a grand job in making use of the bombed out locations in Frankfurt where most of the story takes place. It certainly gives authenticity to the story.
As a plea against provincial thinking Berlin Express sends a valiant but forlorn message. The following year the French, British, and American zones of occupation formed the Federal Republic of Germany with Konrad Adenauer at the head. The Russians took about a third of the country and formed the German Democratic Republic and thus Germany was divided for about 40 years.
I do believe Lukas is right at times when he says man might only unite if aliens invade the earth. It might just be worth it.
It's quite a little United Nations on a train from Paris to Berlin with Robert Ryan American agricultural expert, Robert Coote British school teacher, Roman Toporow Russian soldier, Charles Korvin French bon vivant and Merle Oberon another French national with a German VIP Paul Lukas.
Lukas is quite a VIP indeed, he's the prototype for Konrad Adenauer an anti-Nazi leader who is going to a conference to present a plan for a reunified Germany. But the former regime has a few adherents who skulk in dark places and when they fail at an assassination (they kill a double)they kidnap Lukas to prevent the conference from getting off the ground.
The grand alliance that defeated Hitler is fraying at the seams, but these folks get together for one more endeavor to find Lukas and incidentally clear themselves of complicity in what's happening.
Tourneur did a grand job in making use of the bombed out locations in Frankfurt where most of the story takes place. It certainly gives authenticity to the story.
As a plea against provincial thinking Berlin Express sends a valiant but forlorn message. The following year the French, British, and American zones of occupation formed the Federal Republic of Germany with Konrad Adenauer at the head. The Russians took about a third of the country and formed the German Democratic Republic and thus Germany was divided for about 40 years.
I do believe Lukas is right at times when he says man might only unite if aliens invade the earth. It might just be worth it.
good thriller, unbeatable location shots and cinematography
madmad4 November 2002
I saw this movie recently on TCM and liked it. I thought the plot was good, as was the acting. I couldn't believe that the secretary was Merle Oberon, I hardly recognized her, and I think that is a testament to how good an acting job she did. Some of the lines seemed stilted and staged, particularly toward the end, but given the time period when the movie was filmed, not at all surprising. There was a good mix of characters, but the real star of the film is the location: there are wonderful shots of Berlin and Frankfurt right after the war, and the devastation around the characters adds a powerful unspoken dimension to the film.
For anyone who enjoyed this movie, I would also highly recommend "Decision Before Dawn," also filmed on location in postwar Europe, which starred Richard Basehart, Oskar Werner and a whole host of other fabulous character actors, including Hildegard Kneff.
It is irksome, but neither Berlin Express nor Decision Before Dawn seem to be available on Video or DVD, which is a real shame. So, watch your TV listings for these two.
For anyone who enjoyed this movie, I would also highly recommend "Decision Before Dawn," also filmed on location in postwar Europe, which starred Richard Basehart, Oskar Werner and a whole host of other fabulous character actors, including Hildegard Kneff.
It is irksome, but neither Berlin Express nor Decision Before Dawn seem to be available on Video or DVD, which is a real shame. So, watch your TV listings for these two.
Fascinating historical footage.
otto427 June 2005
I've only seen this movie once but what differentiates it for me is not the story, the actors, or the director, but rather the footage of post WWII Frankfurt Germany and the devastation wrought by the war.
In addition to the general post-war, pre-Cold War footage, the most fascinating thing is the film shot inside the I.G. Farben builting. This building is famous among architects and has a unique interior, shown in the film. This building was also the "Abrams Building" during the time the U.S. military occupied it during the Cold War and anyone who was in Frankfurt in the 1970's or 1980's might recognise it as unchanged inside from the time the movie was made to the time one served in the Army. This film is rare because that was a secure building during much of the Cold War. Today I believe the Army has left the building and it is occupied by a school or college.
Lots of history in this movie. I wish it was available on DVD.
In addition to the general post-war, pre-Cold War footage, the most fascinating thing is the film shot inside the I.G. Farben builting. This building is famous among architects and has a unique interior, shown in the film. This building was also the "Abrams Building" during the time the U.S. military occupied it during the Cold War and anyone who was in Frankfurt in the 1970's or 1980's might recognise it as unchanged inside from the time the movie was made to the time one served in the Army. This film is rare because that was a secure building during much of the Cold War. Today I believe the Army has left the building and it is occupied by a school or college.
Lots of history in this movie. I wish it was available on DVD.
A good thriller
IlyaMauter24 April 2003
Set in a post WW-2 Germany, "Berlin Express" is a quite interesting thriller directed by Jacques Tourneur. The story is basically about a group of people each of whom representing Russian, French, American and British forces who are united in trying to solve an assassination attempt made by Nazi underground group on a Professor Bernhardt, one of the former liders of German Resistance to Nazis and now a chairman of a commission for post-war unification of Germany.
"Berlin Express" is particularly interesting for it's exteriors shot in 1947 on real locations with special permission from Allied forces, showing destroyed by bombings Frankfurt and Berlin. 7/10
"Berlin Express" is particularly interesting for it's exteriors shot in 1947 on real locations with special permission from Allied forces, showing destroyed by bombings Frankfurt and Berlin. 7/10
Textbook example of brilliant direction complicating simplistic script.
alice liddell28 June 2000
On a surface level this is a kind of benevolent THIRD MAN, as a group of international comrades, most prominently a naive American, try to root out sinister Germans and a betraying friend in the rubbles of post-war Europe. The script is a model of civic decency, as it dramatises the lingering dangers facing Europe after the war, but offering a narrative of co-operation and hope.
Director Tourneur, however, had only just directed the beautifully bleak OUT OF THE PAST, and this film is full of a blackness overwhelming good intentions, where the frightening contingencies of history and inexplicable darkness of man are not so easily swept aside. His mastery of space and lighting, his disturbing compositions and vigorous editing are an eternal pleasure not to be enjoyed again until Scorcese's glory days.
Director Tourneur, however, had only just directed the beautifully bleak OUT OF THE PAST, and this film is full of a blackness overwhelming good intentions, where the frightening contingencies of history and inexplicable darkness of man are not so easily swept aside. His mastery of space and lighting, his disturbing compositions and vigorous editing are an eternal pleasure not to be enjoyed again until Scorcese's glory days.
Post-war intrigue
Leofwine_draca1 August 2015
BERLIN EXPRESS is a post-war thriller directed to the hilt by Jacques Tourneur, who adds plenty of icy atmosphere to the production. It also has one of the best locations I've seen in a film: the real-life bombed-out ruins of Frankfurt, which provide a fitting backdrop to a tale of intrigue, scandal, and murder.
Much of the film is set on a train, as various characters interact and attempt to do battle with some Nazis who don't let the small matter of losing the war stop them. When a leading scientist is kidnapped, it takes an American investigator to track down the criminal gang and exact some justice.
Cast-wise, this is a film that benefits from some seasoned performers like Robert Ryan and Paul Lukas in key roles, but really it's a story where the cinematography wins out. There are some expertly-directed set-pieces here, particularly the climactic stuff in the bombed-out brewery, alongside plenty of the good stuff - i.e. suspense and a sense of danger - that you expect from a thriller. Check it out.
Much of the film is set on a train, as various characters interact and attempt to do battle with some Nazis who don't let the small matter of losing the war stop them. When a leading scientist is kidnapped, it takes an American investigator to track down the criminal gang and exact some justice.
Cast-wise, this is a film that benefits from some seasoned performers like Robert Ryan and Paul Lukas in key roles, but really it's a story where the cinematography wins out. There are some expertly-directed set-pieces here, particularly the climactic stuff in the bombed-out brewery, alongside plenty of the good stuff - i.e. suspense and a sense of danger - that you expect from a thriller. Check it out.
interesting view of post-war Germany
cherold3 February 2005
This movie is most notable as a historical document giving a glimpse of Germany after the war. The location shots in bombed out Frankfurt and Berlin are rather startling, and it's interesting to see the hatred and mistrust everyone has for the Germans. The movie is shot very well and the early scenes are excellent.
Unfortunately the script is weak. Towards the end I realized that I just wasn't clear on why things were happening as they were. It felt like the plot was just a backdrop to the ambiance, which was fine in the beginning but became a problem as the plot moved its wobbly self to center stage. I can't entirely blame the script though; I think Tourneur's greatest failing as a director is that while he had a lot of style and could always make things interesting, he could be sloppy in terms of telling a story. Of course he wasn't the only director who believed you could gloss over a lot if you just kept things moving, but that works better with a good muddled script like The Big Sleep rather than the distinctly ordinary but muddled script he worked with here. Still worth seeing though.
Unfortunately the script is weak. Towards the end I realized that I just wasn't clear on why things were happening as they were. It felt like the plot was just a backdrop to the ambiance, which was fine in the beginning but became a problem as the plot moved its wobbly self to center stage. I can't entirely blame the script though; I think Tourneur's greatest failing as a director is that while he had a lot of style and could always make things interesting, he could be sloppy in terms of telling a story. Of course he wasn't the only director who believed you could gloss over a lot if you just kept things moving, but that works better with a good muddled script like The Big Sleep rather than the distinctly ordinary but muddled script he worked with here. Still worth seeing though.
On the right track
LCShackley4 May 2008
Earlier today I posted a negative review of SPY TRAIN, a WWII-era thriller flop about Nazi spies on a train, all done by the numbers, and not very well.
Thank heaven for BERLIN EXPRESS, which is a potent antidote to formulaic war thrillers. Here the "McGuffin" is the need to deliver Dr. Bernhardt safely to a conference in Berlin, where he has a wonderful plan for reuniting Germany. But of course, there are sinister forces at work to prevent him from arriving.
Bernhardt's secretary, Lucienne (Oberon) is on a train with her boss and several good-looking male passengers who represent the four Allied powers. An intercepted message has warned of danger, but no one knows what to expect. Danger does indeed strike, and when the train arrives in Frankfurt, things become decidedly worse. There's a kidnapping, a hanging, a gun-toting clown, and plenty of awe-inspiring shots of bombed-out Frankfurt (much like the Vienna of THIRD MAN). Bits of humor lighten up a taut, well-written script.
What makes this film better than dreck like SPY TRAIN is its sense of reality, which is cemented by good characters and embellished by the very real locations. Shot in Paris, Frankfurt, and a shelled Berlin, it plays like something from post-war headlines. (The running narration, which is not obtrusive, lends the sense of a documentary.) The only sour note is a saccharine ending, in which the characters from each country exit the screen to the sounds of national theme songs. But that's not enough to spoil a very engaging thriller. It's great for war movie fans, and for students of history who want a look at the aftermath of WWII.
Thank heaven for BERLIN EXPRESS, which is a potent antidote to formulaic war thrillers. Here the "McGuffin" is the need to deliver Dr. Bernhardt safely to a conference in Berlin, where he has a wonderful plan for reuniting Germany. But of course, there are sinister forces at work to prevent him from arriving.
Bernhardt's secretary, Lucienne (Oberon) is on a train with her boss and several good-looking male passengers who represent the four Allied powers. An intercepted message has warned of danger, but no one knows what to expect. Danger does indeed strike, and when the train arrives in Frankfurt, things become decidedly worse. There's a kidnapping, a hanging, a gun-toting clown, and plenty of awe-inspiring shots of bombed-out Frankfurt (much like the Vienna of THIRD MAN). Bits of humor lighten up a taut, well-written script.
What makes this film better than dreck like SPY TRAIN is its sense of reality, which is cemented by good characters and embellished by the very real locations. Shot in Paris, Frankfurt, and a shelled Berlin, it plays like something from post-war headlines. (The running narration, which is not obtrusive, lends the sense of a documentary.) The only sour note is a saccharine ending, in which the characters from each country exit the screen to the sounds of national theme songs. But that's not enough to spoil a very engaging thriller. It's great for war movie fans, and for students of history who want a look at the aftermath of WWII.
Good
chris-45924 April 2003
I always think that it is a good idea to make a thriller/ mystery story even when one is trying to show something that has nothing to do with that. In "The Berlin Express" we are shown post-war Germany, the consequences of 2nd World War. First the film can look as a triumphant look of the winner of the war towards the wreckage it left behind. Such sentences as "here justice arranged it so that the punishment were equal to the crime" (I'm not sure if the quote is correct, but the idea is) might corroborate that first impression. However it is possible that all is meant as great irony.
The film is good. It isn't great though - just compare it with Reed's "The Third Man" and you'll see the difference between a master piece, a work of a superb team, and a reasonably well-made picture. However one mustn't forget that "reasonably well-made" pictures aren't so easy to do, and thus "The Berlin Express" seems to me to be a good movie.
The film is good. It isn't great though - just compare it with Reed's "The Third Man" and you'll see the difference between a master piece, a work of a superb team, and a reasonably well-made picture. However one mustn't forget that "reasonably well-made" pictures aren't so easy to do, and thus "The Berlin Express" seems to me to be a good movie.
***1/2
edwagreen14 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
With the second world war ending, already Germans envisioned a united country. A man of peace, Paul Lukas, travels back for a peace conference with this idea in mind. Trouble is that there is an absolute lunatic fringe who doesn't want this to occur and instead see a divided Germany as cause for discontent and eventual renewal of war against the allies.
The usually benign Charles Korvin has a completely different role here. As Lukas's faithful secretary, Merle Oberon is anything but dominant in this 1948 film. The Russian officer in the film is stereotyped as being suspicious of anything western.
The best part of the film is the ending where we see hope for friendship and understanding among the nations.
The usually benign Charles Korvin has a completely different role here. As Lukas's faithful secretary, Merle Oberon is anything but dominant in this 1948 film. The Russian officer in the film is stereotyped as being suspicious of anything western.
The best part of the film is the ending where we see hope for friendship and understanding among the nations.
International intrigue with a lesson for us all. If only they'd dropped the lesson
Terrell-42 September 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Like the curate's egg, parts of Berlin Express are excellent. But the other parts? Be prepared for conscientious lectures, conventional and dull, about how life might be for us all if the U.S., Britain, France and the Soviets could work together and be jolly doing it. Divided Germany right after WWII is the subject, but we get the idea: We all just need to be friends. An anonymous narrator keeps telling us this, as well as pointing out what we're already seeing. It's no accident, I think, that Dore Schary supervised the making of this movie. If there was any possibility of pounding inspiring messages into an otherwise good movie, Schary was the producer with the mallet.
Imbedded like those old-time prizes in clumps of stale, sticky Cracker Jack are the good parts. These are worth digging for. We're in the middle of a Nazi plot to keep the victors from working together, all to better the chances of these grubby but dangerous survivors of the Third Reich to divide and conquer. The humane Dr. Bernhardt, a German who opposed Hitler and survived, is on a mission from Paris to Berlin by train to address an international conference on his plans for a unified and democratic Germany. There's a plot to kill him. When a grenade on a snack tray goes off in Dr. Bernhardt's compartment...is it good-bye, Dr. Bernhardt?
Four travelers on the train, strangers to each other, find themselves thrown together with Lucienne (Merle Oberon), the doctor's secretary, to find out what really happened. There's Robert Lindley (Robert Ryan), an agricultural expert from the U. S.; Sterling (Robert Coote), a teacher from Britain who will work to develop Germany's education institutions; Perrot (Charles Korvin), a Frenchman who was with the maquis and is now a businessman; and Soviet Army lieutenant Maxim Kiroshilov (Roman Toperow), returning to the Soviet Union. Can they overcome differences to work together successfully in Berlin to learn the truth? Well, sure. That's the whole point of the movie, isn't it?
Why is Berlin Express so good in parts? Most of the movie is set in the bombed out desolation of Berlin. It's a grim, desperate place. The reality of Germany under the control of the occupying armies is clear. Cigarettes are the common currency, useful for buying potatoes or bits of coal, or, if you're a G.I., women and liquor. Director Jacques Tournier gives us some first-rate, tense scenes of interrogation, hunts down rubble-filled streets at night, a tawdry German nightclub in a ruined building, a tacky mind-reading act and impending violence in a cavernous, bombed-out brewery. You can't beat a dying clown for morbid interest, and Tournier gives us a doozy, with the clown in full costume, a big smile painted on his face, running and staggering down brick-filled streets, bleeding from a bullet wound in his back and pursued by those intent on finishing him off. He has an effective death scene, too, in that nightclub.
There's no sign of romance or even a spark or two between Merle Oberon and Robert Ryan, just a bit of uneasy flirting. They raise the question, what's the point of the two of them? Charles Korvin, Coote and Toperow all do fine jobs. Reinhold Schunzel dominates his scenes as an aged friend of Dr. Bernhardt who learns too late that he made a terrible bargain. I suppose he's forgotten now, at least in America, but Schunzel was a fine actor. For raucous and corrupt good spirits, put on Criterion's The Three Penny Opera (1931) and watch Schunzel as Tiger Brown pair off with Mack the Knife to sing Kanonen-Song
The international intrigue parts of Berlin Express are just fine, especially when we realize we'd better not trust just anyone. The laid-on messages of international cooperation are, unfortunately, dull and heavy-handed. They slow down the plot appreciably whenever Dr. Bernhardt, Lucienne or the narrator decide we need to be reminded of what the real purpose of the movie is. Still, like the curate's egg, parts of Berlin Express are tasty.
Imbedded like those old-time prizes in clumps of stale, sticky Cracker Jack are the good parts. These are worth digging for. We're in the middle of a Nazi plot to keep the victors from working together, all to better the chances of these grubby but dangerous survivors of the Third Reich to divide and conquer. The humane Dr. Bernhardt, a German who opposed Hitler and survived, is on a mission from Paris to Berlin by train to address an international conference on his plans for a unified and democratic Germany. There's a plot to kill him. When a grenade on a snack tray goes off in Dr. Bernhardt's compartment...is it good-bye, Dr. Bernhardt?
Four travelers on the train, strangers to each other, find themselves thrown together with Lucienne (Merle Oberon), the doctor's secretary, to find out what really happened. There's Robert Lindley (Robert Ryan), an agricultural expert from the U. S.; Sterling (Robert Coote), a teacher from Britain who will work to develop Germany's education institutions; Perrot (Charles Korvin), a Frenchman who was with the maquis and is now a businessman; and Soviet Army lieutenant Maxim Kiroshilov (Roman Toperow), returning to the Soviet Union. Can they overcome differences to work together successfully in Berlin to learn the truth? Well, sure. That's the whole point of the movie, isn't it?
Why is Berlin Express so good in parts? Most of the movie is set in the bombed out desolation of Berlin. It's a grim, desperate place. The reality of Germany under the control of the occupying armies is clear. Cigarettes are the common currency, useful for buying potatoes or bits of coal, or, if you're a G.I., women and liquor. Director Jacques Tournier gives us some first-rate, tense scenes of interrogation, hunts down rubble-filled streets at night, a tawdry German nightclub in a ruined building, a tacky mind-reading act and impending violence in a cavernous, bombed-out brewery. You can't beat a dying clown for morbid interest, and Tournier gives us a doozy, with the clown in full costume, a big smile painted on his face, running and staggering down brick-filled streets, bleeding from a bullet wound in his back and pursued by those intent on finishing him off. He has an effective death scene, too, in that nightclub.
There's no sign of romance or even a spark or two between Merle Oberon and Robert Ryan, just a bit of uneasy flirting. They raise the question, what's the point of the two of them? Charles Korvin, Coote and Toperow all do fine jobs. Reinhold Schunzel dominates his scenes as an aged friend of Dr. Bernhardt who learns too late that he made a terrible bargain. I suppose he's forgotten now, at least in America, but Schunzel was a fine actor. For raucous and corrupt good spirits, put on Criterion's The Three Penny Opera (1931) and watch Schunzel as Tiger Brown pair off with Mack the Knife to sing Kanonen-Song
The international intrigue parts of Berlin Express are just fine, especially when we realize we'd better not trust just anyone. The laid-on messages of international cooperation are, unfortunately, dull and heavy-handed. They slow down the plot appreciably whenever Dr. Bernhardt, Lucienne or the narrator decide we need to be reminded of what the real purpose of the movie is. Still, like the curate's egg, parts of Berlin Express are tasty.
Interesting Semi-Documentary Of Post-WWII Occupation Zone Politics
ShootingShark18 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
In the aftermath of World War II, American, British and Russian forces are vying for political control of Germany. When a German academic with a plan for unification is due to address a conference, there are some elements who do not wish him to attend
This film is a bit of a curio, a sort of uneasy mix of documentary and narrative thriller. It feels a little like Murder On The Orient Express as we try to figure out who's after Dr Bernhardt, but it's really much more about the mistrust and opportunism which existed in Germany in the late forties. There are amazing shots of bombed-out Frankfurt and Berlin literally blown to rubble, everywhere are people hawking what few possessions they have in order to get by, and the only real currency is cigarettes. The British-American alliance is uneasy, neither trust the Russians and all are worried about a German resurgence; none can bury the past, or agree on the future. It's perceptive, thought-provoking stuff, and it accurately foresees not only the Communist annexing of the fifties, but also the unification of the nineties. It was made by a terrific cosmopolitan group - a gifted French/American director, a great German writer (Curt Siodmak, who, along with his brother Robert, made some of the best films of the forties) and a fine international cast. The plethora of nations is amusingly summed up at the start when all the men hit on Oberon and she fobs them all off in different languages. The thriller elements of the plot don't always work so well but the characters are rich and intriguing, and whilst the extensive narration is off-putting it's there for a purpose. A small but profound anti-war film, made at a pivotal moment in military history when politicians were only concerned with their spoils.
This film is a bit of a curio, a sort of uneasy mix of documentary and narrative thriller. It feels a little like Murder On The Orient Express as we try to figure out who's after Dr Bernhardt, but it's really much more about the mistrust and opportunism which existed in Germany in the late forties. There are amazing shots of bombed-out Frankfurt and Berlin literally blown to rubble, everywhere are people hawking what few possessions they have in order to get by, and the only real currency is cigarettes. The British-American alliance is uneasy, neither trust the Russians and all are worried about a German resurgence; none can bury the past, or agree on the future. It's perceptive, thought-provoking stuff, and it accurately foresees not only the Communist annexing of the fifties, but also the unification of the nineties. It was made by a terrific cosmopolitan group - a gifted French/American director, a great German writer (Curt Siodmak, who, along with his brother Robert, made some of the best films of the forties) and a fine international cast. The plethora of nations is amusingly summed up at the start when all the men hit on Oberon and she fobs them all off in different languages. The thriller elements of the plot don't always work so well but the characters are rich and intriguing, and whilst the extensive narration is off-putting it's there for a purpose. A small but profound anti-war film, made at a pivotal moment in military history when politicians were only concerned with their spoils.
Revealing and Engrossing
dougdoepke9 August 2020
Most everyone has seen film of the atomic leveling of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII. However, this revealing flick shows the lesser seen ravages of conventional bombing of WWII Germany, specifically Frankfurt and Berlin. Only jaggedly grim foundations are left standing, except for the lavish Siemens corporate complex which remains perfectly intact. I expect there's an interesting backstory to that. Anyway, I gather this was the first movie to show Germany's urban destruction, which, all things considered, stands as the movie's centerpiece.
Nonetheless, the screenplay weaves an interesting post-war thread into the compelling visuals. Seems the influential Dr. Bernhardt is trying to bring the four occupying powers (U.S., Britain, France, and Soviet Union) into a unifying compact that will prevent their breakup into rivals and also make a resurgence of German militarism more difficult. (However, the nature of the German resistance, whether Neo-Nazi or otherwise, is never specified.) The trouble is elements of that German resistance are trying to eliminate the Doctor and his plans for allied unity. It seems that keeping those occupying powers separate will make a German resurgence easier. Thus protecting Dr. Bernhardt becomes an allied priority. The movie's suspense then becomes figuring out which of the cast members are actually German resistance operatives.
If there is such a thing as noir intrigue, RKO has fashioned it. Most of the activity takes place in the shadows of railway cars and dour rooms along with twilight chases through the urban rubble. But then this is expert noir director Tourneur along with art and set direction from the talented D'Agostino and Silvera. As a result, the plot and visuals complement one another compellingly. Then too, as a revealing period fact, we find out how important cigarettes were when no common money exists.
This 1947 production reflects a post-war period prior to the onset of the uncompromising Cold War between the Soviets and the U.S. Thus the film's Soviet officer is treated in sympathetic fashion totally unlike the many movie and TV caricatures that would follow. For a Cold War product like myself, that takes some real getting used to. Too bad the movie's hopeful note of European, American, and a Soviet compact was not borne out in practice.
Anyway, it's an unusual and provocative film, certainly deserving of more recognition and less obscurity than what it's gotten. So don't pass it up.
Nonetheless, the screenplay weaves an interesting post-war thread into the compelling visuals. Seems the influential Dr. Bernhardt is trying to bring the four occupying powers (U.S., Britain, France, and Soviet Union) into a unifying compact that will prevent their breakup into rivals and also make a resurgence of German militarism more difficult. (However, the nature of the German resistance, whether Neo-Nazi or otherwise, is never specified.) The trouble is elements of that German resistance are trying to eliminate the Doctor and his plans for allied unity. It seems that keeping those occupying powers separate will make a German resurgence easier. Thus protecting Dr. Bernhardt becomes an allied priority. The movie's suspense then becomes figuring out which of the cast members are actually German resistance operatives.
If there is such a thing as noir intrigue, RKO has fashioned it. Most of the activity takes place in the shadows of railway cars and dour rooms along with twilight chases through the urban rubble. But then this is expert noir director Tourneur along with art and set direction from the talented D'Agostino and Silvera. As a result, the plot and visuals complement one another compellingly. Then too, as a revealing period fact, we find out how important cigarettes were when no common money exists.
This 1947 production reflects a post-war period prior to the onset of the uncompromising Cold War between the Soviets and the U.S. Thus the film's Soviet officer is treated in sympathetic fashion totally unlike the many movie and TV caricatures that would follow. For a Cold War product like myself, that takes some real getting used to. Too bad the movie's hopeful note of European, American, and a Soviet compact was not borne out in practice.
Anyway, it's an unusual and provocative film, certainly deserving of more recognition and less obscurity than what it's gotten. So don't pass it up.
In Which I Write 'Frankfurt' A Lot
boblipton13 November 2021
Robert Ryan gets on the train for Berlin and finds himself caught up in a world of bad international relationships, spying, kidnapping, and Merle Oberon in a hat with a big feather.
The title suggests one of those train thrillers, and there's certain amount of that, but people look out the windows, and get out a couple of times, particularly when Paul Lukas is reported killed, or Miss Oberon is kidnapped. In the main, however, it turns into a message film: we must cooperate, we must have peace, or everything will wind up looking like the ruins of of Frankfurt and Berlin.
There's some nice shots of the interior of the IG Farben offices in Frankfurt, with the paternoster elevators running. They're still there, and the building is part of the University of Frankfurt. With Robert Coote and Reinhold Schünzel.
The title suggests one of those train thrillers, and there's certain amount of that, but people look out the windows, and get out a couple of times, particularly when Paul Lukas is reported killed, or Miss Oberon is kidnapped. In the main, however, it turns into a message film: we must cooperate, we must have peace, or everything will wind up looking like the ruins of of Frankfurt and Berlin.
There's some nice shots of the interior of the IG Farben offices in Frankfurt, with the paternoster elevators running. They're still there, and the building is part of the University of Frankfurt. With Robert Coote and Reinhold Schünzel.
A lightning ride through shambles of post-war Europe
bmacv9 February 2001
Heretical though it may be, I prefer this movie to The Third Man; good though the latter film is, it can't possibly live up to the reputation that has accrued around it over the years. Both are poignant -- even shocking -- glimpses into the shambles that was post-war Europe (though neither can compare, for realism, with, say, Rossellini's Open City). The brutal "assassination" comes swiftly and without warning, and if the intrigue seems a little tired, the actual locales in Frankfurt and Berlin have a timeless documentary force. Robert Ryan isn't as effective as he was playing edgy, unbalanced protagonists, and Merle Oberon seems just plain wrong as a secretary (she's more of an aristocrat-fallen-on-bad-times). But the action sequences on the train recall some of the best such movies (The Lady Vanishes, The Narrow Margin -- the Charles McGraw/Marie Windsor version). All in all, a worthy little thriller from Jacques Tourneur, director of the masterpieces The Cat People and Out of the Past.
Interesting post-war Nazy conspiracy.
rmax30482325 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
It's 1947. Frankfort. The Nazi underground is trying to destroy the man, Paul Lukas, who can pull the separate parts of post-war Berlin together. That gang of thugs will stop at nothing.
(Kids, maybe I should explain. When I used the term "post-war" before, I meant to refer to a conflict we called World War Two, or sometimes WWII. The war was just terrible. There were more deaths than in "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Frankfort is in Germany, not, as you might think, Kentucky. Germany fought on the losing side in the previously mentioned "WWII." Germany, including Frankfort (Germany, not Kentucky) was in ruins that were even worse than those in the seedier parts of your own suburb. You couldn't find a J. Crew store for miles.)
Anyway, Paul Lukas, who is going to unite Germany, is headed for Berlin on the train, accompanied by his secretary, the exotic-looking Merle Oberon. The pair meet four men who will represent the four sectors into which Berlin is divided. Robert Ryan is the American; Charles Korvin is the Frenchman who turns out to be a fake; Robert Coote is the proper Englishman; Roman Toporow is the distant, humorless, dilatory Russian.
Here's the plot. Lukas is kidnapped by the Nazi underground when the train stops in Frankfurt (Germany) who want to prevent him from unifying Berlin (also Germany) so that its four occupation forces will fight among themselves and let the Nazis take over again. Something like that. Oberon, Ryan, Korvin, Coote, and Toporow miss the next train to Berlin in order to throw together in an attempt to find and rescue Lukas from certain death. The detective work takes them through some louche places you wouldn't ordinarily want to go.
Do the good guys manage to rescue Lukas? Are you kidding? Not only do they save him from the river, they uncover Korvin's real identity when they find him trying to strangle Lukas after he has apparently been saved.
This isn't a movie of any complexity. The good guys are good; the bad guys are bad. They're the kind of bad guys who sacrifice one of their own in order to avoid suspicion themselves. Now that's really rotten.
The only role that is at all complex -- "ambiguous" would be a better description -- is that of the Russian soldier played by Roman Toporow. He's not a stereotype, exactly. He's young, handsome, well spoken, and expressionless, rather than old, bald, snarling, and sneering.
The writers had to be careful with Toporow's character because 1947 was rather a tricky years on the international stage. The West was transitioning between enemies, from the hated and now-subjugated Germans to the emerging adversaries in the Soviet Union. But the mutual hatred hadn't yet been set in cement. In 1947 nobody could foresee the Berlin Wall or the Cuban Missile Crisis or anything of that magnitude, so Toporow is the least featured of the pursuers. We don't get to know much about him except that he never smiles. And when the pursuers burst into a room and find the dead body of a friendly figure, Toporow is not in the shot, so he doesn't get a chance to express sorrow like everyone else. But he does smile and wave good-bye at the end. Well, he more or less had to. Two or three years earlier the Soviet Union had been our allies in the war against Germany and things could have gone either way in 1947.
It's directed by Jacques Tourneur, who had done some splendid work for Val Lewton's production unit at RKO, but you wouldn't know it from this movie, which is routine in almost its every element. If the writer had changed the underground Nazis into American gangsters and Paul Lukas into the newly arriving reform Chief of Police, this could easily have been an inexpensive B feature.
But don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it. The tight plot, the educational location shooting, the informative quality of the script, and the Weltschmerz-laden narration by Paul Stewart ("Berlin -- the punishment fit the crime.") lift it above average.
(Kids, maybe I should explain. When I used the term "post-war" before, I meant to refer to a conflict we called World War Two, or sometimes WWII. The war was just terrible. There were more deaths than in "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Frankfort is in Germany, not, as you might think, Kentucky. Germany fought on the losing side in the previously mentioned "WWII." Germany, including Frankfort (Germany, not Kentucky) was in ruins that were even worse than those in the seedier parts of your own suburb. You couldn't find a J. Crew store for miles.)
Anyway, Paul Lukas, who is going to unite Germany, is headed for Berlin on the train, accompanied by his secretary, the exotic-looking Merle Oberon. The pair meet four men who will represent the four sectors into which Berlin is divided. Robert Ryan is the American; Charles Korvin is the Frenchman who turns out to be a fake; Robert Coote is the proper Englishman; Roman Toporow is the distant, humorless, dilatory Russian.
Here's the plot. Lukas is kidnapped by the Nazi underground when the train stops in Frankfurt (Germany) who want to prevent him from unifying Berlin (also Germany) so that its four occupation forces will fight among themselves and let the Nazis take over again. Something like that. Oberon, Ryan, Korvin, Coote, and Toporow miss the next train to Berlin in order to throw together in an attempt to find and rescue Lukas from certain death. The detective work takes them through some louche places you wouldn't ordinarily want to go.
Do the good guys manage to rescue Lukas? Are you kidding? Not only do they save him from the river, they uncover Korvin's real identity when they find him trying to strangle Lukas after he has apparently been saved.
This isn't a movie of any complexity. The good guys are good; the bad guys are bad. They're the kind of bad guys who sacrifice one of their own in order to avoid suspicion themselves. Now that's really rotten.
The only role that is at all complex -- "ambiguous" would be a better description -- is that of the Russian soldier played by Roman Toporow. He's not a stereotype, exactly. He's young, handsome, well spoken, and expressionless, rather than old, bald, snarling, and sneering.
The writers had to be careful with Toporow's character because 1947 was rather a tricky years on the international stage. The West was transitioning between enemies, from the hated and now-subjugated Germans to the emerging adversaries in the Soviet Union. But the mutual hatred hadn't yet been set in cement. In 1947 nobody could foresee the Berlin Wall or the Cuban Missile Crisis or anything of that magnitude, so Toporow is the least featured of the pursuers. We don't get to know much about him except that he never smiles. And when the pursuers burst into a room and find the dead body of a friendly figure, Toporow is not in the shot, so he doesn't get a chance to express sorrow like everyone else. But he does smile and wave good-bye at the end. Well, he more or less had to. Two or three years earlier the Soviet Union had been our allies in the war against Germany and things could have gone either way in 1947.
It's directed by Jacques Tourneur, who had done some splendid work for Val Lewton's production unit at RKO, but you wouldn't know it from this movie, which is routine in almost its every element. If the writer had changed the underground Nazis into American gangsters and Paul Lukas into the newly arriving reform Chief of Police, this could easily have been an inexpensive B feature.
But don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it. The tight plot, the educational location shooting, the informative quality of the script, and the Weltschmerz-laden narration by Paul Stewart ("Berlin -- the punishment fit the crime.") lift it above average.
A Documentary-Style Spy Thriller
seymourblack-13 April 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This spy thriller which is set in the period just after the end of World War 11, depicts in documentary-style, the level of devastation, turmoil and political intrigue that was prevalent in Germany at that time. An assassination, a kidnapping and the presence of a group of Nazi activists illustrate the type of dangers that had to be overcome in order to achieve a more peaceful future for the country and an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion amongst the Allies did nothing to make this aspiration any easier.
Shortly after a military train travelling from Paris to Berlin makes an unscheduled stop because of an obstruction on the line, an explosion in one of the compartments kills a passenger who the other travellers believe is Dr Heinrich Bernhardt. Dr Bernhardt, the German head of a fact-finding commission, had formulated a plan to unify his country and was on his way to an important conference in Berlin.
When the train reaches Frankfurt, the passengers who were travelling in the same car as Bernhardt are taken in for questioning by a U.S. Army Colonel and it becomes apparent that the man who'd been killed was a decoy and that the passenger who'd called himself Otto Franzen was actually the real Bernhardt (Paul Lukas). A mysterious French lady called Lucienne Mirabeau (Merle Oberon) is also revealed to be Bernhardt's secretary.
At Frankfurt station, before he's able to continue his journey, Dr Bernhardt is kidnapped and a desperate Lucienne pleads with some of the other passengers to help in the search for the missing diplomat. An American agricultural expert, Robert Lindley (Robert Ryan), English schoolteacher James Sterling (Robert Coote), French businessman Henri Perrot (Charles Korvin) and a Soviet Army Officer, Lt. Maxim Kiroshilov (Roman Toporow) are eventually persuaded to help.
Lindley and Lucienne's search leads them to a bombed out brewery where Bernhardt is being held by a group of Nazis and they get involved in a shootout before being able to escape and continue their journey. Unfortunately for Bernhardt, yet another attempt is made on his life before the train finally reaches its destination.
In typical docu-noir style, a voice-over is used to provide some exposition and also information about various important landmarks etc. The whole movie has a realistic feel and Lucien Ballard's location footage of the heavily bombed cities of Frankfurt and Berlin is extremely impressive and also very affecting.
The rather strained atmosphere which existed amongst the passengers of different nationalities at the beginning of the journey is later replaced by a spirit of cooperation when individuals from the four allied countries symbolically work together to search for Bernhardt. This suggests a feeling of optimism for the future which is in line with the idealistic views of Dr Bernhardt. A more noirish aspect of the plot, however, is the misleading identities and motivations of the characters, especially early on in the action.
Director Jacques Tourneur's work is exemplary throughout but an interesting technique that he uses at various junctures is to utilise windows to frame some important shots. Examples of this are the sequence during which the various train passengers are introduced, the footage which shows a number of the ruined buildings and also a scene during which Dr Bernhardt is attacked on the train.
"Berlin Express" is an interesting movie with a talented cast whose performances contribute strongly to the way in which the mood of a particular point in time is captured so convincingly.
Shortly after a military train travelling from Paris to Berlin makes an unscheduled stop because of an obstruction on the line, an explosion in one of the compartments kills a passenger who the other travellers believe is Dr Heinrich Bernhardt. Dr Bernhardt, the German head of a fact-finding commission, had formulated a plan to unify his country and was on his way to an important conference in Berlin.
When the train reaches Frankfurt, the passengers who were travelling in the same car as Bernhardt are taken in for questioning by a U.S. Army Colonel and it becomes apparent that the man who'd been killed was a decoy and that the passenger who'd called himself Otto Franzen was actually the real Bernhardt (Paul Lukas). A mysterious French lady called Lucienne Mirabeau (Merle Oberon) is also revealed to be Bernhardt's secretary.
At Frankfurt station, before he's able to continue his journey, Dr Bernhardt is kidnapped and a desperate Lucienne pleads with some of the other passengers to help in the search for the missing diplomat. An American agricultural expert, Robert Lindley (Robert Ryan), English schoolteacher James Sterling (Robert Coote), French businessman Henri Perrot (Charles Korvin) and a Soviet Army Officer, Lt. Maxim Kiroshilov (Roman Toporow) are eventually persuaded to help.
Lindley and Lucienne's search leads them to a bombed out brewery where Bernhardt is being held by a group of Nazis and they get involved in a shootout before being able to escape and continue their journey. Unfortunately for Bernhardt, yet another attempt is made on his life before the train finally reaches its destination.
In typical docu-noir style, a voice-over is used to provide some exposition and also information about various important landmarks etc. The whole movie has a realistic feel and Lucien Ballard's location footage of the heavily bombed cities of Frankfurt and Berlin is extremely impressive and also very affecting.
The rather strained atmosphere which existed amongst the passengers of different nationalities at the beginning of the journey is later replaced by a spirit of cooperation when individuals from the four allied countries symbolically work together to search for Bernhardt. This suggests a feeling of optimism for the future which is in line with the idealistic views of Dr Bernhardt. A more noirish aspect of the plot, however, is the misleading identities and motivations of the characters, especially early on in the action.
Director Jacques Tourneur's work is exemplary throughout but an interesting technique that he uses at various junctures is to utilise windows to frame some important shots. Examples of this are the sequence during which the various train passengers are introduced, the footage which shows a number of the ruined buildings and also a scene during which Dr Bernhardt is attacked on the train.
"Berlin Express" is an interesting movie with a talented cast whose performances contribute strongly to the way in which the mood of a particular point in time is captured so convincingly.
Message in the carrier pigeon
jotix10011 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Post war Europe felt the hunger caused by the conflict in different ways. When a pigeon is shot near the Eiffel Tower, some children decide to give it a fitting burial by taking it home. One of the boys' mother, has a different idea figuring it would make do for her husband's dinner. Little did she realize the pigeon was carrying a coded message that will set things in motion in this account of life in that era.
The Americans in France were sending a group of people to Berlin by train. It was a mixed crowd that included Dr. Bernhardt, an important man that was returning to Germany to present ideas for the new government there. Some of his fellow citizens did not want him to get to his destination as it is made clear with a murder attempt in the train, only the real man man was not killed. What follows is an adventure into uncharted territory that takes place among the ruins of Frankfurt and Berlin.
Jacques Tourneur, a director with a talent for giving his films a view from another angle, worked successfully in Hollywood. "Berlin Express" came after his wonderful "Out of the Past". The story was based on a story by Curt Siodmak, the brother of Robert Siodmak, the film director, and a writer in his own right. The screenplay is credited to Harold Medford. Mr. Tourneur directed the thriller documentary style, as though to clarify things and put them in perspective for the audience. The narration tries to give the viewer a link to the turmoil of life after the war, especially a Germany in ruins. Lucien Ballard, a distinguished cinematographer was at hand to capture images that illustrates the horrors lived during the war.
The cast includes Robert Ryan, Merle Oberon, Paul Lukas, Charles Korvin and Robert Coote. The film is worth a look by fans of Jacques Tourneur
The Americans in France were sending a group of people to Berlin by train. It was a mixed crowd that included Dr. Bernhardt, an important man that was returning to Germany to present ideas for the new government there. Some of his fellow citizens did not want him to get to his destination as it is made clear with a murder attempt in the train, only the real man man was not killed. What follows is an adventure into uncharted territory that takes place among the ruins of Frankfurt and Berlin.
Jacques Tourneur, a director with a talent for giving his films a view from another angle, worked successfully in Hollywood. "Berlin Express" came after his wonderful "Out of the Past". The story was based on a story by Curt Siodmak, the brother of Robert Siodmak, the film director, and a writer in his own right. The screenplay is credited to Harold Medford. Mr. Tourneur directed the thriller documentary style, as though to clarify things and put them in perspective for the audience. The narration tries to give the viewer a link to the turmoil of life after the war, especially a Germany in ruins. Lucien Ballard, a distinguished cinematographer was at hand to capture images that illustrates the horrors lived during the war.
The cast includes Robert Ryan, Merle Oberon, Paul Lukas, Charles Korvin and Robert Coote. The film is worth a look by fans of Jacques Tourneur
Great noir thriller and history lesson
frodob-0609612 December 2019
Like a previous reviewer, I, too, was born in Frankfurt shortly after the war. Those rubble heaps were our playgrounds. More than once an old bomb or artillery shell exploded and killed or injured someone. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the States some years later. After joining the army I wound up back in Frankfurt and occasionally rode the nonstop elevators in the I.G. Farben building like several of the characters. This is the first time I've seen this movie and it gave me goosebumps several times. Other than that that, the only things it has going for it are fine acting, evocative scenery, impressive cinematography and a powerful sense of history and the endless repeating thereof. Highly recommended.
fine noir thriller
SnoopyStyle8 April 2020
In postwar Paris, a pigeon is shot by someone unknown. A housewife finds a secret German message on the bird. She brings it to the police and it rises up the chain of command. All the allies are notified but nobody is able to figure out the message. Meanwhile, various international passengers board a train to Frankfurt on their way to Berlin. Dr. Bernhardt is advocating for the peaceful reunification of his German homeland and gets blown up in his compartment. The passengers are brought to a US Army base for questioning.
This is a stylized noir. The most striking aspect is the vista of the bombed out Germany. The main plot is akin to an international whodunnit and what did they do. It does get a bit random as the group search for Bernhardt in the ruins of the city. I don't see how they get anywhere as they randomly find a posting on a wall. They need to be following better clues. I do like some of comedy at the expense of the Russian. Mostly, it's a fine noir.
This is a stylized noir. The most striking aspect is the vista of the bombed out Germany. The main plot is akin to an international whodunnit and what did they do. It does get a bit random as the group search for Bernhardt in the ruins of the city. I don't see how they get anywhere as they randomly find a posting on a wall. They need to be following better clues. I do like some of comedy at the expense of the Russian. Mostly, it's a fine noir.
Remarkable! The filming, the actual footage in German ruins, all great. The plot? Well...
secondtake8 October 2017
Berlin Express (1948)
Just after WWII has ended comes this film about getting inside the post-Nazi world for an assassination. It's multi-national and filled with bitter scenes of German ruin.
This actually is an amazing film, starting off (and ending) as beautiful and dramatic. And it's complex but luckily edited with precision. It's filmed with remarkable realism in post-war German (Frankfurt and Berlin), with trains and train stations and lots of darkness and steam and drama. (Later there are huge areas of utter utter devastation.) The first half hour has a stunning film-noir style, lots of angles, deep shadows, moving camera, and so on, all under the hand of master cinematographer Lucien Ballard. It's great to just watch.
It's also a rare imperfect glimpse of what it might actually be like in that era where Germany was an occupied territory. It's almost shocking, even now, or maybe especially now since we have seldom seen anything remotely this vast and awful in a long time. That really is the depth of the movie that was intended and effective.
The plot (trying to save a German diplomat who is out for a peaceful future) you might call a device, and it is the weakness of it all, even though they place much of the best of it on a train where the drama is classic train stuff, car to car. There is also a lot of narration, explaining (rather well, but still having to explain) what is going on. Robert Ryan plays the leading man, an American agriculture expert out to help recovery in Europe.
There is also the expected stereotyping—the casual smart American, the principled and arrogant Soviet, the suspicious and duplicitous Germans, the interested but somewhat victimized French, and the humorous and unflappable Brit. I'm serious—it's here, and it's done well enough you can easily buy into it. Merle Oberon is restrained but wonderful.
Director Jacques Tourneau is always interesting and often compromised ("Out of the Past" is interesting and very uncompromised, for sure.) This movie has so many shifts and complications it is hard to know what they all mean, and this makes it all the more interesting, even as the narration deadens our absorption into events. I admit to liking every minute of it, even the bureaucratic office scenes (which had their own slight believability). By the end, as they all say goodbye and drive in separate directions, the truth of divided Germany was clear—even in 1948.
The very last scene shows a man with one leg and crutches moving through some partly destroyed columns—very symbolic and right on.
Just after WWII has ended comes this film about getting inside the post-Nazi world for an assassination. It's multi-national and filled with bitter scenes of German ruin.
This actually is an amazing film, starting off (and ending) as beautiful and dramatic. And it's complex but luckily edited with precision. It's filmed with remarkable realism in post-war German (Frankfurt and Berlin), with trains and train stations and lots of darkness and steam and drama. (Later there are huge areas of utter utter devastation.) The first half hour has a stunning film-noir style, lots of angles, deep shadows, moving camera, and so on, all under the hand of master cinematographer Lucien Ballard. It's great to just watch.
It's also a rare imperfect glimpse of what it might actually be like in that era where Germany was an occupied territory. It's almost shocking, even now, or maybe especially now since we have seldom seen anything remotely this vast and awful in a long time. That really is the depth of the movie that was intended and effective.
The plot (trying to save a German diplomat who is out for a peaceful future) you might call a device, and it is the weakness of it all, even though they place much of the best of it on a train where the drama is classic train stuff, car to car. There is also a lot of narration, explaining (rather well, but still having to explain) what is going on. Robert Ryan plays the leading man, an American agriculture expert out to help recovery in Europe.
There is also the expected stereotyping—the casual smart American, the principled and arrogant Soviet, the suspicious and duplicitous Germans, the interested but somewhat victimized French, and the humorous and unflappable Brit. I'm serious—it's here, and it's done well enough you can easily buy into it. Merle Oberon is restrained but wonderful.
Director Jacques Tourneau is always interesting and often compromised ("Out of the Past" is interesting and very uncompromised, for sure.) This movie has so many shifts and complications it is hard to know what they all mean, and this makes it all the more interesting, even as the narration deadens our absorption into events. I admit to liking every minute of it, even the bureaucratic office scenes (which had their own slight believability). By the end, as they all say goodbye and drive in separate directions, the truth of divided Germany was clear—even in 1948.
The very last scene shows a man with one leg and crutches moving through some partly destroyed columns—very symbolic and right on.
A disappointing, uninteresting movie
richard-17879 December 2019
I've seen Billy Wilder's *A Foreign Affair*, also filmed in the ruins of post-war Germany, several times. It's not a great movie, but it has great scenes between Jean Arthur and Marlene Dietrich that give us some idea of what it must have been like for the average non-Nazi German citizen to live through the war there.
This movie is also shot in immediately post-War Germany, but all it shows us is a small group of Nazi sympathizers who evidently think they can revive the Third Reich. With what?
The script here is the real culprit. It doesn't make clear who these would-be Nazis are, what their plans are, etc. Nor does it give us any good idea why they should be opposed to plans for German reunification. What are Prof. Bernhardt's plans for a reunified Germany?
And, of course, with a beautiful star like Merle Oberon, why is she left in the end with no romance in her future?
This movie, to me, is the unfortunate result of a badly underdeveloped script.
This movie is also shot in immediately post-War Germany, but all it shows us is a small group of Nazi sympathizers who evidently think they can revive the Third Reich. With what?
The script here is the real culprit. It doesn't make clear who these would-be Nazis are, what their plans are, etc. Nor does it give us any good idea why they should be opposed to plans for German reunification. What are Prof. Bernhardt's plans for a reunified Germany?
And, of course, with a beautiful star like Merle Oberon, why is she left in the end with no romance in her future?
This movie, to me, is the unfortunate result of a badly underdeveloped script.
historically interesting
silverauk4 October 2003
This movie is interesting because it shows the effect of the terrible bombings by the allies on cities crowded with civilians: especially Frankfurt and Berlin. It was made on location in 1947 and therefore a testimony of the ruins. It was only released in Germay 8 years later. Professor Bernhardt is handled with a surprising respect by the American officers during the investigations. Robert Ryan as Robert Lindley seems to be more accurate. Jacques Tourneur develops the thriller with skill.
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