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.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.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.
- Director
- Writers
- Franklin Coen(screen story)
- Frank Davis(screen story)
- Rose Valland(based upon "Le Front De L'Art" by)
- Stars
- Director
- Writers
- Franklin Coen(screen story)
- Frank Davis(screen story)
- Rose Valland(based upon "Le Front De L'Art" by)
- Stars
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
Videos1
- Didontas Didont
- (as Albert Remy)
- General Von Lubitzas General Von Lubitz
- (as Richard Munch)
- Sergeant Schwartzas Sergeant Schwartz
- (as Donal O'Brien)
- Pilzeras Pilzer
- (as Art Brauss)
- Majoras Major
- (as Jean-Claude Berco)
- Director
- Writers
- Franklin Coen(screen story) (screenplay)
- Frank Davis(screen story) (screenplay)
- Rose Valland(based upon "Le Front De L'Art" by)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
- Taglines
- They bombed it. They strafed it. Sabotaged it. Cursed the train!
- Genres
- Certificate
- K-16
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaBurt Lancaster took a day off during shooting to play golf when the production was about half completed. On the links, he stepped in a hole and re-aggravated an old knee injury. In order to compensate for the injury, John Frankenheimer had Lancaster's character shot in the leg, thus enabling him to limp through the rest of the shooting.
- GoofsGerd von Rundstedt was commanding the Germans in this movie, which took place in August 1944. In reality, von Rundstedt was fired in June for losing Normandy and wasn't reinstated until September, when Operation Market-Garden began.
- 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, or why. You are nothing, Labiche -- a lump of flesh. The paintings are mine; they always will be; beauty belongs to the man who can appreciate it! They will always belong to me or to a man like me. Now, this minute, you couldn't tell me why you did what you did.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue: PARIS August 2-1944 1511th day of German occupation
- Alternate versionsWhilst the official run time is 133 minutes, the BBFC website has two separate entries, one with a theatrical 'U' rated certificate in 1964 running at 141 minutes 31 seconds and the other entry with a theatrical 'A' rated certificate in 1959 running at 90 minutes 37 seconds. Though the second entry seems incorrect due to the erroneous date of certification being 21 October 1959 (the film was being made in 1963 and is copyrighted in 1964) and a much shorter run time, the BBFC reference numbering is in sequence with the later video rated entries so it is unknown if this 1959 entry is a much shorter cut of this film or this is an error in the BBFC records. It is also not known if the 142 minute entry is a longer cut of the film that has simply not been since it's UK theatrical release in 1964.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Film Review: Burt Lancaster (1968)
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...
- Nazi_Fighter_David
- Mar 30, 2008
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $6,700,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 13 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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