Von Ryan's Express (1965)

An American POW leads a group of mainly British prisoners to escape from the Germans in WWII.

Director:

Mark Robson

Writers:

David Westheimer (novel), Wendell Mayes (screenplay)

Stars:

Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Raffaella Carrà

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Frank Sinatra	...	Col. Joseph L. Ryan
Trevor Howard	...	Major Eric Fincham
Raffaella Carrà	...	Gabriella (as Raffaella Carra)
Brad Dexter	...	Sgt. Bostick
Sergio Fantoni	...	Capt. Oriani
John Leyton	...	Orde
Edward Mulhare	...	Costanzo
Wolfgang Preiss	...	Major Von Klemment
James Brolin	...	Private Ames
John Van Dreelen	...	Col. Gortz (as John van Dreelen)
Adolfo Celi	...	Battaglia
Vito Scotti	...	Italian Train Engineer
Richard Bakalyan	...	Corporal Giannini
Michael Goodliffe	...	Captain Stein
Michael St. Clair	...	Sgt. Dunbar

Storyline

Ryan, an American POW, leads his fellow prisoners on a dangerous escape from the Germans in Italy. Having seemingly made errors of judgment, Ryan has to win the support of the mainly British soldiers he is commanding.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | escape | italy | nazi occupied italy | gestapo | 

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Taglines:

The most daring escape ever conceived. It begins at Pescara. It spreads into high adventure as they highjack their own prison train. It shoots past Rome... Florence... Bologna... It hightails into the Majola Pass with Messerschitts in hot pursuit... and makes a final frenzied lunge for Switzerland- and freedom!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Italian

Release Date:

23 June 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

El expreso de Von Ryan

Filming Locations:

Villa Adriana, Tivoli, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$5,760,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$17,111,111

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox,P-R Productions Picture

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) Stereo (DVD release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The leather jacket that Frank Sinatra wore in Von Ryan's Express, was later worn by Bob Crane in Hogan's Heroes. It was later worn by Greg Kinnear in Auto Focus.

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Goofs

When Ryan throws a potato masher grenade at the attacking Germans in the final shootout, its arc will leave it far short of the distance and well to the right of its target. However, the next cut shows the grenade falling well on target.

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Quotes

Maj. Eric Fincham: If you crab this, the Germans won't have to kill you; I'll do it myself.

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Crazy Credits

The film credits and all promotion publicity still say "A Cinemascope Picture", and Alfred Newman's "extended" 20th Century-Fox fanfare is still heard on the soundtrack as the picture begins, but most of the film was actually shot in Panavision, at Frank Sinatra's insistence.

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Alternate Versions

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'U' rating. All cuts were waived in 1988 when the film was granted a 'PG' certificate for home video.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Rocket Attack U.S.A. (1990)

User Reviews

Sinatra shines in classic war movie

what a marvellous performance by Sinatra and Trevor Howard in this classic World War 11 movie.A great script and some strong supporting roles make this movie a wonderful piece of entertainment.Sharp movie fans may even notice a young James Brolin in a small role,but the greatest thing about this movie is the wonderful line uttered by Trevor Howard to Frank(as Von Ryan)when Sinatra tries to tie a knot to show how to strangle a german guard (which fails) and Trevor Howard shows Sinatra how to really tie a strangle knot ,and says the immortal line"learn that from the cowboy films did you?".what a great put down,its worth watching just for that.The ending is a surprise and really leaves one a bit flat but all in all wonderful escapism.