The Train (1964)

I'm a little surprised at myself for having associated John Frankenheimer only with The Manchurian Candidate when I had also seen Birdman of Alcatraz and Seven Days in May. These three movies came consecutively, followed by The Train. Quite a streak early in his directorial career. It probably helped to have Burt Lancaster in most of them.

Based loosely on a true story from near the end of World War II, TT begins with Colonel Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) seizing dozens of classic paintings from a Parisian museum. The curator appeals to railroad-affiliated members of the Resistance to stop their train -- without damaging the cargo -- before it reaches Germany. Since Allied forces are expected soon, the cell of railway inspector Paul Labiche (Lancaster) decides that it only has to slow things down. But that's not as easy as it sounds when the German soldiers get increasingly suspicious that their "bad luck" is sabotage.

I get a certain amount of schadenfreude from seeing captive heroes mess stuff up on purpose and make it look like a series of accidents, but to call this film "fun" would be misleading. The rebels put their lives and even bystanders' lives on the line time and again, with a considerable body count by the third act, when Labiche can no longer pass for helpful to von Waldheim.

While I feel sorry for fired director Arthur Penn, it sounds like the rest of us benefited from Frankenheimer replacing him. The latter gives us less focus on train specifics and more on both action and the quandaries of the whole mission. Labiche has little appreciation for fine art in and of itself; he gets talked into the mission because these choice artists are "the pride of France." That doesn't stop him and other agents from questioning whether Plan B -- or even Plan A -- should be either letting the Germans get away with the paintings or blowing up the train to prevent their enrichment. These objects may be irreplaceable in the minds of art buffs, but they're still inanimate objects; how many heroic casualties can they be worth?

There is one major female character, a hotelier played by Jeanne Moreau. Her dilemma must have been far more common among French citizens at the time: Do you lie to the occupiers in order to protect a hiding rebel? She alternates between telling Labiche to leave her out of it and doing what he wants.

Apart from the acting and philosophical conundra, the best thing about TT is the authenticity. Frankenheimer worried the studio with a doubled budget from actual high-speed train crashes, one of which broke several cameras and could not have a second take. Also, 50-year-old Lancaster performed all his stunts. Somewhat ironically, his most significant injury came on a golf break, leading to an authentic limp written in for late scenes.

There are a fair number of inaccuracies all the same, but they hardly bring the film down. I might even call this my favorite Frankenheimer piece, and that's saying something. Now I'll make a point to add his next consecutive hit, Seconds, to my Netflix queue.