1964 Movie, "THE TRAIN" on Retro TV......

[GOLDEN-ARM]

This movie, shot in 1964 features Burt Lancaster and Jeanne Moreau. It's an action packed movie, about the WWII trains in France, and it's entirely about railroading. Lot's of in cab scenes, tower action, even Burt Lancaster replacing a burnt locomotive journal bearing, is depicted. He actually pours a new babbitted bearing, right on screen! Funny to see towermen throwing switches in front of trains, just as they approach the points of the switch. It's on "Retro TV", and the movie is 1:40 minutes long. If you like lot's of action, this one is a must see........

[Gilbert B Norman]

No question whatever, Mr. Golden Arm, "The Train" was quite a flick. I too noted that Starz Retro, one of the stations I always check when surfing my evening line up, recently aired such.

If anyone is interested in registering at their site, IIRC, the American Film Institute considers "The Train" one of their "Top 100' ("Citizen Kane" is #1, "Casablanca" is "up there')

[Dieter]

Ummmm, Before anybody buys this DVD thinking it's a Train video.....

This movie is about a trainload of priceless stolen art the Nazi's were trying to spirit into the Reich ahead of advancing allied forces in France..... And how a group of determined French Resistance fighters combined efforts with French Railway employees to prevent the art from leaving France.

"The Train" is filled with great footage of french steam trains, but the film is not specifically about railroading, by any means.

D/

[GOLDEN-ARM]

Let's be fair. There are a few minutes of the movie, that lead up to the trains, and occasionally, we have to leave the train, to elude the nazis, and collaborate with the resistance', but the title of the film is kinda self expalnatory. BTW, I heard the translation of "The Train" means, "the paintings", in French.........

[Dieter]

Well Golden Arm, that is fair. Now let's be HONEST here.....

I bet you did the same thing I did when the allies STRAFED the train in a hail of machine gun fire....

I CRINGED at the sight of those French boxcars being splintered by bullets, because I REALLY DIDN'T GIVE A TOOT ABOUT THE PRICELESS ART INSIDE!!!!!

[PClark]

In march 1965, Brendan Gill, who was then reviewing movies for "The New Yorker", took colleague Rogers E. M. Whitaker (aka E. M. Frimbo, the "World's Greatest Railroad Traveller") to the New York Premier of "The Train" to get his critique.

Whitaker/Frimbo was beside himself with pleasure, enjoying the movie as a sort of celebration of the "locomotive way of life".

Source: "All Aboard with E. M. Frimbo" Andre Deutsch, London, 1975.

[3rdrail]

There is a sequence where Burt gets shot towards the end. (That's not a spoiler as it is inconsequential to the plot.) That was never part of the script, pre-production. While filming the movie, Burt had a minor slip and fall away from the set. I'm not 100 % sure, but I think that it might have been while golfing if my memory serves me correctly. Anyway, he hurt himself to the point where he had a noticeable limp...and they had to write it into the script, so they decided to explain the limp by a shot to the leg. I love a good railway documentary, but I'll tell you, this one has more railroad detail than most of the so called documentaries. It's a great movie. Steam is not my main interest, as I'm a traction guy, but I loved this movie so much, I went out and bought it. By all means, see the movie. You'll love it !

[oldrow51]

What's really amazing was Burt Lancaster was 50 when he made this movie and that he did a lot of his own stunts. Hell, he even insisted that he be taught how to operate the locomotive so it would give credit to the movie. This is one of my favorite hollywood train movies.

[3rdrail]

My mouth dropped when I saw him pick up that side-rod in the shop !

[Aa3rt]

In march 1965, Brendan Gill, who was then reviewing movies for "The New Yorker", took colleague Rogers E. M. Whitaker (aka E. M. Frimbo, the "World's Greatest Railroad Traveller") to the New York Premier of "The Train" to get his critique.

Whitaker/Frimbo was beside himself with pleasure, enjoying the movie as a sort of celebration of the "locomotive way of life".

Source: "All Aboard with E. M. Frimbo" Andre Deutsch, London, 1975.

As the moderator in this forum I should know better than to take this thread too far off topic, however I couldn't let PClark's mention of Mr. Whitaker's All Aboard With E. M. Frimbo pass without remarking on it.

I picked up a copy of this book over 30 years ago at the Smithsonian Bookstore in Washington, DC. I thoroughly enjoyed the book on the first read and have reread it a couple of times. In my humble opinion the book is a classic and well worth searching out. A check at Amazon.com reveals that the book was reprinted in 1997 and appears to be readily available. A worthwhile addition to a railway enthusiast's library.

http://www.amazon.com/All-Aboard-M-Frim ... 1568361149

We now take you back to "THE TRAIN"...

[3rdrail]

Source: "All Aboard with E. M. Frimbo" Andre Deutsch, London, 1975.

As the moderator in this forum I should know better than to take this thread too far off topic, however I couldn't let PClark's mention of Mr. Whitaker's All Aboard With E. M. Frimbo pass without remarking on it.

I agree, Art. I have a '74 first edition in my personal library that I'm now going to put on my list to re-read. Your post gave me an idea of perhaps putting up a thread regarding interesting railway oriented books that we have read. I'm going to put the thread up now entitled, "Great Railway Reads" on this forum. If you or anyone else has any suggestions, please list them as I'm sure that many of us seek out good books with a railway subject, either directly or as background. Maybe you might want to list the Whitaker/Hiss book there as well, Art ?