The Train (1964)

Director: John Frankenheimer

Writers: Franklin Coen, Frank Davis, Rose Valland

Composer: Maurice Jarre

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon, Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Remy, Charles Millot, Richard Munch, Jacques Marin

More info: IMDb

Tagline: It carried their hopes, their nation's honour!

Plot:  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.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Oh, yes!

Man, do I love this picture!  It's gritty and brutal.  The Nazis are efficient and despicable and not the usual baddies you'd see in pictures of the day.  Lancaster once again shows how much of a badass he is without overdoing it.  He's a friggin' machine.  He's the kind of guy you'd want to be in a situation like this.  The B&W photography is brilliant.  It helps the picture a great deal.  There's very little music and that works to the film's advantage as well (and mine since I'm often at odds with Maurice Jarre's work) and that ending!  WOW!  It's quiet and what the pictures show us is deafening.  The Kino DVD comes with a commentary track from Frankenheimer and I'm looking forward to listening to it.