The Train is set in Paris during those anxious days of mid-1944. The Wehrmacht are quickly withdrawing from the city but a German general played by that fine actor Paul Scofield is ordered to confiscate much of France's art treasures and have it shipped by rail back to Germany.

However word is quickly spread among the French Resistance to prevent this from happening. They try to get the Chief French rail inspector played by Burt Lancaster to help. He reluctantly turns them down but after a co-worker is shot he agrees to help. Soon a cat-and-mouse game ensues as they try to outwit each other.

Filmed on location in France with the use of real locomotives. Directed by John Frankenheimer. Also co-stars another excellant German actor in Wolfgang Preiss. In black and white, released in 1965, running time 133 minutes. One of my favorite Lancaster movies. Give it 3 bayonets.

By Nancy LionStorm (349hvywpnscrew) on Unrecorded Date:

Besides everything Panzertrak said, I found it remarkable that Burt Lancaster did all his own stunts in this movie. Lancaster's physicality and acrobatic ability so impressed the director the he filmed the sequence, where Burt flags down the train then slides down the metal ladder, all in one shot. Not a single camera 'cut away' was used in that scene, thus the audience could see that Burt did the entire stunt on his own.

Another interesting fact is that in an other stunt sequence Burt was actually injured enough to require crutches, but professional that he was, refused to delay the shooting of the movie until he recovered. Instead he convinced the director to work into the plot a scene whereby the train inspector (Burt) gets shot in the leg so that the character is forced to limp for the rest of the movie. So Burt's limp was very, very real, and very, very painful. So long from your friendly 349th

- Heavy Weapons Crew