As a moviegoer for
more than 70 years, I’ve seen some great movies, some not so great, some really
bad ones, some trying but failing to be deep and meaningful, some reveling in
their shallowness. I was born the year The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind were
released. My mother started taking me to the movies shortly after that. I saw
some movies that were definitely not PG rated. I can still remember being
afraid of The Thing.
Many times I disagree
with the critics. I don’t call them and tell him what I think of their reviews,
so now that there is an internet for anyone to babble on, I add my voice. I’m
sure there are many of you who will disagree with my assessments. Some of you
will agree. I hope to hear from all of
you.
“I hear the train a comin’,” is a refrain from a Johnny Cash
song that takes me back to my childhood. My father worked on trains, and I
could hear them pulling into my hometown station. I remember riding in the
caboose of a freight train and in the club car of the California Zephyr.
There is something magical about trains. In our mobile
society the train has played a major role. So this month I pay homage to the
very American train.
Brief Encounter (1945): Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, both
married to other persons, meet on a train platform. A passionate affair begins,
but they know it will go nowhere. The trains coming and going, hissing steam,
display the transient nature of their love.
Strangers on a Train (1951): Oh ho. This is a deliciously
wicked little film. Farley Granger and Robert Walker meet on a train. As they
begin talking, they both realize there is someone in each of their lives they
would like to be gone. Thus begins the plot.
Von Ryan’s Express (1965):
A non-singing Frank Sinatra leads a group of escaped World War II
prisoners as they take over a German train.
Great scenery as the train travels through the Alps. Trevor Howard as
the English officer is a good counterpart to Sinatra.
Silver Streak (1976): In this tale, Gene Wilder sees a murder
aboard the title train. His problem is that no one believes him. Richard Pryor,
as a small-time criminal, agrees to help. With Wilder and Pryor you do expect
some humor. Don’t look for a lot.
Avalanche Express (1979): Lee Marvin, Robert Shaw and Linda
Evans star is this fast-paced thriller. Shaw is a Russian who wants to defect.
Marvin is the CIA agent sent to get him out. As they hurtle along, they survive
a terrorist attack and an avalanche. This film is not very believable, but
watchable.
Breakheart Pass (1975): Charles Bronson is an undercover agent
posted on a train carrying medical supplies. As passengers start turning up
dead or missing, Bronson has his hands full. Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, and
Jill Ireland costar.
Before Sunrise (1995): Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy meet on a
train traveling to Vienna. They, you guessed it, fall in love. And they talk
about shipboard romances.
Bullet Train (1975): This Japanese film is the precursor of the
film Speed. A man, actor Ken
Takakura, places a bomb aboard a train and threatens to set it off. He does
have demands. The train conductor tries to calm passengers. The dubbing is not
good quality, but the film is still worth seeing. (Keanu Reeves isn’t in it.)
Darjeeling Limited (2007): Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason
Schwartzman play three brothers trying to reacquaint with each other during a
train trek across India. This film has moments that are funny, sweet and
sentimental—and annoying.
Murder on the Orient Express (1985): That Poirot, he gets
around. Now he’s on that famous train with an all-star cast. You know someone
is going to get murdered. Is the killer Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid
Bergman or one of the other stars who hated Richard Widmark?
Albert Finney will find out.
The Flying Scotsman (1929): The title train runs between London
and Edinburgh. I’ve ridden it, but nothing exciting happened. In this trip, an
outraged foreman wants revenge and tries to cause an accident. Ray Milland (in
his first role) tries to stop him. There are some great stunts.
The General (1927): This is my favorite train movie. Buster
Keaton is wonderful as a man who tries to enlist in the Confederate army. When
he is rejected, he seeks to win the war using his train engine, “The General.”
This is truly a very funny film.
Harvey Girls (1946): I remember my dad talking about the Harvey
girls, so I had to see this film. On her way west to be married as a mail-order
bride, Judy Garland meets a group of lively young women on their way to become
Harvey girls at a Harvey House. These were restaurant stopovers for trains. In
this film, Garland sings the Oscar-winning song, “On the Atchison, Topeka, and
Santa Fe.” Good cast includes Angela Lansbury, Cyd Charisse, John Hodiak, and
Ray Bolger.
The Lady Vanishes (1938, 1979): In the 1938 version, Margaret
Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, and Paul Lukas star in Hitchcock film. While
traveling cross-country by train, Lockwood notices that an acquaintance is missing.
No one admits even seeing the woman. Enter big, strong Redgrave to help the
maiden in distress. But, will he be able to unravel this sinister plot.
Narrow Margin (1952): Tough cop Charles McGraw is picked to
accompany a mobster’s moll, Marie Windsor, to Los Angeles from Chicago. She’s
agreed to testify, but there are goons on the train who want to stop her. Their
problem: They don’t know what she looks like. Can McGraw save the day?
Night Train to Paris (1964): Don’t bother to see this unless
you want to see Leslie Nielsen in a straight role (but one that portends his
later comic genius). It’s all about secret agents and stolen tapes. But it is
aboard a train.
Runaway Train (1985): The engineer has had a heart attack and
the train is running unmanned. What to do? We are in Alaska and in the presence
of prison escapees. Could it get any worse? The fugitives try to stop the train
but stay ahead of the law. Jon Voight, Eric Roberts and Rebecca De Mornay star.
Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974, 2009): In the 1974
version, Walter Matthau tries to stop arch criminal Robert Shaw from shooting
passengers on a city train. This is a tense, well-acted film.
The Train (1964): Burt Lancaster is a French (I don’t believe
this) train engineer during WWII. His train is carrying Nazi plunder and hunky
Burt can’t stand that the Nazi’s are taking away French art masterpieces. So he
does everything he can to sabotage the train. It’s a good movie. Just forget
that Burt is supposed to be French.
There are many, many more great train films. Check out: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The
Sting, North by Northwest, Unstoppable, The Great Train Robbery, The Train
Robbers, Man on the Train, Shanghai Express, and Lady on a Train.
