Just finished watching The Train on TCM. This 1964 movie was director John Frankenheimer’s first action flick. The plot revolves around Nazis trying to get a trainload of art treasures out of soon-to-be-liberated Paris while the French Resistance tries to stop that train from reaching the Fatherland.
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(+) interesting plot; Jeanne Moreau, captivating as always, in a part too small for her talents; the authentic French locale is worth price of admission.
( - ) movie goes on far too long, the entire escapade gets tedious after a while; Burt Lancaster is about as convincing a Frenchman as I am.
One comes away from the movie with admiration for the French though — something we often lack here in America.
Oh, and the NYCOF got a tad weepie during the scene where the art museum curator tries to convince the Resistance to save those paintings …
Resistance leader: For certain things we take the risk, but I won’t waste lives on paintings.
Curator: They wouldn’t be wasted! Excuse me, I know that’s a terrible thing to say. But those paintings are part of France. The Germans want to take them away. They’ve taken our land, our food, they live in our houses, and now they’re trying to take our art. This beauty, this vision of life, born out of France, our special vision, our trust… we hold it in trust, don’t you see, for everyone? This is our pride, what we create and hold for the world. There are worse things to risk your life for than that.
Vive la France!
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