"The Train," Lancaster & Scofield Star

"The Train" is a suspenseful black and white film by MGM from 1964 starring well known American actor Burt Lancaster and acclaimed English actor Paul Scofield.* John Frankenheimer took over directing the movie after filming had already begun, replacing demoted director Arthur Penn. The film is set in France in August of 1944. The Allied armies, having broken out of Normandy, are heading for Paris and the German border. An art-loving German colonel, played by Paul Scofield, seeks to transport a large number of pilfered French paintings from their place in a French art museum to Germany. Although the military situation for the Germans is dire, the colonel's quest to get the paintings out of France is an obsession. While transport is scare, he is able to get a train, with a French crew, for the transport of the precious cargo to Germany. Meanwhile, the museum's curator contacts the French Resistance for help in recovering the stolen paintings, with the idea that if the train can be delayed for a few days, the Allied forces will overtake the Germans and return the paintings to French custody without damage. The local Resistance leader Labiche, played by Burt Lancaster, is reluctant to risk the lives of his men for "paintings," but he and the French train crew, all members of the Resistance, set out on the trip with the paintings, along with heavy German troop security, including the obsessed Colonel Waldheim.

So as not to spoil anything, I won't go into all that happens, but the train's journey is fraught with suspense and clever maneuvers by the Resistance to delay the train, as the desperate and ruthless Colonel Waldheim presses forward, even when the Allies are only a few miles away. The film is "loosely" based upon the historical fact that a train in August of 1944 was loaded with stolen French artwork to be shipped to Germany. Scofield's performance as the icy Colonel Waldheim is superb, as in many ways he symbolizes what so many people have asked about Germany over the years since Hitler: "How could such terrible things have been done by people of a cultured country like Germany?" Waldheim sees himself as so cultured, he even looks down upon the Frenchmen trying to delay the train, feeling they don't really understand the great paintings they are trying to save from his grasp. But Waldheim's deeds speak far more than his culture, which is exactly what happened with so many Germans during that era.

* Scofield would win the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Sir Thomas More in the 1966 film, "A Man for All Seasons."

Photo is from the 2015 Kino Lorber DVD release.

WORD HISTORY:
Train-This word, related to "tractor," goes back to Indo European "tragh," which had the notion of "drag, pull." This gave Latin "trahere," meaning "to pull," which then produced Latin "tragere," and from that, "traginare," again meaning "pull, drag." This gave Old French "trainer," with the same meaning, and this produced "train," which meant "trail," including "a long cloak that 'trails' behind." English borrowed the word in the 1300s and the notion of "trailing behind" soon led to the idea of things moving in succession, which eventually led to the word being used for "a succession of rail wagons or cars," in the early part of the 1800s. The verb came from the noun, with the notion of "pulling the stems or branches of growing plants into a particular shape;" thus, the "train" of physical activity ("to pull oneself into a certain physical condition), but also of mental instruction. The idea of directing a cannon or gun gave the meaning of "to take aim" (1840s?), as in, "The sniper trained his rifle on the enemy captain."