Von Ryan's Express (1965)

Forget Indiana Jones. This 1965 high adventure stars Frank Sinatra as the leader of a mass escape from a World War II POW camp in Italy. That mission accomplished, Old Blue Eyes has sundry adventures camouflaging the freed men as German soldiers, trying to fool the Gestapo, and finally doing battle with enemy planes and ground troops while trying to get a hijacked train through a blocked tunnel. Sinatra is in great form and director Mark Robson handles the endless chain of action set-pieces with panache. A great pulse-quickener. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Von Ryan's Express, the two disc set . . .

Von Ryan's Express (VRE) is classic WWII `escapist' entertainment. Frank Sinatra stars in the suspenseful adventure that involves a train commandeered by a group of liberated Allied POW's in Italy, making a desperate bid for freedom, with the German army close behind. Although this two disc version of VRE provides additional information about the film, and has some informative bonus features, you may want to pass, if you already own the regular edition of the film. Much of the focus is directed at legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith, and while Goldsmith did marvelous work in both film and television, it seems a bit odd having the music department sharing the spotlight with the megastar Sinatra.

The bonus disc contains four short featurettes, trailers, TV spots and a still gallery. Very nice, but this content totals less than an hour. Also included are four, high quality, miniature replicas of lobby cards.

As the sole bonus feature on the main disc, Goldsmith's musical score is isolated, and combined with a new commentary track. Rousing and exciting when it needs to be, and poignant as well, Goldsmith's music is an excellent match for the onscreen action. The composer seems to have taken a minimalist approach, as only about 27 minutes of the film has music running underneath. VRE runs 117 minutes, and during most of the remaining 90 minutes, commentary is provided by producer Nick Redman, musical historian John Burlingame, and screenwriter Lem Dobbs, who discuss both the music, and other matters concerning the film. Their commentary is rather low-key and analytical, mostly centered on Sinatra, and putting VRE in historical context. Running between the sections with music, the commentary is interesting, though disjointed at times. Unfortunately, aside from Sinatra, not much is said about others in the cast, like Trevor Howard or Edward Mulhare. Raffaella Carra receives some critical hits from the panel. No mention at all is made of actors Adolfo Celi, Sergio Fantoni, Wolfgang Preiss, or Vito Scotti.

The film was shot in Hollywood, and at various locations in Europe. Prior to VRE, Sinatra had been in Hawaii, directing his first (and only) film, None But the Brave (1965), a WWII adventure set on an island in the south Pacific. While in Hawaii, Sinatra was apparently saved from drowning by Brad Dexter, who became a close friend. Thanks to Frank, Dexter appears in VRE with fourth billing.

According to information in the bonus materials, Twentieth Century Fox's epic, Cleopatra (1963) was a financial bomb, and the crippled studio was backing VRE, looking for it to deliver solid returns at the box office. Similar to `The Great Escape', the screenplay was modified to increase the level of action, and boost the film's appeal. VRE was based on a book by David Westheimer, who actually was a POW in Italy. Westheimer worked on the original screenplay, and other writers later contributed to create a more action-packed and exciting, though unrealistic story. When Old Blues Eyes signed on, the Von Ryan character was rewritten to reflect his personality. During production, Sinatra was demanding and temperamental, and had issues with director Mark Robson. It was Sinatra who insisted that his character die, and he refused to film an alternate ending.

Jerry Goldsmith, who wanted to be a composer from an early age, won an Oscar for The Omen (1976). A true giant in the industry, he scored many other films in his long career, including The Planet of the Apes, The Blue Max, Patton, Chinatown, Our Man Flint, Papillion, Logan's Run, The Sand Pebbles, Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Deep Rising, Supergirl, Alien, Poltergeist, Air Force One, Mulan, and Star Trek the Motion Picture. Though his score for Von Ryan was excellent, because of lack of material, a soundtrack was never released. Goldsmith passed away in 2004 at the age of 75.

Von Ryan's Express is a classic film that is very much indicative of a particular time, style, and genre of filmmaking. Featuring a charismatic star, it sweeps you along and takes you on a tense and exciting journey. This edition is certainly the one to get, but for those that already own the standard version of the film, unless you really love Von Ryan's Express, Frank Sinatra, or perhaps Jerry Goldsmith, it may not justify a repeat purchase.
January 1, 2009

Interesting WWII yarn

The movie is good time pass, there are numerous movies that exploit WWII and this is ok, one of the better. It lacks emotional intensity of Great Escape or the thrill of Burt Lancaster's Train, Sinatra looks silly and many scenes including the escape on the train are downright stagey. Still there is some humor and Trevor Howard does a neat job. Worth watching once. December 28, 2008

Not as good as it could have been

Although not as thrilling as John Frankenheimer's The Train, starring Burt Lancaster, who did his own stunts, "Von Ryan's Express" is still a mild diversion.

The main problem with this film, as I see it, is that, unlike "The Train," there is no one particularly nasty adversary who embodies all the evil and stubbornness that stands in the way of the goal, in this case, an escape by POWs. Instead, the escapees are merely trying to evade the German army rather than a monomaniacal officer.

Wolfgang Preiss, who also appeared in "The Train," does his usual turn as a Nazi officer, but he is not a major figure. 'Von' Ryan (Frank Sinatra) is only mildly opposed by the British officer (Trevor Howard), who questions his methods. As a result, the tension between the two personalities is rather tame.

I suspect that Sinatra didn't want to share center stage with Howard, who is quite capable of portraying a nasty piece of work if given the opportunity.

Disc One contains the movie and "An isolated track score with commentary," a confused affair that didn't live up to expectations. Disc Two has four modest featurettes and a few odds and ends.

If you're looking for World War II excitement and don't already own "The Train," The Guns of Navarone (Collector's Edition) or Where Eagles Dare, I'd skip "Von Ryan" and go for one of those. December 10, 2008

von ryan express

this movie is good especially the language,they spoke in their own language and with enlish subtitles so that we can understand what they are talking about,in german.i hope all war movie comes in oringinal dialect of cause it must have english subtitle. September 19, 2008

The Great Train Hijacking

Circa 1862 a group of Union Army volunteers went to hijack a locomotive in Tennessee and drive it north to sabotage the Confederacy which had much less railroad equipment. These volunteers did not succeed, those who did not escape were executed. Around 1927 this historical incident was used for the silent film "The General". This 1965 film used the story of a hijacked train as the basis for a revisionist WW II drama. It used the outlook of the 1960s to recreate a 1940s story. How well does it work? You can see echoes of "The Bridge on the River Kwai" in this story, which has more comical elements than that 1957 film. The book is usually better than the film in most cases.

Frank Sinatra plays an Air Corps Colonel whose airplane was downed and he was captured by the Italian army. [Would such a high-ranking officer be involved in combat as a fighter pilot?] The film shows a POW camp and the personality conflicts with a new leader. [Do you see any influences from the 1964 film "The Great Escape"?] Most of the film is involved with how the prisoners hijacked their prison train and then escape by railroad. After some combat they manage to flee to Switzerland. But Colonel Ryan is the last man running and does not join the others; this provides a dramatic ending. May 31, 2008

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