Von Ryan's Express

Von Ryan's Express

Director: Mark Robson

Year: 1965

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Sergio Fantoni and Brad Dexter

     The opening scenes of Von Ryan's Express will make you think this is another typical break-out POW war movie. Technically, it is a jailbreak film, but it's execution is something you wouldn't expect from a film like this. 

     The film opens up with Colonel Ryan ("The Eponymous "Von Ryan"), played by Frank Sinatra (yes, the singer) being escorted to a POW camp in 1943 Italy. It's interesting to see the Italians as the bad guys, as it's never often explored in war movies. Historically, the Germans did turn on their former allies, and that theme is prevalent in this film, which I'l get to later. it's clear many of these British soldiers have been in the camp for a long time, and have been planning an escape for some time. It begins to play out like you've jumped into the middle of The Great Escape, but that's as far as the comparisons go.

     Roughly a half hour into the film, the Italian army surrenders to the allies, which basically means the POWs are free to go. The camp's warden, played by Adolfo Celi (who you'll remember as the main villain Emilio Largo in the James Bond film Thunderball released the same year) pleads for his life, and is thrown into the sweatbox. The POWs decide to leave the camp, but are captured once again.

     This is where the film takes a complete different direction. The prisoners are put aboard a POW train, and are being transported across the country. The characters as very quickly, and take over the train themselves, and end up posing as the German soldiers that once held them captive. They go from checkpoint to checkpoint, desperately trying to outwit the Germans. 

     This is where the film injects some light humor, as only one of the British soldiers actually speaks German, and must figure out how to get past without raising suspicion. It's funny, and suspenseful at the same time. Each scene is filled with a combination of the two, giving you an uneasy feeling about whether or not they are going to make it through. The characters eventually decide to divert their course to Switzerland, and finally escape the German Army. 

     It's here that the German eventually catch on and pursue the captured train, creating a cat-and-mouse type of scenario that just keeps you hooked with each passing scene. The climatic final battle at the end satisfies the cravings for some action, and the characters finally escape to Switzerland with their lives. 

     Von Ryan's Express is a fun film, and it's a different kind of war POW experience. Most are about characters trying to get out of a camp, while this one has them constantly on the move while still trying to escape. It's really a unique experience, and one that hasn't been done since. Frank Sinatra really shows off how capable an actor he is, and it was he that suggested the film's ending (which differs from the book it's based). It paid off, and Von Ryan's Express is a fun ride that won't disappoint.