The Train

1964 · 2h13 · Film

Directed by John Frankenheimer

Starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon, Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Rémy, Charles Millot, Richard Münch, Jean-Pierre Zola

Ideal when you feel… Stressed Angry

As the Allied forces approach Paris in August 1944, German Colonel Von Waldheim is desperate to take all of France's greatest paintings to Germany. He manages to secure a train to transport the valuable art works even as the chaos of retreat descends upon them. The French resistance however wants to stop them from stealing their national treasures but have received orders from London that they are not to be destroyed. The station master, Labiche, is tasked with scheduling the train and making it all happen smoothly but he is also part of a dwindling group of resistance fighters tasked with preventing the theft. He and others stage an elaborate ruse to keep the train from ever leaving French territory.

Original language

English

Screenplay

Rose Valland, Franklin Coen, Walter Bernstein, Albert Husson

Music

Maurice Jarre

Cinematography

Jean Tournier, Walter Wottitz

Cast

Suzanne Flon, Michel Simon, Wolfgang Preiss, Albert Rémy, Charles Millot, Richard Münch, Jean-Pierre Zola, Jacques Marin, Paul Bonifas

Updated July 22, 2026

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