Von Ryan's Express
VON RYAN'S EXPRESS (PG)
D: Mark Robson
20th Century Fox (Saul David)
US 1965
117 mins
War/Adventure
W: Wendell Mayes & Joseph Landon [based on the novel
by Davis Westheimer]
DP: William H. Daniels & Harold Lipstein
Ed: Dorothy Spencer
Mus: Jerry Goldsmith
Frank Sinatra (Col. Joseph Ryan), Trevor Howard (Maj. Eric
Fincham), Sergio Fantoni (Capt. Oriani), Brad Dexter (Sgt. Bostick), John Leyton (Lt. Orde), James Brolin (Pvt. Ames)
***spoiler warning***
During World War II, an unpopular American captain leads
English prisoners from an Italian POW camp and making a daring escape via a train.
Not quite a classic of The Great Escape (qv) proportions,
but entertaining enough. The slow build-up is forgiven when the exhilarating, nail-biting finale kicks in, though the depressing final moment feels like a real kick in the
teeth.
7/10
