An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity - one that comes with its own price.
Director:
John Frankenheimer
Stars:
Rock Hudson,
Frank Campanella,
John Randolph
In Hawaii in 1941, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second-in-command are falling in love.
A small-time grifter and nightclub tout takes advantage of some fortuitous circumstances and tries to become a big-time player as a wrestling promoter.
Director:
Jules Dassin
Stars:
Richard Widmark,
Gene Tierney,
Googie Withers
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.Written by
garykmcd
Director Arthur Penn oversaw the development of the film and directed the first day of shooting. The next day was a holiday. Burt Lancaster, dissatisfied with Penn's conception of the picture, had him fired and replaced by John Frankenheimer. Penn envisioned a more intimate film that would muse on the role art played in the French character, and why they would risk their lives to save the country's most renowned paintings from the Nazis. He did not intend to give much focus to the mechanics of the train operation itself. Frankenheimer said that in the original script Penn wanted to shoot, the train did not leave the station until page 90. The production was shut down briefly while the script was rewritten. Lancaster told screenwriter Walter Bernstein the day Penn was fired, "Frankenheimer is a bit of a whore, but he'll do what I want." What Lancaster wanted was more emphasis on action in order to ensure that the film was a hit--after the failure of his film The Leopard (1963)--by appealing to a broader audience. See more »
Goofs
By 1944 there was an order to remove the national colors decal from the helmet, most of the helmets that weren't in cammo still have this decal visible . See more »
Quotes
General Von Lubitz:
I don't share your enthusiasm for art. Even if I did, it would not be centered on this degenerate trash. Nor would I expect priority over vitally needed war transport.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Opening credits prologue: PARIS August 2-1944 1511th day of German occupation See more »
Alternate Versions
Whilst the official run time is 133 minutes, the BBFC website has two separate entries, one with a theatrical 'U' rated certificate in 1964 running at 141 minutes 31 seconds and the other entry with a theatrical 'A' rated certificate in 1959 running at 90 minutes 37 seconds. Though the second entry seems incorrect due to the erroneous date of certification being 21 October 1959 (the film was being made in 1963 and is copyrighted in 1964) and a much shorter run time, the BBFC reference numbering is in sequence with the later video rated entries so it is unknown if this 1959 entry is a much shorter cut of this film or this is an error in the BBFC records. It is also not known if the 142 minute entry is a longer cut of the film that has simply not been since it's UK theatrical release in 1964. See more »
I had seen this film when it was first released but until recently, didn't realize what it eluded to. This was a glimpse into "The Monument's Men" and the efforts to save the priceless art and artifacts from being stolen by the Nazi's.
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I had seen this film when it was first released but until recently, didn't realize what it eluded to. This was a glimpse into "The Monument's Men" and the efforts to save the priceless art and artifacts from being stolen by the Nazi's.