Von Ryan's Express

I didn't go into Von Ryan's Express (1965) with terribly high expectations, but I was quite happy to be proven wrong. Yet another among the glut of '60s World War II commando adventures, it's among the best by virtue of its essential honesty. This isn't The Battle of Algiers or even The Guns of Navarone, but well-crafted escapism on a grand scale.

US Army Air Corps Colonel Joseph Ryan (Frank Sinatra) is shot down over Italy during the later days of the war. He's taken to a POW camp, where the stubborn British commander, Major Fincham (Trevor Howard) is butting heads with the buffoonish Italian Commandant (Adolf Celli). Ryan assumes command of the POWs and immediately clashes with Fincham, and their rivalry continues after the prisoners sent aboard a German troop train for transport to Austria. Ryan and Fincham boldly hijack the train, intending to steer it towards Switzerland and freedom, but find seemingly the entire Wehrmacht in hot pursuit.

Von Ryan's Express liberally pilfers the best elements from a plethora of earlier war films: Bridge on the River Kwai, The Great Escape, The Train. Director Mark Robson (Lost Command) and writers Wendell Mayes and Joseph Landon do the audience a favor, however, by completely draining the film of any serious pretensions. No musings about the morality of war here, it's pretty much straight action from the 30-minute mark on, stopping only for the bare minimum of exposition and character conflict. It also lacks the bloat of Where Eagles Dare, keeping things managable and briskly paced at 117 minutes.

The plot is derivative and the characters one-dimensional, but Robson keeps the audience thrilled. The movie seamlessly transitions from POW drama to breakneck action extravaganza, with an escalating series of confrontations and mini-climaxes building to a phenomenal finale where Ryan and Co. are pursued by Messerschmitts and a German troop train through the Alps. There's enough variety for the film to avoid becoming stale and repetitious, and Robson makes fine use of excellent visual effects and gorgeous Italian location shooting to keep things exciting. Things like the MP-40s with infinite ammo, Sinatra's unconvincing German act and the spectacularly incompetent German pilots are taken for granted. The ending does, however, provide a shocking kicker that I daren't spoil here.

Frank Sinatra is charismatic enough but mostly coasts through the film. Trevor Howard (Brief Encounter) does the dramatic heavy-lifting, with a dependably gruff and forceful performance. The pretty Raffaella Carera is onhand as token eye candy. The supporting cast is interesting: Edward Mulhare (Our Man Flint) gets a nice part as a German-speaking chaplain, John Leyton (The Great Escape) has a smallish role and Brad Dexter (The Magnificent Seven) and a young James Brolin play Americans. Perennial villain Adolfo Celli (Thunderball) is a caricatured buffoon, but Sergio Fantoni is interesting as his sympathetic second-banana. The ubiquitous Wolfgang Priess (The Train) turns up long enough to deliver some snide dialogue and get shot.

So yeah, Von Ryan's Express isn't anything more than silly matinee fun, but you know what? That's perfectly fine with me.