Movie Review - The Train (1964) Four stars out of five.

It is a matter of historical record that the Nazis began to loot the art treasures of Europe almost before WW II began, and continued to do so throughout the war.  They systematically looted the collections the wealthy, and collections of art housed in museums.   The recent film The Woman in Gold  contains a vivid account of one woman's struggle to recover valuable paintings removed from her family's home in Vienna by the Nazis.

The movie takes place near the end of the war, when Paris is literally days away from being liberated.  A Nazi Colonel, portrayed by veteran actor Paul Scofield has rounded up enough valuable art from a museum to fill a train of boxcars and is determined to get the train to Germany before the allies arrive.

Burt Lancaster stars as Paul Labiche, a veteran French railway inspector whose job is to keep the trains in France running, albeit under Nazi authority.  Labiche also belongs to a small group of partisans who have had some success in sabotaging Germain trains.  Paul Labiche has little knowledge of or love for art, and initially turns down a request for help in preventing the trainload of artwork from leaving the country.

However, he is finally convinced that the train's cargo represents the "glory of France" and begins to enthusiastically participate in a plot to save the train and its cargo.

The irony of the film is that the German Colonel is trying to save art (Cezanne, Picasso, Monet, et al)  that would be considered degenerate by Hitler and his cronies; while Labice is trying to save something that he neither understands nor appreciates.

This movie stands the test of time extremely well, and its transfer to DVD is one of the best I've ever seen.  Every scene is crisp and clear, and to make matters better, subtitles have been provided.

Fans of steam railroading will enjoy the behind the scenes depictions of how railroads operated during the glory days of steam.