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7.2/10
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After Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plati... Read allAfter Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.After Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 3 nominations total
Paul Henreid
- Karl Marsen
- (as Paul von Hernried)
Austin Trevor
- Capt. Prada
- (as Austen Trevor)
Kenneth Kent
- Controller
- (as Keneth Kent)
Frederick Valk
- Gestapo Officer
- (as Fritz Valk)
Edward Baxter
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
Jane Cobb
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first scene is a fairly accurate depiction of the Berghof, Adolf Hitler's mountainside residence near Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg in Bavaria. The house was famous for its huge picture window which overlooked mountain scenery and was often used to impress visiting foreign VIPs.
- GoofsThe wording of the British passport read out by Charters is incorrect as it is different from the American wording in three major ways.. Firstly, the passport holder is not referred to as him or her but as "The Bearer". Secondly, British passports uniquely in the world, not only request that those concerned assist the bearer to be allowed proceed without let or hindrance, but request and require it. Thirdly, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at the time of issue is never scheduled by name.
- Crazy creditsPaul Henreid is listed as Paul von Hernried in the credits.
- Alternate versionsThere is an Italian edition of this film on DVD, distributed by DNA srl, "TRENO DI NOTTE PER MONACO (Night Train to Munich, 1940) + ODD MAN OUT (Fuggiasco, 1947)" (2 Films on a single DVD), re-edited with the contribution of film historian Riccardo Cusin. This version is also available for streaming on some platforms.
- ConnectionsEdited into All This and World War II (1976)
- SoundtracksDas Lied der Deutschen
(uncredited)
aka "Deutschland über Alles"
Music by Joseph Haydn
Variations played throughout
Featured review
The Spy Who Went Into the Cold
Carol Reed directed this wartime spy-thriller. And though it may feel routine, there are individual scenes and performers who remain vivid: the flippant egoism of Rex Harrison's British agent; the vulnerability of Margaret Lockwood's wartime refugee; the naked sensitivity of Paul Henreid's villain. All in all, an interesting romantic triangle.
The story opens in 1938, as the camera tracks into Hitler's mountain retreat over Berchtesgaden, and we witness the dictator ordering the Czech occupation. Hitler desires not only territory, but the talented scientists within - geniuses such as Axel Bomasch, an industrial wizard who barely eludes capture, flying safely to England. There, he is safeguarded by a British Intelligence officer, code name "Gus Bennett" (Harrison). However, the Germans succeed in arresting Bomasch's daughter, Anna (Ms. Lockwood). imprisoning her in a concentration-camp where she befriends fellow inmate Karl Marsen (Henreid). They both successfully escape and sail a tramp steamer for England: Anna, to re-unite with her father; and Marsen, to make contact with those who share his real allegiance - to the Third Reich. With the help of a double agent (Felix Aylmer), Marsen abducts both Bomasch and Anna, who are transported to Berlin. Bennett, angry at his own lapse in security, volunteers to travel to Germany disguised as an officer of Hitler's High Command in order to retrieve the pair.
The film then accelerates into a series of tense confrontations between Bennett and those he hopes to dupe, in both Berlin and on a train to Munich. The action culminates in a skillfully directed chase scene climaxing on the Swiss border, where the term "cliff- hanger" takes on literal meaning. Along the way, there appear various secondary characters - the 'team' of Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, for example, are thrown in for their droll underplaying ("No copies of Punch?! Hmmm. Must have sold out."). But the real comic relief is provided by Irene Handl as a German stationmaster who, in one scene, brushes off Radford and Wayne like so much confetti. Her expert scene-stealing marks the highest moment of levity in the film.
The one element in Carol Reed's storytelling that always distinguished him as a director was a quality he shared with Jean Renoir - the generous feeling he conveyed toward all of his characters. Human flaws and defects such as professional incompetence and blind allegiance are noted but tolerated. The rigid bureaucracy of a dictatorial government is deftly satirized in the character of a German civil servant (Raymond Huntley) who, when confronted with a forged document, is asked by his Nazi superiors if he knows what this means. The bureaucrat politely replies, "Yes. It means I shall have to sack my secretary."
And in "Night Train's" final frame, we observe Henreid's Nazi, jilted in more ways than one; yet Reed frames him sorrowfully, as if he were a sort of Universal Everyloser. Reed's sympathy, again, extends to all. Such unusual compassion on the part of a director is what finally separates "Night Train" from other war propaganda films.
The story opens in 1938, as the camera tracks into Hitler's mountain retreat over Berchtesgaden, and we witness the dictator ordering the Czech occupation. Hitler desires not only territory, but the talented scientists within - geniuses such as Axel Bomasch, an industrial wizard who barely eludes capture, flying safely to England. There, he is safeguarded by a British Intelligence officer, code name "Gus Bennett" (Harrison). However, the Germans succeed in arresting Bomasch's daughter, Anna (Ms. Lockwood). imprisoning her in a concentration-camp where she befriends fellow inmate Karl Marsen (Henreid). They both successfully escape and sail a tramp steamer for England: Anna, to re-unite with her father; and Marsen, to make contact with those who share his real allegiance - to the Third Reich. With the help of a double agent (Felix Aylmer), Marsen abducts both Bomasch and Anna, who are transported to Berlin. Bennett, angry at his own lapse in security, volunteers to travel to Germany disguised as an officer of Hitler's High Command in order to retrieve the pair.
The film then accelerates into a series of tense confrontations between Bennett and those he hopes to dupe, in both Berlin and on a train to Munich. The action culminates in a skillfully directed chase scene climaxing on the Swiss border, where the term "cliff- hanger" takes on literal meaning. Along the way, there appear various secondary characters - the 'team' of Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, for example, are thrown in for their droll underplaying ("No copies of Punch?! Hmmm. Must have sold out."). But the real comic relief is provided by Irene Handl as a German stationmaster who, in one scene, brushes off Radford and Wayne like so much confetti. Her expert scene-stealing marks the highest moment of levity in the film.
The one element in Carol Reed's storytelling that always distinguished him as a director was a quality he shared with Jean Renoir - the generous feeling he conveyed toward all of his characters. Human flaws and defects such as professional incompetence and blind allegiance are noted but tolerated. The rigid bureaucracy of a dictatorial government is deftly satirized in the character of a German civil servant (Raymond Huntley) who, when confronted with a forged document, is asked by his Nazi superiors if he knows what this means. The bureaucrat politely replies, "Yes. It means I shall have to sack my secretary."
And in "Night Train's" final frame, we observe Henreid's Nazi, jilted in more ways than one; yet Reed frames him sorrowfully, as if he were a sort of Universal Everyloser. Reed's sympathy, again, extends to all. Such unusual compassion on the part of a director is what finally separates "Night Train" from other war propaganda films.
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- nk_gillen
- Jun 8, 2004
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- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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