The Winner is... Trains as Movie Stars

If cable were ever to be set up in such a way that allowed one to pick your ten favorite channels, Turner Classic Movies would be a keeper for both myself and my lovely bride, Linda. A few evenings ago we were enthralled by the early post war antics of another film noir bad boy escaping the scene of the crime by train. The film was ‘Born to Kill’, starring Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor.

Catching the west bound City of San Francisco in Reno to escape different aspects of the same murders, these two get involved and therein lies to plot to the rest of the movie. Evidently, continuity was yet to be perfected in 1947.

After the Union Pacific diesel powered train heads westward from Reno, in pops an obvious stock shot of a streamlined Pennsylvania steam locomotive at full speed, whistle blaring and smoke blasting skyward.

Oops!

This activated the old gray matter with visions of train themed movies from long ago and a few from not so long ago. If you find yourself lacking for entertainment over the summer and have access to a decent movie library, grab a bag of popcorn, something to drink, a big comfy chair and check out one or more of my favorite movies starring what else? Trains, of course!

First on my list is ‘The Train’ from 1964 starring Burt Lancaster and Paul Schofield. This film was inspired by actual events that occurred as WWII was coming to an end. Schofield plays a German Colonel looting works of art from museums in France, loading them onto a train and heading for Germany.

Lancaster is a railroad inspector and member of the Resistance dedicated to keeping the train from getting to Germany with these irreplaceable artifacts.

Filmed entirely on location in France with the help of the French National Railways during their transition from steam to diesel and electric power, all wrecks, bombings and destruction of railroad equipment was done in real time using real trains.

I can only assume that most were done in one take. This film is considered by most critics and train geeks alike as having the most authentic train scenes of any film ever made.

Set during the darkest days of the great depression, ‘Emperor of the North’ (1973) stars Lee Marvin as A#1,King of the Hobos, an infamous hobo claiming to be afraid of no railroad cop known and free to hop a ride on any train at will.

Ernest Borgnine plays a sadistic railroad cop that enjoys the pain he can bring to any hobo trying to catch a free ride on his train. This film is graphic and violent in places, but tells a realistic story of transient life in one of our country’s darkest times.

The scenery is spectacular, filmed entirely on location in and around Cottage Grove, Oregon on the Oregon Pacific and Eastern Railroad.

The steam locomotive used in this film is currently in operation in tourist service on the Yreka & Western R.R. in northern California.

‘It Happened To Jane’ (1959) stars Hollywood’s good girl Doris Day as Jane Osgood, a widowed mother of two with a lobster farm in rural Maine.

When a shipment of her lobsters is inadvertently killed in transit by the railroad before they could be introduced to boiling water and melted butter, she hires local lawyer Jack Lemmon to go after the railroad and the villainous railroad tycoon you love to hate, Henry Foster Malone, played wonderfully by Ernie Kovacs.

My favorite train themed comedy, well worth watching.

The other comedy that would have to appear on this list is ‘Silver Streak’ (1976) starring Gene Wilder, Richard Prior and Jill Clayburgh. Just how many times can you get thrown off of a train and still be on board when it arrives in Chicago?

Fledgling rail carrier Amtrak pulled out of this movie because of the crash scene towards the end of the movie. Filming was moved to Canadian Pacific trackage and the name changed to Amroad. You would think Amtrak never crashed a train. More on movies later this summer.