#523: REED, Carol: Night Train To Munich (1940)

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REED, Carol (United Kingdom)
Night Train To Munich [1940]
Spine #523
DVD


Carol Reed's Night Train to Munich is a twisting, turning, cloak-and-dagger delight, combining comedy, romance, and thrills with the greatest of ease. Paced like an out-of-control locomotive, Night Train takes viewers on a World War II-era journey from Prague to England to the Swiss Alps, as Nazis pursue a Czech scientist and his daughter (Margaret Lockwood), who are being aided by a debonair British undercover agent, played by Rex Harrison. This captivating, long-overlooked adventure — which features Paul Henreid and a clever screenplay by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, best known for writing Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes — is a deftly concocted spy game that could give the master of suspense a run for his money.

90 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2010
Director/Writers


Based on an original story by Gordon Wellesley.
Screenplay by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder.
Carol Reed was 33 when he directed Night Train to Munich.

Other Reed films in the Collection:

#754: Odd Man Out (1947)
#357: The Fallen Idol (1948)
#64: The Third Man (1949)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Sixteen-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Philip Kemp.

Commentary

None.

Video conversation

Between film scholars Peter Evans and Bruce Babington about director Reed, screenwriters Launder and Gilliat, and the social and political climate in which Night Train to Munich was made.
Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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