The Train leaves 'Rive Rhein'and goes through 6 stations before coming back to 'Rive Rhein'.Are they factual or were they fictitious places?,and would such a journey have been possible?
shareCommercy is a real village in the same place as shown in the movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercy
I'm not sure of the rest, but, there's a chance that at least some of them are...
Read the trivia section, it tells you what really happened to the "real" train.
shareThere are (or have been) tracks between the cities mentioned inthe film. What I can't say for sure is weather the train had to change the direction in the cities to get the right track to the next city. In the Film the loco always runs foreward and there is nothing mentioned concerning this. The journey wouldn't have been sensfull on my opinion, but on the other hand you could argue with the wartime and it's requirements.
shareI guess that Nazi Officer riding on the train couldn't figure when daylight broke they were traveling West, away from the sun, instead of towards it (East),,,oh well...
shareI agree. You've pointed out a flaw in what is otherwise a superbly crafted film. Frankenheimer should have waited for an overcast day to film the the art train looping back in daylight. That way the Nazi officer would lack a visual clue as to the direction of travel.
shareStrangely enough, the story IS based on an actual event when the French rail did keep a German art train from going out of France. It wasn't as action pack as this film, but they did keep the train going in loop for quit a while.
shareActually, the real story as I understand it was even less action-packed than you've suggested. The actions of the french underground were confined to some brave strokes of the pen by a clerk or two in the dispatcher's office; the result being that the train never left Paris because it was smothered with red tape.
shareAll the stations mentioned are real - I looked them all up on Google Maps as I was watching the film!!! :)
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"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy" - Neville Longbottom
Actual Train Route
Paris
Vaires
Rive-Reine**
Montmirail
Chalon-S-Marne
St Menehould
Verdun
Metz
Pont-a-Mousson
Sorcy (Level Crossing)
Commercy
Vitry Le Francois
Rive-Reine**
(Planned Route From Metz To Germany)
Remilly
Teting (Level Crossing)
St Avold
Zweibrucken
http://www.thecinetourist.net/the-daily-map/the-train-john-frankenheim er-1964-all-the-maps
** Rive-Reine station was fictional, the station used for filming was ACQUIGNY.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/peclegg/sncf/articles/article_2008_07.html
I have to say many thinks for these links. I just watched a re-run of the film on Film 4 and was able to use those sites to trace out the route, and locate the places south of Acquigny where much of the train sequences were shot.
Again many thanks.
Fortytwo? FortyTwo? what sort of puerile, pathetic, stupid answer is that? Everyone knows it's 43.