Films set in and around trains with spies or gun runners were clearly the rage in the late 30s.Those that come to mind are Oh Mr Porter(Ghost Train remake),The Lady Vanishes,Night Train To Munich,The Ghost Train(another remake with Arthur Askey) and this film.The other 4 films had the advantage of skilled directors ,inventive screenwriters ,and a good cast.Alas this film had none of these attributes.This film ignored the first basic rule of these type of films.Namely keep it simple.So we are faced with an over elaborate plot.The cast ,Harrison apart,are not the best,and Verne is no Lockwood.However what is most lamentable is the finale.Jerry Jackson,the associate producer,produced many of Michael Powells quota quickies.Irving Ahad been head of production for Warners Teddington studios,turning out support features for Warners Hollywood imports.So maybe the fact that they did some location work in Paris made them decide to save money on the climax.as a result it looks as if the finale was filmed in the toy train department in Hamleys in Regent Street.It is possibly the worst use of models that i have ever seen.It singlehandedly destroys any tension that the film might otherwise have generated.Harrison is his usual debonair self.However he would utilise this quality to much greater effect in Night Train To Munich,which shows how this sort of film should be made.
5 Reviews
The Budding Star
boblipton26 February 2017
Rex Harrison wakes up in a hospital in Paris with a bullet wound in his head. The last thing he remembers is leaving from Gatwick on his private plane. However, the police show him a newspaper which indicates he has spent ten days in Paris. As he investigates on his own, it turns out he has spent the time as a butler/chauffeur to an eccentric family there under a different name. Gradually, the situation grows more serious....
This is an excellent comedy thriller, directed by old comedy hand Tim Whelan -- he had spent time writing for Harold Lloyd in the 1920s. His light touch and frequent gag construction, Harrison's breezy insouciance and a well-constructed story line keeps this one humming along. Harrison's career was on the upswing and he was credited about the title on the print I saw -- an Australian print, so it might have appeared in Oz after his success in NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH had made him a star. It's a minor picture, but one that is highly enjoyable.
This is an excellent comedy thriller, directed by old comedy hand Tim Whelan -- he had spent time writing for Harold Lloyd in the 1920s. His light touch and frequent gag construction, Harrison's breezy insouciance and a well-constructed story line keeps this one humming along. Harrison's career was on the upswing and he was credited about the title on the print I saw -- an Australian print, so it might have appeared in Oz after his success in NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH had made him a star. It's a minor picture, but one that is highly enjoyable.
British spy comedy is fun but flawed.
mark.waltz5 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
It's difficult to watch Rex Harrison and not think of professor Henry Higgins. Even when watching Leslie Howard in "Pygmalion", for some reason I'm thinking that it's Harrison, not Howard, even though Howard got an Oscar nomination for the non musical version of George Bernard Shaw's play. Then there's the fact that Harrison was around in British cinema when that was made, even appearing in the film version of Shaw's "Major Barbara" just the year after he made this British thriller with a ton of comic elements, and a character whom Henry Higgins might find annoying because they were too much alike.
it's an often confusing and complex plot, with Harrison initially seen discovered as the victim of a gunshot and later wondering why he's in the hospital. Once released, he tracks down the pretty Kaaren Verne, and they are out tracking spies. A model train running through the English countryside is like something out of "The Lady Vanishes", and is a great visual. my issue is that some of the dialogue is way too fast spoken, so not all of the details will be picked up upon the first viewing. However it is filled with excellent photography and when you are able to understand it, some witty conversations between Harrison and Verne. The action gets more thrilling what to chase sequence at the end, but it took some doing to really try to keep up with what was going on.
it's an often confusing and complex plot, with Harrison initially seen discovered as the victim of a gunshot and later wondering why he's in the hospital. Once released, he tracks down the pretty Kaaren Verne, and they are out tracking spies. A model train running through the English countryside is like something out of "The Lady Vanishes", and is a great visual. my issue is that some of the dialogue is way too fast spoken, so not all of the details will be picked up upon the first viewing. However it is filled with excellent photography and when you are able to understand it, some witty conversations between Harrison and Verne. The action gets more thrilling what to chase sequence at the end, but it took some doing to really try to keep up with what was going on.
Interesting British Thriller
robluvthebeach8 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Similar to Hitchcock's 'The Lady Vanishes' and "Foreign Correspondent', this is an interesting, thrilling thriller with lots of humor and in jokes. Rex Harrison and Kaaren Verne (in her film debut) are appealing as the leads who are trying to uncover spies and potential bombings. There are quite a few comical bits provided by Rex Harrison, even when he is holding a gun on someone! Saw this on youtube and is available for anyone to view if you just google the title. Part of the plot involves a doppelganger who looks like Rex Harrison and involves his getting shot, considered a spy and then on the run for his life! A train with a bomb onboard ends the movie with an exciting climax. However, there are many twists and turns that befall our hero before the final confrontation in a hospital bed. Rex Harrison really has a great handle on comedy/drama with this film. Kaaren Verne does a great job as the put upon heroine. All in all, a fun WW 11 thriller, that should be watched.
Piling up confusions into confusions galore
clanciai8 August 2020
It is very difficult to get any head or tail out of this. It actually starts confusing enough with the hero (Rex Harrison) waking up in a hospital having been shot in his head, while he is certain he just had an airplane accident. Then he is taken for someone else and gets mixed up in all sorts of confusions as a valet in some chateau, and he just follows the games trying to understand anything about them, trying to get a lead by someone somewhere, while too many appear to be having claims on him for different means, and it gradually amounts to a great spying game with sabotage plans and bombs on trains and things like that. Well, it all ends up by his waking up in a hospital again, but this time at least he has a girl by his side. It could be worse, but it could hardly be more confused.
At least it is entertaining enough, but you miss some clear red thread thourgh it all and the professionalism of other great train thrillers of the same time, like "Night Train to Munich" and "A Lady Vanishes". Here at least the geographical location is clear enough, it's all around Paris, but intelligence in London is involved, and it appears that the wrong man was killed in that airplane accident...
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