Episode 85 – Carol Reed’s Night Train To Munich

Just caught up with this episode today while driving in a severe thunderstorm… somehow it seems fitting to mention that. The casual conversation/semi-chaotic rambling format made for an interesting and lively one-off, but I’m glad to see that you’ve returned to more structured routines!

Anyway, Ryan mentioned my perspective as one that might be welcome on this fair-to-middling offering from Criterion. I think on its own merits, purely in technical, acting, scripting terms, Night Train to Munich is probably inferior to a number of titles that are currently just Hulu Plus exclusives and may never be released on physical media. But there are a few distinct things going for NTTM that probably led to its release despite some of the apparent mediocrity that you all pointed out. 

 I never reviewed it on my blog because it was released after I had passed that point in the chronology. Just FYI, Night Train and The Great Dictator would both fit between The Proud Valley (Paul Robeson) and The Bank Dick (W.C. Fields) on my blog. I think Travis made a good point when he mentioned how it served to replace the loss of Carol Reed right after the Studio Canal mass extinction event earlier that year, and I also think that Criterion recognizes they have a significant niche audience for old-time British cinema from this era. A lot of Powell & Pressburger fans to be sure, but there are many folks who just like the sensibility of that classic English blend of ripping yarns, a whiff of aristocratic bearing, stiff upper lips and all that. Moises’ frequent eruptions into mock-Brit accents throughout the episode testifies to the sheer entertainment value of that style, manner, etc. My wife and I enjoy the All Creatures Great and Small and Foyle’s War TV series set in that same period, and of course The King’s Speech pulled in a lot of fans who share these tastes. So I think that Night Train probably did pretty well by Criterion terms, even though its only so-so when it comes to lasting cinematic greatness. The fact that it does have that authenticity, validated by the course of subsequent history, as an “in the heat of the moment” rallying cry against the Nazi menace also adds to its appeal. Even some of the cliches and formulaic elements deliver on the comfort food level to Anglophiles like myself.

As for other great Criterion period war movies from that time, made with great courage and imagination, you’ve already covered Henry V which I consider an heroic achievement given what England was enduring at that time. The Thief of Bagdad had to work around a lot of disruption too of course and has its more subtle underlying anti-Fascist themes. 49th Parallel was deservedly mentioned on your show too. Native Land (another Robeson project that he narrated, didn’t appear in) is such a tremendously gutsy social justice film to be released in 1943 in the USA, and a great pioneering  documentary too, it needs to be seen more widely. Personally, I think The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and A Canterbury Tale are both magnificent, both by the Archers but with significant contrasts in look and feel to them even though they were made just a year (or less) apart. Please consider letting me in on whatever episode you choose to discuss either of these films, if you’ll be so kind! :)