For war movie fans, "Von Ryan's Express" is an entertaining film with considerable action. It's a fictional story about an escape of an entire POW camp during World War II. Only, unlike the real escape from a German POW camp in "The Great Escape," this one is from an Italian POW camp. And, it has plenty of action in a novel method of escape – by a commandeered prisoner transport train. All of the cast are very good.
The movie is based on a novel by David Westheimer. He was a B-24 navigator in the U.S. Army Air Forces during WW II. His plane was shot down by an Italian fighter plane and he spent 28 months in POW camps – first in Italy and then in Germany. The book is based on his experiences as a POW.
When a story is fiction it doesn't make much difference how much the movie may differ from the book – except in the case of recognized literary works. Or, for accuracy of otherwise factual matter or details in the face of credulity. In this case a couple of distinctions should be made about this film and the book. Frank Sinatra's Col. Joseph L. Ryan in the movie tells his British prison mates that he was a "90-day wonder." That refers to an officer who is commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant after three months of officer candidate school (OCS). In the book, Ryan was a West Point graduate who had worked his way up in rank. It's not realistic that a 2nd Lt. out of OCS would rise to the rank of Colonel in three years. I don't think there's a single instance of such in history.
The second thing that stretches the credibility of even a fictional story is that a full bird colonel would have been flying a mission at all. That was the regular rank of a Group commander of several squadrons, or even a Wing commander in some cases. Those command officers were not supposed to be flying missions. Their combat flying time was behind them and now they were to command the various units. Of course some did fly in combat, as the movie "Twelve O'Clock High" shows. But those were exceptions.
There are some other anomalies about this film. How did Ryan escape that crashed plane – that did a nose dive into the earth? Why didn't he bail out? Where were the rest of his crew? These are questions that came to my mind right away when I first watched this film. The plane mock-up in the crash scene didn't seem real either. It is interesting that Ryan's plane was shot down by an Italian fighter plane. Although it doesn't show that in action, that's what happened to the author of the book, and since this was yet over Italian military territory, it's implied. This may be the only movie made about WW II in which an allied plane is shot down by an Italian fighter plane.
I won't go into the apparent reversal of military posture – between the British and Americans, except to note that the film shows the reverse of the usual. The Brits, with their long history and military traditions, were always much more disciplined and spit and polish than the Americans would have been during WW II. And, especially when comparing British regular army with American Army air forces.
The POW camp stuff is fun and entertaining. Then, the action comes when the escaped POWs are herded onto a train for transport to Germany. Besides the daring stuff in this larger portion of the movie, the film has some wonderful scenic shots of the Italian countryside and the Alps. The scenes with the train racing against another in the mountains, and the German planes attacking are very good.
So, this fictional war movie makes for good entertainment, in a Hollywood style rendition of a war story. I do wonder why Hollywood seemed to have a penchant for showing so many top German officers in films having a woman in tow. That's a stereotype that didn't serve to enhance the credibility of many war films.
Frank Sinatra made nearly a dozen movies about WW II and Korea, but he didn't serve in the military. He was 26 years old when the U.S. entered the war. While most Hollywood actors of age were signing up for service – and many getting commissions, Sinatra was supposedly classified 4F for a ruptured eardrum. Eardrums usually repair themselves, and in some instances can be repaired surgically. Perhaps it was something else. He did very well in most of his war movie roles and won a best supporting actor Oscar as Angelo Maggio in "From Here to Eternity."
The movie is based on a novel by David Westheimer. He was a B-24 navigator in the U.S. Army Air Forces during WW II. His plane was shot down by an Italian fighter plane and he spent 28 months in POW camps – first in Italy and then in Germany. The book is based on his experiences as a POW.
When a story is fiction it doesn't make much difference how much the movie may differ from the book – except in the case of recognized literary works. Or, for accuracy of otherwise factual matter or details in the face of credulity. In this case a couple of distinctions should be made about this film and the book. Frank Sinatra's Col. Joseph L. Ryan in the movie tells his British prison mates that he was a "90-day wonder." That refers to an officer who is commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant after three months of officer candidate school (OCS). In the book, Ryan was a West Point graduate who had worked his way up in rank. It's not realistic that a 2nd Lt. out of OCS would rise to the rank of Colonel in three years. I don't think there's a single instance of such in history.
The second thing that stretches the credibility of even a fictional story is that a full bird colonel would have been flying a mission at all. That was the regular rank of a Group commander of several squadrons, or even a Wing commander in some cases. Those command officers were not supposed to be flying missions. Their combat flying time was behind them and now they were to command the various units. Of course some did fly in combat, as the movie "Twelve O'Clock High" shows. But those were exceptions.
There are some other anomalies about this film. How did Ryan escape that crashed plane – that did a nose dive into the earth? Why didn't he bail out? Where were the rest of his crew? These are questions that came to my mind right away when I first watched this film. The plane mock-up in the crash scene didn't seem real either. It is interesting that Ryan's plane was shot down by an Italian fighter plane. Although it doesn't show that in action, that's what happened to the author of the book, and since this was yet over Italian military territory, it's implied. This may be the only movie made about WW II in which an allied plane is shot down by an Italian fighter plane.
I won't go into the apparent reversal of military posture – between the British and Americans, except to note that the film shows the reverse of the usual. The Brits, with their long history and military traditions, were always much more disciplined and spit and polish than the Americans would have been during WW II. And, especially when comparing British regular army with American Army air forces.
The POW camp stuff is fun and entertaining. Then, the action comes when the escaped POWs are herded onto a train for transport to Germany. Besides the daring stuff in this larger portion of the movie, the film has some wonderful scenic shots of the Italian countryside and the Alps. The scenes with the train racing against another in the mountains, and the German planes attacking are very good.
So, this fictional war movie makes for good entertainment, in a Hollywood style rendition of a war story. I do wonder why Hollywood seemed to have a penchant for showing so many top German officers in films having a woman in tow. That's a stereotype that didn't serve to enhance the credibility of many war films.
Frank Sinatra made nearly a dozen movies about WW II and Korea, but he didn't serve in the military. He was 26 years old when the U.S. entered the war. While most Hollywood actors of age were signing up for service – and many getting commissions, Sinatra was supposedly classified 4F for a ruptured eardrum. Eardrums usually repair themselves, and in some instances can be repaired surgically. Perhaps it was something else. He did very well in most of his war movie roles and won a best supporting actor Oscar as Angelo Maggio in "From Here to Eternity."