User Reviews

This is the great granddaddy of train portmanteau thrillers and Walter Forde,like Hitchcock, had a thing for trains - he even remade his now lost 1931 "The Ghost Train" and became a serious leading British Director. The production of Rome Express opened the large new Lime Grove(Gainsborough)studios in W London using two huge sets to accommodate both terminii & the impressive express. Conrad Veidt was a comparative newcomer to London from Germany escaping a future under the Nazis and stayed to make a number of other acclaimed 30s films like "Jew Suss" "Passing of the Third Floor Back" "Dark Journey" & "Under The Red Robe" until ending up at Denham with the Kordas. He loved Britain and loathed Hitler but this didn't stop his 40s performances as an assortment of nazi officials - "Escape" "Spy In Black" and,of course,"Casablanca". The popular Scottish actor,Finlay Currie played the same part in this and its almost shot-for-shot remake 15 years later at 70.He was probably best known as the convict,Magwitch, in the superb 1946 remake of "Great Expectations".

I showed my Super 8 print of Rome Express to a small audience recently after a pause of 8 years and was delighted to rediscover how well scripted and tightly directed it is. This tale of theft, blackmail, murder and love moves at a rapid pace for a British film of its time, builds its characters and suspense admirably, and involves much fluid camera-work, excellent use of extras, and extremely thoughtful editing.

The various intriguing characters on the overnight train from Paris to Rome include a movie starlet who is tired of her publicity agent's strict regime of press stunts, a fence who is trying to get away with a painting stolen from the crooks who stole it in the first place, a millionaire who is only generous when its likely to get him in the papers, runaway lovers who don't want to be involved in anything or with anyone but themselves, a golf course bore, and a French police inspector on vacation.

It's delightful to watch the journey go gradually wrong for almost everyone involved, and in such a cleverly constructed way that it does full credit to writer Sidney Gilliat and former silent film comedian turned director Walter Forde. Scots actor Finlay Currie does a very acceptable American accent as the publicist (boasting of having been press agent to Tom Mix's horse), Conrad Veidt is supremely sinister and threatening as the art crook Zurta, Donald Calthrop is his usual creepy self as the cowardly fence on the run, and Esther Ralston is simply delicious in a variety of stunning 1930s outfits as jaded but very beautiful starlet Asta Marvelle. Yum!

This forerunner of many a classic train movie was acclaimed as one of the best films of 1933 and it's easy to see why – especially if you care to be kind about the model shots (more convincing than Hitchcock's) and some of the background scenery seen outside the train at night.

And of course the Gaumont British Lime Grove Studios reconstruction of the train itself is almost as attractive as Esther Ralston – but not quite. While its acting is rather wooden – hers definitely isn't.

Like the sumptuously luxurious train, this film is one worth waiting for and even gets a little steamy at times. The journey is pleasing, colourful and more exciting than the destination.

Although this film has dated somewhat it remains a classic in it's genre, and surely is the inspiration for other such train based thrillers as Murder on the Orient Express and the Lady Vanishes. Conrad Veidt was never better and is well supported by an illustrious cast. Technically the sound quality in 1932 leaves a little to be desired but this should not detract from a little seen gem of a movie

For a Brit flick of '32, this is surprisingly cinematic and stylish (and the granddaddy of train films) with excellent performances from Conrad Veidt, Cedric Hardwick, Finlay Currie and especially Donald Calthrop (best known as the squirming chiseller in "Blackmail") here an art thief on the run from partners Veidt and Williams.

Directed by the underrated Walter Forde this is a smart Hitchcockian piece with a good deal of suspense and humour, distinguished by stylishly nimble camerawork and excellent production design. As other reviewers have pointed out it does show it's age at times, with slightly muffled sound quality but provided you have patience with this it's good entertainment, and an interesting glimpse of the how the British acted abroad in those days.

Sidney Gilliat (of "the Lady Vanishes") had a hand in the writing and I could see themes and situations that would be developed further in future train movies.

The suspense builds throughout as Calthrop contrives to avoid his former partners one of whom, Veidt (in fine clipped form), has vowed to kill him. The sequence where Calthrop is literally presented to them, to be part of five in a round of poker, is a study in forced smiles and friendliness. Calthrop can't stop winning, much to the amusement of Veidt and the consternation of the others.

This is just the midway point of the film which also provides a great early part for Sir Cedric as a business magnet who appears philanthropic but in private is a stingy, deeply unpleasant individual, with little to differentiate him from the crooks. He is caught out though when his much abused underling discovers his dishonesty.

All in all an excellent vintage thriller

"Rome Express" is a familiar sort of film...a murder mystery aboard a train going from Paris to Rome. And, like these sorts of films, there is a cast of many folks who are passengers on this journey.

It all begins with the theft of a valuable Van Dyck painting. Someone aboard likely has the painting. However, the killings don't start until much later...when you realize that the man with the painting has cheated his partners and they will stop at NOTHING to get that painting.

The best reason to watch this movie is to watch Conrad Veidt. This German actor is chilling and simply superb here as the baddest of the bad guys in the movie. Apart from that, there are a few decent performances here and there, though Gordon Harker's performance as a really annoying guy is perhaps too good! You can certainly see why the other folks aboard find him tiresome!! Overall, a very good film that is worth your time.

A murder on a continental train. A group of upper-class passengers all with secrets. An eccentric French speaking detective who will solve the crime.... I know what your little grey cells are thinking but this predates Murder on the Orient Express by two years. Poor old Arthur Griffiths got his novel overshadowed by Agatha Christie but it still makes for a surprisingly good film.

Director Walter Forde in the 1920s was a popular comedian in silent slapsticks and his natural comic timing and sense of fun is evident here, peppering this rather classy murder mystery with just the right amount of lightness to keep you in an upbeat mood. Near the beginning for example he juxtapositions the passengers in the restaurant car stuffing their faces with their first class meals with that of coal being shovelled into the engine and then the resulting hot steam and hot air - very witty. Considering that he been primarily associated with light comedies and was hardly a name that people would think of if they were asked to name a top director, this is a remarkably well made film. The visual style, the imagery, the escalating tension and sense of danger is easily as good as what some of the top directors in Hollywood were doing at this time. Logically, it shouldn't be as good as it is! The camerawork in this is equally as impressive as can be seen von Sternberg's SHANGHAI EXPRESS, that other train film made in this same year. The floating fluid camerawork weaving in and out of the crowds and scurrying along the train corridors looking for and focussing on what we ourselves are trying to look at like a pair of eyes gives this quite a modern and intimate feel. Gaumont-British was of course the English equivalent in stature and stylishness to Paramount so we shouldn't be too surprised.

If you like an old fashioned murder mystery set in the thirties you'll like this which isn't just set in the thirties but made in the thirties along with those authentic crazy sounding accents. For an ensemble piece where nobody is picked out as being the star, it's quite unusual to find that all of the actors are all as good as each other - maybe that's another skill which Walter Forde secretly had. Although for most of its running time, It's speeding along like a runaway locomotive, towards the end it does run out of steam a little. It builds up and up and up, the tension's mounting, the excitement got you on the edge of the seat and then it feels like someone's said: "We've only got a few more feet of film left, can you finish up now lads."

You have to wonder whether Rome Express inspired Agatha Christie to write Murder on the Orient Express, which was published two years after the release of Walter Forde's influential murder-on-a-train movie. It's a well-worn scenario these days, but was brand new back in 1932, and Forde takes his time building up the tension. In fact, most of the first half of the movie is devoted to introducing us to a wide variety of characters, all of whom are in some way connected - or about to be connected - with the theft of a priceless painting. Conrad Veidt stands out amongst an accomplished cast.

Notable for being the pioneer of train-set mystery thriller films, this is nevertheless hardly the best, with characters that are run-of-the-mill and quite an ordinary little mystery plot that tires towards the end. Still, some of the stylist touches here are great. There is some effective panning and appropriately swift editing, plus the sound recording is brilliantly realistic, and with all elements combined, it really feels as if we are on a moving train. It is somewhat dated, not holding up as well as films like 'Murder on the Orient Express' and 'North by Northwest' do, but for what it is, it is fairly well made, and it is interesting to look at its influence on films that were later to come.

Rome Express is a Gaumont British production which can be seen as a prototype for future thrillers than would be set entirely on trains. In particular it makes one think of Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes which is not too surprising since both films have the same screenwriter, Sidney Gilliat (who would later be director of Green for Danger and the excellent State Secret).

Aside from the train setting, however, in which various passengers intermingle with one another, with crime and murder to be a part of the course of this trip, this film has, like the later Hitchcock film, a lightness in tone that adds to its pleasure. One seriously has to wonder, in fact, if the future Sir Alfred didn't see this film before he directed his own variation on it.

As directed by Walter Forde, Rome Express moves with the same speed as the express train on which the story is set, the main plot involving a stolen Van Dyke painting hidden in a briefcase and two partners of the thief, one of them very deadly, indeed, in search of the now frightened man who decided to abscond with the painting on his own.

The largely British cast is fine, including Joan Barry (a Hitchcock leading lady around this time in Rich and Strange) and, particularly effective, Donald Calthrop, whom Hitchcock buffs may recall as the blackmailer in Blackmail, Alfred's first talkie. In this film he's the man with the hidden Van Dyke.

Cedric Hardwicke also scores very well here as a smug, penny pinching millionaire forever castigating his cowering manservant for some minor misdeed. Esther Ralston, a very attractive silent film star whose talkie career would never reach the same heights as her silent one, is quite winning in the role of a movie star on board the train who becomes accidentally mixed up with the art thieves.

Saving the best for last is Conrad Veidt, in great form here, as the more sinister of the two art thieves searching for the passenger (Calthrop) who has the painting. Veidt brings an intelligence and polished flair to his performance. Ruthless as he is when he has a man cornered, he is also an elegant scoundrel who presents a smiling, affable facade to those around him.

Veidt is highly effective in his role, both attractive and deadly as a cobra. If anyone in this film exudes star presence it is definitely the German actor probably best remembered today for his performance as Major Strasser in Casablanca.

If you're into thrillers, particularly those set aboard trains, try seeking this film out. You should be more than satisfied.

This highly entertaining trainbound comedy-thriller predates Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" (also co-written by Sidney Gilliat) by several years, and is almost as good - in fact, it is better-paced, as it plunges us straight into the action faster, although the overall plot is not equally ingenious. The film boasts fluid, inquisitive camerawork, some imaginative montages, colorful characters (Conrad Veidt is excellent), and two steamy women (no pun intended). Only the villain's demise, or rather how it happens, is a letdown. Best line (during a poker game): "I ought to know you have one more picture". *** out of 4.

We start the film being introduced to the cast as they board the express train to Rome at Paris. Donald Calthorp plays the man with the briefcase that contains a stolen painting who is being pursued by fellow gang members Conrad Veidt (Zurta) and Hugh Williams (Tony). Calthorp has betrayed them and run off with the painting. Not a good move. Do you think they get to him?

None of the cast is wasted and the story is well constructed in how everyone links together to give the film its storyline. The most annoying character is Gordon Harker - what a buffoonish bore - who plays a friend of an eloping couple who don't want anyone to know they are on the run. There are a couple of funny lines, and generally the film is fine but it just fizzles out with a complete non-ending to wrap things up.

The film reminded me of an incident when I was at a boarding school in Switzerland when I was around 10 years old. We were on a train and one of the pupils fell out. He leant on a door, it opened and he disappeared. That was that. When we went to bed that night, we were one man down and the atmosphere was one of disbelief - it hadn't sunk in. Anyway, at around midnight, this boy was walked into the dormitory. He'd survived. Luckily, he fell into the snow and just followed the rail tracks until he came to a station where a worker recognized the school uniform and contacted the school. My point is that if you fall off a train when travelling across Europe, you don't necessarily die. Storytellers take note!

Well-to-do people, all with their own secrets get aboard THE ROME EXPRESS, from a scenario by Sidney Gilliat.

One of the issues of looking at a movie that is clearly the precursor to another, well regarded movie, is that it invites invidious comparisons. It's a phenomenon I call "the end of history" and it reflects our bias that everyone and everything that happened before us is just leading up to our own magnificence, while everything after us will be a severe let-down. This movie was not made as a trial run for Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES, despite Gilliat, producer Michael Balcon and the presence of several plot elements -- including a couple who are cheating on their spouses -- that were later used in the more famous movie. If anything, the later movie was probably conceived as a remake.

Looking at this movie on its own merits, we can recognize it as a sparkling cast -- including Finlay Currie as an American, Cedric Hardwicke, Esther Ralson, Hugh Williams and the always brilliant Conrad Veidt as a mysterious threat. It is a skillful blending of comedy and thrills by director Walter Forde, who would return to the theme with 1941's THE MAIL TRAIN. Yes, Hitchcock and others would do it better; they had the model in this movie -- which is vastly entertaining on its own.

I always liked train movies, so I bothered to watch this one, on French TV. It was also an occasion to see Conrad Veidt, a very good actor, last seen in CASABLANCA. During the watching, I suddenly remembered the name of Bonar Colleano, the British-American star of the past-war era. From IMDB, I learned that he starred in another train movie, SLEEPING CAR TO TRIESTE (1948), and, to my great amazement, I discovered that the later was a remake of the former! sixteen years after... harrycarasso, Paris

Hollywood has some kind of grudge against ROME EXPRESS. a great picture in which all the actors perform well. Cedric Hardwicke was a standout as a cheapy trying to present himself as a philanthropist. the press agent was perfectly annoying and donald calthrop was exceptional as the art thief. I know there is an american version on VCI dvd but I have 3 other versions sped up for time. gordon harker was another annoying person. Its just a great movie you need to get on dvd.

I usually enjoy dramas set on trains and this is one of the earliest and one of the best. A major factor in its success is the adroit direction of Walter Forde, seen in the facility with which he introduces the protagonists against the station background and in the natural way in which the story is allowed to flow with very little contrivance, the overhearing of a conversation re the painting later in the film possibly being an exception. Surprisingly he did not appear to receive interest from Hollywood after this. Andrew Mazzei's sets are impressive and convincing. There are some memorable performances, not least Conrad Veidt, as a menacing villain who looks downright evil at times. Cedric Hardwicke as the mean-spirited philanthropist, Gordon Harker, playing against type as a middle-class golfing bore, Finlay Currie, amusing as the brash movie agent and Donald Calthrop as the treacherous little villain in fear for his life all make a vivid impression. In fact there is hardly a weak link in the cast. It is sometimes stated that Currie played the same part in the 1948 near-remake, Sleeping Car To Trieste, but in fact he took over Hardwicke's role as the wealthy bullying humbug.

It's been quite a while since I last watched a picture whose narrative developed at so deliberate and unbothered a pace. As passing close-up shots of various details emphasize the passage of time in the train's journey, we're slowly given more information about all the people traveling on it, and their motivations for doing so. A bit more than half the runtime has passed before the plot substantially advances, yet the glimpses we get of the characters keep us invested such that in all that time it never feels like the film is dragging. And from that point on, there's more than enough simmering tension and minor suspense to lock us in. It may not be the most immediately arresting of thrillers, but 'Rome Express' is gratifyingly solid.

Scenes are filled with wonderful detail to enrich the quietly bristling scenario, and director Walter Forde does a fine job of ensuring it's all captured on camera. From terrific nuance in the cast's performances, to precise and increasingly revealing dialogue, to specific instances of shot composition, there's a great wealth of value rounding out every corner of the production. This includes the meticulous construction of the narrative, by which almost every character is gradually drawn in in ways demonstrating their real selves. It's very pleasing that unlike so many other mysteries and thrillers, there's no one figure here who possesses astounding intelligence and single-handedly arrives at the truth. Rather, just as the confluence of events produces a situation ripe for stimulating storytelling, the pieces all fall into place almost by happenstance, and the investigator - a side character, not a protagonist - is merely in a suitable position to collect them all. 'Rome Express' rather forgoes tropes and contrivances that define many of its genre brethren, and the result is a film that's somewhat understated, yet all the more satisfying for it.

This is a title that makes no effort to leap out and grab our attention, instead letting the narrative speak for itself. This approach doesn't work for every feature, but here the final product is so sharp and rewarding that one scarcely even notices the near absence of an accompanying score. Completed with fine costume design, hair and makeup, lighting, cinematography, and other contributions from the crew, the writing is so excellent and tight as to outshine even the swell cast. Those looking for a mystery more in the vein of Agatha Christie, or a more robustly grabbing thriller, may not entirely find themselves at home here, yet I think the marvelous craft of the plot should be sufficient to satiate most any viewer. You don't necessarily need to go out of your way to see it, but if you have the chance to watch 'Rome Express,' these are 90 well deserving minutes.

Towering Teutonic Terror Thespian Conrad Veidt is propah crazy train in Walter Forde's locomotive 1930s crime thrill-spiller! Moving like 'Grand Hotel' on a rail, 'Rome Express' is sleek, first-class entertainment, with a luminous array of stars no less dazzling than a trip to the planetarium! The enchanting, vibrantly acted 'Rome Express' remains a genuinely gripping thriller, steeped in scintillating 30s glamour, Walter Forde's refined, smartly written feature is a brisk, non-stop adventure with a suitably rumbustious climax. This witty, elegantly made film, while undeniably charming, is never quaint, as the masterfully malevolent Veidt oozes a cool reptilian menace as the tall, debonair villain with a heart of unleavened granite, desperate to lay his steely fingers on the stolen van Dyck painting! Vintage thriller fans are strongly urged to venture aboard the eventful 'Rome Express' at the soonest opportunity, as they are guaranteed an unforgettable journey into British film history!