The Train (1964 Film) - Plot

Plot

In 1944, art masterpieces stolen by the German Army from French museums are being shipped to Germany; the officer in charge of the operation, Colonel Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield), is an ardent art lover and is determined to take the art to Germany, no matter the cost. After the Germans remove the art chosen by Waldheim from the Jeu de Paume Museum, curator Mademoiselle Villard (Suzanne Flon) seeks help from the French Resistance. Given the imminent liberation of Paris by the Allies, they need only delay the train for a few days — still, it is an extremely dangerous operation and it must be done in such a way that does not risk damaging the priceless cargo.

Although the Resistance initially rejects the plan, the men have a change of heart after a cantankerous elderly engineer, Papa Boule (Michel Simon), is executed for trying to sabotage the train on his own. After that sacrifice, reluctant French railway area inspector Paul Labiche (Burt Lancaster) joins the effort to stop the theft. The Resistance devises an elaborate ruse to reroute the train, temporarily renaming railway stations to make it appear to the German escort as if they are heading to Germany when they are actually going in a circle. They then arrange a double collision that will block the train without risking the cargo. Labiche, although injured, escapes on foot while other Resistance members involved in the plot are caught and executed.

Now working alone, Labiche continues to delay the train after the tracks are cleared, to the mounting rage of von Waldheim, whose obsession with the paintings borders on madness. Finally, Labiche manages to derail the train without endangering civilian hostages that the colonel has placed on the engine to prevent it being blown up. Von Waldheim flags down a retreating army convoy and learns that a French armored division is not far behind. The colonel orders the train unloaded and attempts to commandeer the trucks, but is overruled by the officer in charge. Waldheim's aide orders the hostages killed, and the train's small German contingent joins the retreating convoy.

Von Waldheim remains behind with the abandoned train. Crates are strewn everywhere between the tracks and the road, labeled with the names of famous artists. Labiche appears and the colonel castigates him for having no real interest in the art he has saved:

Labiche! Here's your prize, Labiche. Some of the greatest paintings in the world.

Does it please you, Labiche? You feel a sense of excitement at just being near them? A painting means as much to you as a string of pearls to an ape. You won by sheer luck. You stopped me without knowing what you were doing or why. You are nothing, Labiche. A lump of flesh.

The paintings are mine. They always will be. Beauty belongs to the man who can appreciate it. They will always belong to me, or a man like me.

Now, this minute, you couldn't tell me why you did what you did.

Labiche turns and looks at the murdered hostages. Then, without a word, he turns back to von Waldheim and shoots him. Labiche limps away, having been shot in the leg earlier on, leaving behind the corpses of the executed hostages, Von Waldheim, and France's greatest art treasures.