Reception
Critics liked Von Ryan's Express. Variety noting that, "Mark Robson has made realistic use of the actual Italian setting of the David Westheimer novel in garmenting his action in hard-hitting direction and sharply-drawn performances." Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy noted in her biography of her father that his performance fuelled speculation of another Academy Award nomination. Time Out London called the film a "ripping adventure" that was "directed with amused panache by Robson, and helped no end by a fine cast...", while the BBC's TV, film and radio listings magazine The Radio Times described it as "a rattlingly exciting Second World War escape adventure, with a well-cast Frank Sinatra..."
The film grossed $17,111,111 ($126,192,185 in 2011 consumer dollars) at the North American box-office, equating to $7,700,000 ($56,786,484 in 2011 consumer dollars) taken in box office rentals. Variety ranked Von Ryan’s Express as the 10th highest grossing film of 1965. Additionally, this would be Sinatra’s highest grossing and biggest earning film of the decade.
The film was nominated for a "Best Special Effects" Academy Award in 1966, while the Motion Picture Sound Editors also nominated the film for "Best Sound Editing" in a Feature Film.
British Channel 4 ranked Von Ryan's Express number 89 on their list of 100 Greatest War Films, commenting, "A ripping yarn culminating in a wild train dash through, with director Mark Robson cranking up the tension and releasing it with some excellent action set-pieces." It has a 91% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Seven years after the film, the fastball of baseball, pitcher Nolan Ryan was dubbed "Ryan's Express" by fans of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
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