An American POW leads a group of mainly British prisoners to escape from the Germans in WWII.An American POW leads a group of mainly British prisoners to escape from the Germans in WWII.An American POW leads a group of mainly British prisoners to escape from the Germans in WWII.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
Raffaella Carrà
- Gabriella
- (as Raffaella Carra)
Ian Abercrombie
- English POW
- (uncredited)
Don Ames
- Prisoner of War
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMichael Goodliffe, who plays Capt. Stein, was an actual Prisoner of War during WWII. He was captured at Dunkirk and spent the next five years in a German POW camp.
- GoofsAll of the German soldiers carrying MP38/40 sub-machine guns (including all of the guards on the train) were wearing the wrong ammo pouches. The MP38/40 fired 9mm pistol ammunition from a 32-round detachable box magazine. The soldiers were all wearing cartridge pouches designed to hold 5-round stripper clips of 7.92mm ammunition for a bolt-action Mauser rifle. This means none of the Germans carrying sub-machine guns had any ready ammunition available once they fired the 32 rounds in their only magazine. This is a common mistake in WWII TV shows and movies.
- Quotes
Maj. Eric Fincham: It would take you too long to strangle a man, Colonel. The average Nazi would get impatient while you were doing it.
- Crazy creditsThe film credits and all promotion publicity still say "A Cinemascope Picture", and Alfred Newman's "extended" 20th Century-Fox fanfare is still heard on the soundtrack as the picture begins, but most of the film was actually shot in Panavision, at Frank Sinatra's insistence.
- Alternate versionsWhen originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'U' rating. All cuts were waived in 1988 when the film was granted a 'PG' certificate for home video.
- ConnectionsEdited into Galactica 1980: Galactica Discovers Earth: Part 2 (1980)
Featured review
"You'll Get The Iron Cross For This, Von Ryan"
Von Ryan's Express which was a best selling action adventure novel in the sixties combines some of the best elements of The Great Escape and Bridge Over the River Kwai.
Culture clashes abound in Von Ryan's Express, Britsh versus American, Italian versus German. Sometimes the participants seem to forget just who was the enemy.
Frank Sinatra is an American Army Air Corps flier shot down near Rome before the invasion of Italy. The Italians grab him and take him to an Italian prisoner of war camp run by a strutting Mussolini wannabe in Adolfo Celi. The prisoners are mostly British and in fact members of a single regiment, the 9th Fusiliers. Command has now devolved to Major Trevor Howard with the death of their colonel. Sinatra becomes the ranking POW when he arrives.
Sinatra and Howard clash over several issues. Watching the film you'll see I believe that Howard was right. But Sinatra has the rank.
When the Italians switch sides as the landing at Salerno commences, the Italian soldiers desert and Sinatra and Howard have to make some hard decisions. They opt to move towards the sea, but are captured by the Germans and put on a train north. They recapture the prison train from the Germans and decide to keep going north to Switzerland.
It'a pretty impossible tale, but that doesn't mean it ain't entertaining. Sinatra keeps his swinging hipster persona in check and Trevor Howard was born to play those British military roles.
Of the rest of the cast my favorite performance is that of the British regimental chaplain Edward Mulhare. The fact that he went to graduate study in Germany and speaks it fluently is of inestimable help to the escaping prisoners.
For those who like action war films, this is your cup of British tea.
Culture clashes abound in Von Ryan's Express, Britsh versus American, Italian versus German. Sometimes the participants seem to forget just who was the enemy.
Frank Sinatra is an American Army Air Corps flier shot down near Rome before the invasion of Italy. The Italians grab him and take him to an Italian prisoner of war camp run by a strutting Mussolini wannabe in Adolfo Celi. The prisoners are mostly British and in fact members of a single regiment, the 9th Fusiliers. Command has now devolved to Major Trevor Howard with the death of their colonel. Sinatra becomes the ranking POW when he arrives.
Sinatra and Howard clash over several issues. Watching the film you'll see I believe that Howard was right. But Sinatra has the rank.
When the Italians switch sides as the landing at Salerno commences, the Italian soldiers desert and Sinatra and Howard have to make some hard decisions. They opt to move towards the sea, but are captured by the Germans and put on a train north. They recapture the prison train from the Germans and decide to keep going north to Switzerland.
It'a pretty impossible tale, but that doesn't mean it ain't entertaining. Sinatra keeps his swinging hipster persona in check and Trevor Howard was born to play those British military roles.
Of the rest of the cast my favorite performance is that of the British regimental chaplain Edward Mulhare. The fact that he went to graduate study in Germany and speaks it fluently is of inestimable help to the escaping prisoners.
For those who like action war films, this is your cup of British tea.
helpful•3012
- bkoganbing
- Jun 7, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Colonel von Ryans Expreß
- Filming locations
- Málaga, Andalucía, Spain(final shootout on rail track on mountain)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,760,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 57 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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