WWII Movie Review: Von Ryan's Express

Frank Sinatra. This is probably the first thing people see before even the title of the movie. Of course, it is a common practice to put a big name in a movie and bill that as the main selling point of the movie. "The Longest Day" and "A Bridge Too Far," for example, have many big names for their times and toe them proudly. However, in this case it is not the star that makes the movie, rather the story that makes the star seem more watchable. Thus, in continuing with our Italian series, we now look at "von Ryan's Express."

The historical background for this movie is relatively sound. As stated in the opening scenes and Sinatra's character later, it is August 1943, the Allies have taken Sicily three days earlier, and they are posed to land on the mainland of Italy itself. Colonel Ryan (Sinatra), a P-38 pilot, is shot down and is taken to an Italian POW camp where the British and some American troops are working towards escape. However, Ryan assumes command of the prisoners and tells them that their best course of action is to wait it out until the Allies can liberate the camp.

Eventually, the Allies land in Italy, the Italians surrender, and the camp is self-liberated. However, the Germans soon turn Italy into an occupied country, and while the prisoners attempt to make it to the coast for rescue, they are instead captured by the Germans and put on a train bound for Vienna. This practice of moving POWs away from the front lines would prove to be more common, and much more difficult to do, near the end of the war.

The prisoners do not take their recapture lying down, however. The officers among the prisoners manage to break out of their boxcar and hijack the train. In an effort that will eventually take them to Switzerland, the prisoners are forced to fool their way past the Germans, taking advantage of the chaos that ensued after the surrender of Italy and the repelling of the Allied invasion. Tragically, after making sure the majority of the prisoners made it to Switzerland, Ryan is gunned down mere feet from the Swiss border by German troops who had been pursuing the prisoners.

The only major historical inaccuracy that I could see was that when the prisoner's train enters the mountain pass leading to Switzerland, the Germans dispatch planes with HVAR rockets to slow down the train in order so German infantry could recapture the prisoners. However, the planes used, referred to as Messerschmitts, are actually Bf 108s. This model was never used in combat situations, and it would have been more accurate if the film used Bf 109s, the most produced German fighter during the war. Nevertheless, this is a good war movie apart from the cliche combat movies. Until next time, take care, and thanks for reading.