Von Ryan’s Express

Colonel Ryan (Frank Sinatra) arrives at an Italian POW camp, to learn that he is the highest-ranking officer there. He takes over from Major Trevor Howard, the SBO (Senior British Officer, like Alec Guinness in The Bridge On the River Kwai), not without some anger from the by-the-book major. Said major has been hoarding food and medicine for an escape attempt, just as it says in the book. Ryan says the hell with that, Italy is surrendering, the men can use that stuff right now. He also exposes the tunnel that is being dug. To get the camp commandant to surrender the new uniforms he has been hoarding, he tells the prisoners to burn all their flea-bitten clothes. That wins them over, to an extent. Then they hijack a train with the goal of taking it to Switzerland. It’s all done very well, with a lot of tension building. Poor Mr. Howard is stuck with the thankless task of being against Ryan’s every stratagem, despite having seen the American be right time after time. It gets pretty tiresome. We all know that Moses is never able to join his people in the Promised Land, so you won’t be surprised at how it ends. But this is a crackerjack adventure, and one of Sinatra’s best performances.