The Train (United Artists) (1964)

Publicity _ Material Burt Lancaster Made Sure Versatility Reigned Supreme Burt Lancaster, starring in “The Train,” opening ....... at the Theatre, through United Artists release, is one of the few American movie stars able to make audiences forget his nationality. Moviegoers around the world have applauded him as a Sicilian Prince (“The Leopard”), a German defendant (“Judgment at Nuremburg”), an Italian truck driver (“The Rose Tattoo”) and now a French resistance fighter in “The Train.” Based on an actual incident of World War II, “The Train” costars Jeanne Moreau and Paul Scofield. It was directed by John Frankenheimer, and produced by Jules Bricken. Lancaster’s other roles have deliberately been varied, so that it is not only his nationality he changes on screen, but his entire personality as well. Unwilling to be type-cast in tough-guy roles (after his first success in “The Killers”), he has continually sought different characterizations. In “From Here to Eternity” he was a soldier. In “Come Back, Little Sheba” an alcoholic. “Trapeze” gave him a chance to show off his splendid physique and circus background (he was once an acrobat) but in “Sweet Smell of Success’ he was a decidedly unathletic (and unattractive) newspaper columnist. His role in “Seven Days in May” was also an anti-hero type and in “Bird Man of Alcatraz” he played a convict, aging over fifty years on screen. For his role of an evangelist in “Elmer Gantry” he won Hollywood’s coveted Academy Award. Lancaster has also enjoyed himself in a variety of adventure and action roles, including at least one magnificent spoof of costume melodrama. Although there was nothing in his youth to indicate acting talents, there was always a willingness to try the difficult and different. Born in New York City, Burton Stephen Lancaster attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where his athletic ability won him a basketball scholarship at New York University. He abandoned his studies there after two years to do what most men do as little boys: he joined the circus! With partner Nick Cravat, Burt toured for three dollars a week, plus board and keep, before being spotted by Ringling Brothers. Billed as “Land & Cravat,” they played Ringling’s big-top for five years before jumping to the better paying nightclub circuit. By the time he was 25, Burt decided to try something different again. A turn as floor-walker for a department store ended when he became bored and turned cartwheels down the aisles. After a series of odd jobs, he took a trip overseas, with the army! He saw, and fought in North Africa, Italy and Austria . . . during three years that changed his entire lighthearted outlook on life. After the war, married to a girl he had met while she was touring with a USO show, Burt opened on Saull TT 22 In “The Train,” starring Burt Mat 1E Lancaster and opening .....at the ........ Theatre, through United Artists, noted French character actor Michel Simon plays a French resistance fighter who helps cause the destruction of a train bearing a vital shipment into Germany, PAGE 8 Broadway in a play which closed 24 performances later. However, he had been noticed and given rave notices. He formed a_ partnership with his agent, Harold Hecht, who predicted that in five years they would be making their own films. They were. Sabotage Expert One of the technical advisors on “The Train” starring Burt Lancaster and opening ........ at the Ser eae Theatre, through United Artists release, is Maurice Petitpas. Now an actor, Petitpas holds the Croix de Guerre, the Legion of Honor and nine citations for his work during World War II. Director John Frankenheimer hired him for advice on matters concerning the Free French underground during the terrible days of the Nazi occupation—specifically their work in train sabotage. Petitpas is highly qualified for this job, for he was second in command of a network of agents in France and Belgium responsible for the destruction of about 50 trains! If Burt Lancaster seems to know what he is doing as he thwarts the Nazis in “The Train,” it is because he payed close and frequent attention to Maurice Petitpas, one of France’s many unsung heros. Frankenheimer Top In Director Field At 33, John Frankenheimer is one of the top talents in the film directing field—both in the motion picture and television mediums. His latest movie, “The Train,” opening aretersbsnaiare at the Theatre, through United Artists release, reunites him with Burt Lancaster who starred in “Bird Man of Alcatraz,” “Seven Days in May” and “The Young Savages,” all directed by Frankenheimer. Lancaster plays a French resistance fighter in “The Train,” which co-stars Paul Scofield and Jeanne Moreau. Other Hollywood credits enjoyed by Frankenheimer are “The Manchurian Candidate” and “All Fall Down.” Before coming west, the young talent was turning out new hour and a half plays weekly for four years on television’s famous “Playhouse 90.” Twice Frankenheimer won the “Best Director of the Year” award from Radio & Television Daily and TV Guide gave him its award for the Best Single in 1960, as well as an award for Best Director. He holds awards from many other organizations and for five years was nominated as best director by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Born in Malba, Long Island, Frankenheimer attended the Foxwood School in Flushing, N. Y. and the LaSalle Military Academy in Oakdale. At Williams College he immediately joined the theatre group and was soon spending his summers with the Highland Playhouse in Falmouth, Mass. As a member of a motion picture unit, while in the Air Force, Frankenheimer directed his first movie in an asphalt pit. His second film was about cattle. He directed films about survival techniques and other training subjects and upon discharge discovered that the doors to his new career were closed! In Hollywood both the motion picture and television industries snubbed him. However, New York was more receptive to his talent and he was made an assistant director with the CBS network. Two years later he was a full director. Soon he was back on the West Coast as director of the “Climax” series. From there he went on to the “Playhouse 90” show. soe eecee Still TT 12 Burt Laneaster stars in “The Train,’ the Mat 2A : . at eeceeee opening Theatre, through United Artists release. He portrays a French resistance fighter in the adventure drama, directed by John Frankenheimer. Paul Scofield and Jeanne Moreau co-star in the thriller about a successful attempt to prevent the Nazis from removing a trainload of priceless loot from Paris to Germany in the last days of the Occupation. ‘Train’ On Way “The Train,” starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield and Jeanne Moreau, arrives on schedule....... at the Theatre, through United Artists release. Directed by John Frankenheimer, it is based on a true incident from World War H, during which the Nazis attempted to ship over $600,000,000 worth of French art into Germany—and of the French resistance fighters who risked their lives to stop the traiy carrying it. Produced by Jules Bricken, the adventure film was written by Franklin Coen and Frank Davis and filmed on location in France. Special effects were supervised by Lee Zavitz. Other well known international stars in the cast include Michel Simon, Suzanne Flon, Wolfgang Preiss and Richard Munch. Convenience Location filming of “The Train,” opening ....... » at: the Theatre, through United Artists release, posed no problem for director John Frankenheimer. He simply loaded his props on the biggest prop of all: The Train itself—a hulking, obsolete vintage 1940 French railroad train—which he ultimately destroyed for one of the film’s big scenes. eooeeveee Real Wrecks, Explosions Make Train’ Footage Most Exciting Ever Filmed (Production Story) There are no tricks in “The Train.” Real trains are derailed and demolished, not scale models. Real tanks and half-tracks and planes—purchased for the sole purpose of being destroyed—were photographed on actual locations (not table-top terrain) for the most exciting adventure story of the year. Starring Burt Lancaster as a French resistance hero, ““The Train” opens ......at the ......... Theatre, through United Artists release. Paul Scofield and Jeanne Moreau co-star under ; John Frankenheimer’s realistic direction. Jules Bricken pro duced the film. Two crashes were called for at Acquigny, France, and the first went wrong! When a locomotive was purposely derailed, it crashed accidentally across three of the five cameras filming the action. The next “take” called for a speeding locomotive to crash into the derailed engine! Extreme precautions were taken for the scene could only be done once. Families were evacuated. A cafe across from the station was heavily insured by Lloyds of London. All electricity and gas in the area was shut off (railroad experts predicted that the fired-up boiler would explode). Special pits were dug along the rails to catch the runaway engine. Everyone hoped for the best and feared the worst. The scene was shot with seven different cameras . and went off without a hitch, creating some of the most priceless footage ever filmed. Frankenheimer, who treated “The Train” as a fast-paced adventure, called for the utmost in realism in order to make its dramatic story believable to modern, sophisticated moviegoers. His first day behind the cameras, at St. Ouen, found him surveying 25 tanks, a 35 car train, dozens of cannons, half-tracks and other equipment as well as 1,000 extras. All milled around the steaming locomotives that would eventually be destroyed for the sake of realism, recreating an actual incident of the Second World War, during which the Nazis stole a trainload of French Art valued today at over $600,000,000! At Vaires, Lancaster learned to pilot his own locomotive. Because the cabs are so small and exposed, there could be no expert in the engine with him, requiring the actor to drive his own train, for the sake of reality. At Gargenville, special effects man Lee Zavitz (who burned Atlanta for “Gone With The Wind”) demolished an entire marshalling yard. For more than six weeks Zavitz drilled a crew of more than fifty technicians and members of the French Army Ordinance Engineers in preparing the mile-square area for this key scene. TNT was planted in more than 150 holes with over two miles of wire running to a control bunker. Sixty switches set off over 140 individual explosions in less than 60 seconds. All together, two tons of TNT and 2,000 gallons of gasoline were used, planted in trucks, buildings, sheds, towers and the train itself. Toot, Toot! Because of the unmanageable noises on the Vaires, France, set of “The Train,” which opens..... eat these iece. Theatre through United Artists release, no one could hear director John Frankenheimer’s directions. Finally French railway men stoked up a spare locomotive and at the sound of three short blasts on its powerful steam whistle, extras fell into place all over the mile square location. One long blast signified “Action.” Two blasts? That was a call for the film’s star, Burt Lancaster. JEANNE MOREAU IN “THE TRAIN’ Jeanne Moreau’s beauty is the kind that cannot be described. but SHOW Magazine tried, with this result: “Men find her savage, deliberate voluptuousness unforgettable . . . she is both admired as an actress and desired as a woman.” For the celebrated international actress, the exact nature of her appeal for both men and women is of only academic interest but that she is highly regarded as a beautiful actress—that is quite another source of satisfaction. Co-starring with Burt Lancaster in “The Train,” opening at the Theatre, Miss Moreau is described by the film’s director, John Frankenheimer, as “ . the greatest actress | have ever worked with.” Born in Paris, Jeanne Moreau is the daughter of a French father and an English mother and is at home in both languages. Her study for the stage began early in life at the Paris Conservatoire. After only 15 stage appearances she became the youngest member of the Comedie Francaise. Miss Moreau’s film career began in 1951, but she burst into international stardom when she starred in such “new Wave” hits as Antonioni’s “The Night” and Truffaut's “Jules and Jim.” The present list of her films reads like a catalogue of triumphs and includes “Les Liasons Dangereuses,” “The Victors” and Orson Welle’s “The Trial.” ececvcceece AL LIT weeeesece Valuable Art An art collection worth $600,000,000 was duplicated for “The Train,” opening ..... at the...... Theatre, through United Artists release. Starring Burt Lancaster, the exciting movie depicts a successful attempt by the French resistance to stop Nazis from transferring French art treasures to Germany by train. Production designer Willy Holt gathered over 300 paintings of the Impressionistic School and some excellent reproductions of works by Degas, Picasso and Renoir. Real paintings were required for close-ups, as cameras reveal the texture of canvas and paint. The reproductions were used as_background in the film, which was directed by John Frankenheimer. Stull TT 25 Jeanne Moreau co-stars with Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield in “The Train,” opening ...... .atthe.... Million Dollar ‘Train’ Blow-Up A 70 ton armored locomotive and 30 freight cars loaded with World War II tanks, artillery and other military supplies were blown sky high during filming of “The Train,” OPENING seis at the Theatre, through United Artists release. It is the biggest and most spectacular explosive display ever set off for a motion picture, and was accomplished under the supervision of the man who burned Atlanta to the ground for “Gone With The Wind,” Lee Zavitz. The holocaust of iron, steel and concrete was a terrifying “million dollar minute” according to director John Frankenheimer who notes that it would have cost this much if filmed in Hollywood. Made in France, (or, we should say—destroyed in France) the demolition simulated an allied raid on a German munitions train heading for the front during the final days of the Nazi occupation. Burt Lancaster stars in “The Train” as a French resistance fighter who succeeds in delaying the departure of this vital munitions train until the Allies can carry out their attack. More than 4,000 pounds of explosives, 2000 gallons of gasoline, 300 sacks of cement and 2 miles of electrical wire were required to set off the giant explosions which were photographed from steel and concrete bunkers by hand and _ remotely operated cameras for closeups and panoramic scenes. eeecee ce Stull TT 69 Mat 1D In “The Train,” opening..... At the ss. ils < Theatre, through United Artists release. Richard Munch portrays a Nazi general during the final days of the German occupation of France. The film stars Burt Lancaster. Mat 2C .... Theatre, through United Artists release. Portraying an embittered widow during the last days of the Nazi occupation of France, she becomes involved in the French Underground plot to prevent a trainload of priceless loot from being transferred to Germany from Paris. John Frankenheimer directed the adventure film.