Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. This evening: one of Franck Sinatra’s greatest successes at the cinema.
Published in 1963, the novel Colonel Von Ryan’s Expresswritten by American journalist and writer David Westheimer, a former prisoner of war during World War II, quickly became a bestseller.
Its success aroused the interest of Frank Sinatra, who wished to buy the rights for a film adaptation. On learning that these have already been acquired by Fox – for 125,000 dollars -, he quite naturally proposes to play the protagonist.
Surrounded by supporting roles of choice, Frank Sinatra lends his features to Colonel Joseph Ryan of the US Air Force. Shot down in the sky above Italy a few days before the landing of the Allied forces in August 1943, he informed his companions in captivity of the imminence of the Liberation. But an English major decides to organize the escape himself aboard a train, without waiting any longer.
Following the commercial and critical failure of its blockbuster Cleopatra, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Fox is looking to prove its ability to bounce back with another equally epic project. With a budget of more than 5 million dollars, Colonel Von Ryan’s Express notably benefits from filming in Italy, a life-size reconstruction of a prison camp, as well as real period equipment. .
Fast-paced war film with spectacular action scenes, Colonel Von Ryan’s Express also offers highly sought-after sound effects, the authenticity of which has been hailed by an Oscar nomination. When it was released in 1965, it grossed over $17 million in North America – one of Frank Sinatra’s biggest cinematic successes.
Colonel Von Ryan’s Express by Mark Robson with Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Raffaella Carrà…
Tonight on Arte at 8:50 p.m.