Movie · 1965 · War, Action, Adventure, Thriller · 1h 57m · NR · English
Curator score: 8.3/10 (16.3K ratings)
Overview
Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from WWII Italy by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.3/10
IMDb: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
TMDB: 7.1/10
Director
Mark Robson
Production
P-R Productions Picture, 20th Century Fox
Cast
Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Raffaella Carrà, Brad Dexter, Sergio Fantoni, John Leyton, Edward Mulhare, Wolfgang Preiss, James Brolin, John van Dreelen, Adolfo Celi, Vito Scotti, Richard Bakalyan, Michael Goodliffe, Michael St. Clair, Ivan Triesault, Ian Abercrombie, Jacques Stany, Robert "Buzz" Henry, John Daheim
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A sturdy, old-school WWII escape adventure with enough momentum, personality, and train-hijack novelty to overcome some uneven tone and TV-movie dryness. It’s not top-tier war cinema, but it’s an easy recommendation for viewers who enjoy brisk Allied-versus-Nazi capers and star-driven ensemble tension.
Best for
fans of 1960s war adventures
viewers who like POW escape stories
people who enjoy train-heist or hijack setups
audiences looking for a lighter, more entertaining WWII film
fans of Frank Sinatra as an actor
Skip if
you want a grim or realistic war drama
you prefer tightly controlled suspense over episodic plotting
you are turned off by dated studio-era performances and dialogue
you want the emotional depth of the very best POW films
Overview
Von Ryan's Express is exactly the kind of glossy, hard-driving WWII adventure Hollywood used to make with confidence. The premise is irresistible: a POW colonel and a skeptical British officer commandeer a freight train and turn an escape into a moving battle through occupied Italy. The movie gets a lot of mileage from that setup, and the location work gives it a pleasing sense of travel and scale.
Worth noting
It’s not as sharp or as suspenseful as the very best escape films, and the tone can wobble between action, banter, and broad adventure. But that looseness is also part of its charm; it plays like a brisk, old-fashioned Saturday-night war picture, with enough set pieces and personality to keep it moving.
Bottom line
Sinatra is solid in a role that lets him project authority and swagger, while Trevor Howard brings the more disciplined counterweight. If you like your war movies with momentum, camaraderie, and a little pulp energy, this is an easy watch.
Top Letterboxd reviews
tyler_wool4 (3★) · 78 likes
“I once told you, Ryan, if only one gets out, it’s a victory.”
Considering I watched The Great Escape yesterday, I was still in the mood for a 60s WW2 flick and considering I’d yet to have seen a Sinatra leading film I decided to watch this bad boy and honestly it was a lot better that I expected. The story follows Ol’ Blue Eyes himself as Col. Joseph L. Ryan, an American pilot shot down over Italy who walks… more
Ben Hibburd (3.5★) · 63 likes
"Von Ryan's Express" is a solid Sunday afternoon Grandpa's war film that stars Frank Sinatra as Colonel Ryan. After his plane is shot down, he lands in occupied Italy, where he soon finds himself taken as a P.O.W. As the ranking officer in the camp, he takes command of the prisoners and embarks upon a daring escape from a high-speed freight train that's taking them from Italy back to Germany.
Directed by Mark Robson, "Von Ryan's Express" plays out more… more
Mr. DuLac (4★) · 48 likes
You'll get your Iron Cross now, "Von" Ryan!-Major Eric Fincham
20th Century Fox was still feeling the financial blow and critical bashing of Cleopatra so they went to an old reliable Hollywood standby; the World War II Adventure Film. They didn't want simply a hit, but wanted to prove they could still make big successful films both financially and critically. David Westheimer's 1964 novel proved to be the perfect source material for what they were looking for.
Directed by… more
noir1946 (4★) · 46 likes
This one’s going out for Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, born September 29, 1913.
I don’t know. Sure, war is heck. You can get captured and placed in a miserable POW camp where you have to wear dirty, ragged clothes, eat awful food—and such small portions—and get bossed around by real meanies looking for an excuse to put you in the hot box, but under certain circs, if the wind’s blowing just right, it looks like it could be fun. Mark Robson’s… more
Andy Summers 🤠 (3.5★) · 37 likes
There are certain actors that always suited uniforms. The likes of James Stewart or Lee Marvin always had that extra masculine appeal from military garb with Marvin finding a career doing so after actually being in the marines.Old blue eyes himself Frank Sinatra might not have been a war hero like Stewart and Marvin, but he sure looked good in the uniform. From Here To Eternity, On The Town, even the Manchurian Candidate gave our Frank that extra bit of… more There are certain actors that always suited uniforms. The likes of James Stewart or Lee Marvin always had that extra masculine appeal from military garb with Marvin finding a career doing so after actually being in the marines.Old blue eyes himself Frank Sinatra might not have been a war hero like Stewart and Marvin, but he sure looked good in the uniform. From Here To Eternity, On The Town, even the Manchurian Candidate gave our Frank that extra bit of… more