Night Train to Munich

"Laughs! Thrills! Excitement!"

1940 1h 36m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 97

DramaThrillerWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Czechoslovakia, March 1939, on the eve of World War II. As the German invaders occupy Prague, inventor Axel Bomasch manages to flee and reach England; but those who need to put his knowledge at the service of the Nazi war machine, in order to carry out their evil plans of destruction, will stop at nothing to capture him.

“Laughs! Thrills! Excitement!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Margaret Lockwood
Anna Bomasch
Rex Harrison
Gus Bennett
Paul Henreid
Karl Marsen
Basil Radford
Charters
Naunton Wayne
Caldicott
James Harcourt
Axel Bomasch
Felix Aylmer
Dr. Fredericks
Wyndham Goldie
Dryton

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Carol Reed
Writers: Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder
Languages: English, German
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

86 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Carol Reed, shot by Otto Kanturek. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Louis Levy. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor R. E. Dearing shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison and Paul Henreid carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Laughs! Thrills! Excitement!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0032842 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Carol Reed directs. Otto Kanturek behind the camera. Louis Levy scores. R. E. Dearing cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, German.
3Directed by Carol Reed, shot by Otto Kanturek. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Louis Levy. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor R. E. Dearing shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison and Paul Henreid carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Laughs! Thrills! Excitement!".
8IMDB entry: tt0032842 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 97 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "london, england", "based on novel or book", "inventor", "munich, germany".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Otto Kanturek
Original score: Louis Levy
Editing: R. E. Dearing
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Night Train to Munich (1940)

Also by

Carol Reed

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-05-12
★ 9/10
A fabulous spy film boasting top draw scripting and supreme direction. Carol Reed is a truly wonderful director, his CV boasts the likes of The Third Man, Oliver and Odd Man Out, all great films for sure, which only makes it more infuriating that a gem like Night Train To Munich is incredibly hard to get hold of. I have only managed to catch it myself because of the unearthing of VHS tapes long thought to have been lost years ago, and it's just like finding hidden treasure I can tell you! Based on a story by Gordon Wellesley, and scripted by the adroitly talented teaming of Sydney Gilliat and Frank Launder, Night Train To Munich is a lesson in how to not over blow your subject, all the sequences flow without boring the viewer, with Reed astutely approaching the material with subtlety instead of blunderbuss bluster. Another highlight of the movie to me is that it could have so easily been a propaganda bore, the Germans being the devil incarnate, but here it feels that an equality of characterisations was the order of the day - something that many other genre pieces lost sight of further down the line. Rex Harrison, Margaret Lockwood and Paul Henreid are all excellent here, whilst wonderful comedic relief comes courtesy of Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford's English cricketers (fans of The Lady Vanishes will identify right away). Although this picture is script driven above all else, the action sequences are a joy to behold, with the final third of the picture an unadulterated pleasure, spies and stooges, plants and treachery, oh it's all here folks, enjoy, if you can get a good print of it that is! 9/10
CinemaSerf2022-06-23
★ 7/10
There are shades of the "Lady Vanishes" in Carol Reed's intriguing tale of a complex mission to re-rescue a top Czech scientist from the Nazis. Having already been safely in Britain, he was kidnapped from under the very noses of British intelligence and so now they have to devise a plan to get him back. Rex Harrison - who has at least three identities in this thriller is charged with leading the attempt; aided by the scientist's daughter - Margaret Lockwood, and pursued by the duplicitous Paul Henreid as "Marsen". The adventure element is nothing particularly different, indeed I constantly expected Harrison to break into his King Mongkut impression - he made for a very unconvincing Nazi. The real stars, for me, were Messrs. Radford and Wayne as "Charters & Caldicott". Given much more on-screen time than usual they exemplified, I thought by humour and crass ineptitude, much of the mindset of the British establishment in the run up to the Nazi invasions of the late 1930s that probably only Churchill had the foresight to anticipate. To be honest, there's very little suspense in this film - but it is a good team effort with some delightful Haydn accompaniment.