Intrigue-packed stuck-on-a-train British thriller, technically sharp & well directed for the period by Walter Forde, but with the lion’s share of credit due to scripter Sidney Gilliat in a warm-up to his even more expertly conceived LADY VANISHES/’38, co-written with Frank Launder for Alfred Hitchcock. This one sports a series of crimes & crises (like GRAND HOTEL on wheels; already well-known as play & novel, though only filmed later this year), with a famous movie actress hiding an affair with a married man; a tyrannical business tycoon lording it over his assistant; three men vying for a stolen Van Dyck canvas which is then lost in a briefcase mix-up; an insufferable Old School bore poking his nose into everyone’s affairs; plus ‘French’ Postcards and a French detective on holiday to take charge when a body turns up along with the missing canvas. Paced at a good clip, Forde loses narrative focus here & there (a scorecard might have helped!), but you’ll pick up the thread quick enough, especially with all those tasty character actors to push things forward: Conrad Veidt, Cedric Hardwicke (exceptional!), an unrecognizable Finlay Currie as a fast-talking publicity man; Hugh Williams; Donald Calthrop; and silent film star Esther Ralston whose dialogue sounds as if it were all dubbed. Super fun, super influential, a super find.
DOUBLE-BILL: Remade as SLEEPING CAR TO TRIESTE in 1948. (not seen here) OR: As mentioned above, THE LADY VANISHES.
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