Classic train movies

[tealseal]

Hi all,

Later this month, my father and I will be doing the California Zephyr from Emeryville to Chicago. It's something we've always wanted to do. One thing I thought might be fun was to assemble a collection of classic train-related movies for the trip, but I'm coming up short on ideas.
Any suggestions from the Lounge?

Thanks!
-TS

 

[Feraud]

Start with an amazing double feature- The Train w/Burt Lancaster and The Narrow Margin w/ Charles McGraw!
I'd also recommend Union Station and Strangers on a Train.

Hope you both enjoy the trip.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Does Runaway Train with Jon Voight count?

 

[lolly_loisides]

I was going to suggest The Narrow Margin, but Feraud beat me to it. I saw it a few weeks ago at the TCM classic film festival.

 

[DNO]

Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and Flame over India (1959) come to mind. Interestingly enough, Lauren Bacall is in both films.

On the lighter side, there's Silver Streak (1976) with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor.

 

[Shangas]

I much prefer the David Suchet version of "Murder on the Orient Express", I never enjoyed Albert Finney as Poirot.

 

[lolly_loisides]

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but The General (1926) would be a good choice.

 

[Chasseur]

The Narrow Margin (already mentioned a couple of times) is a great train film noir.

The Lady Vanishes is perhaps my favorite train film. While I'm not a huge fan, Shanghai Express is also worth seeing.

 

[Kirk H.]

I see that several that I was going to mention have been mentioned, The Narrow Margin, Murder on the Orient Express (both versions). I would also suggest a western called Breakheart Pass. It is a mystery set in the old west based on a book by Alistair MacLean.

The trip sounds wonderful. Have a great time.

 

[The Wolf]

The 1946 movie Without Reservations is a good train movie. It is one of the few John Wayne comedies.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[ManofKent]

If you can cope with Arthur Askey The Ghost Train is an interesting old British comedy.
Not one of Ealing's best but there's The Titfield Thunderbolt.
Train of Events is a more obscure Ealing drama and well worth a watch.

 

[KY Gentleman]

Emperor of the North starring Ernest Borgnine. Also if you like WWII movies, Von Ryan's Express.

 

[Edward]

I don't know that it quite qualifies, but the first old film I always associate with trains is Some like it hot, though I suppose the train sequences on it are only a small part of the whole.

 

[Feraud]

There is also Berlin Express with Robert Ryan. It doesn't take place exclusively on a train but possibly enough to qualify for this list.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Hitchcock's North By Northwest has a great train sequence.

 

[Shangas]

One of my favourite movies.

 

[Two Types]

i was just going to recommend 'Train of Events' and 'The Ghost Train' but 'Man of Kent' beat me to it.

I would thoroughly recommend Will Hay's 'Oh Mr Porter'.

it has the line in which a wheeltapper is asked why he taps the wheels, he answers something like 'If I hear a ring the trains still here, if i don't i know its gone.' Silly, but i love it.

 

[majormajor]

I would thoroughly recommend Will Hay's 'Oh Mr Porter'.

Good film

 

[dhermann1]

"Night Train to Munich", 1940, with Rex Harrison is a terrific thriller that takes place almost entirely on a train.
"Saratoga Trunk", 1945, starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, has a major section that shows a real "war" that took place between two rival railroads in New York State during the 19th century.
"Union Pacific", 1939, with good old Joel McCrea, Barbara Stanwick, and 24 year old Robert Preston as the bad guy.
"The Palm Beach Story", 1942, with Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea and Rudy Vallee, has a long and hilarious section that takes place on a train.
"Wild Boys of the Road", 1933, depicts the lives of a couple of runaway kids during the Depression, mostly riding the rails.
"Broadway Limited", 1941, with the wonderful Victor McLaglen, is set on the famous Pennsylvania Railroad "Broadway Limited" train, that competed with the NY Central's 20th Century Ltd for the Chicago to New York business.
"Twentieth Century", 1934, screwball comedy with John Barrymore and Carole Lombarde, is set on the 20th Century Ltd.

 

[dhermann1]

Oh, yes! One of the greatest train scenes ever is in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller, "The 39 Steps". That film is a MUST SEE for any movie fan.