Quote:
Originally Posted by Professor Echo
Anyone?
|
From the original pressbook adverts included on Network’s Blu-ray, Gaumont British didn’t spare the hyperbole when pitching their first major picture shot at their new Shepherd’s Bush Studio, 1932’s
Rome Express, not only selling it as Grand Hotel on rails with an all-star cast but ‘one of the greatest pictures ever made.’ The stars may have faded with time but surprisingly the picture does a good job of living up to the claims thanks to a smart script by Sidney Gilliat that has hints of his later work on The Lady Vanishes and superb direction by Walter Forde that’s full of energy and visual invention. The opening sequence as the camera darts and tracks through a Paris railway station discovering and introducing some of the ensemble is a wonderfully invigorating bit of filmmaking and even when everyone’s aboard he finds ways to keep the pace from flagging through Günther Krampf’s terrifically kinetic camerawork and smart crosscutting that never feels like he’s just showing off.
On the passenger list: Esther Ralston’s movie star with a past (“One gets suspicious of old friends who know things”) and her huckster of a press agent Finlay Currie, sporting a very decent American accent (“Don’t forget, I was once press agent to Tom Mix’s horse!”); Cedric Hardwicke’s pompous businessman chasing a knighthood with big charitable donations while short-changing a waiter’s tip and begrudging his secretary Eliot Makeham eight francs for a taxi ride; Gordon Harker, looking and sounding for all the world like Lionel Jeffries in First Men in the Moon as the gossipy neighbour and golf bore who just would be on the same train as married (but not to each other) couple Harold Huth and Joan Barry; Muriel Aked’s pessimistic spinster (“I always go through life expecting the very worst. It’s so nice if it doesn’t happen”); Frank Vosper’s bug hunting French bore whose day job shakes things up; and, most importantly, Donald Calthrop’s art thief with a stolen Van Dyke in his briefcase trying to dodge his double-crossed partners in crime Hugh Williams and a banana-munching Conrad Veidt, who wants to arrange for him to take a long holiday….
Naturally almost everyone has a secret and some connection to each other, with possession of the painting and Calthrop’s increasing desperation as he jumps out of the frying pan and into the fire driving the plot as it twists and turns like a twisty turny thing with plenty of black wit: the scene where Harker assembles a poker party is a particular gem, but its constantly throwing one damn enjoyable thing after another into the mix. Everyone ends up getting what they deserve, and generally in the most entertaining way in a film that definitely deserves more of a reputation than it enjoys today.
Network’s Blu-ray comes from the BFI’s restoration, and
it’s only fair to say the film doesn’t look like it was made yesterday: it looks like it was shot 80 years ago and the elements weren’t always as well looked after as they could be and needed to be pieced together from a variety of sources. But it’s equally fair to say that they’ve done a good job with what they had to work with and that this is the best it’s ever likely to look, and certainly better than it has looked for a long time despite the occasional bit of print damage (no dropped frames but some visible tears and scratches) and the odd contrast issue losing some but not all detail in a few shots, with the soundtrack pretty decently cleaned up but still offering optional subtitles (a rarity on Network’s discs) for those lines where the early sound recording presents a problem. Aside from the still and pressbook gallery there’s also a lengthy booklet with an excellent and well-researched appreciation by Neil Sinyard that covers the making of the film and its breakthrough success in the USA. All in all it’s well worth it, especially at the budget price – a first class film for less than a second-class return train fare to London, let alone Paris to Rome!
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
I've noticed a few old TV series sets gone from the 
Linear Mode
