BERLIN EXPRESS

US, 1948, 87 minutes, Black and white.
Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, Charles Korvin, Paul Lukas, Robert Coote.
Directed by Jacques Tourneur.

Berlin Express is a typical post-World War Two espionage thriller. Its distinction is a great deal of footage filmed in bombed Frankfurt and Berlin. Seen in later decades, this is a sobering experience, looking at what happened during the war, the bombings and the aftermath, the reconstruction.

The film has a sturdy cast, used to this kind of thriller. It also uses the device of the mystery during a train journey. The film was directed by Jacques Tourneur, director of several horror thrillers for Val Lewton and a number of interesting thrillers and westerns.

1.Enjoyable espionage story? The atmosphere of World War Two and the immediate years afterwards? The Cold War? Hopes for peace?

2.Black and white photography, studio work? The contrast with the footage taken in Frankfurt and Berlin? The vivid impressions of post-war Germany? Musical score?

3.The title, the train genre, audience expectations of adventure and mystery? Linked with espionage?

4.The voice-over technique and the commentary on characters, on the war, on the enmity between the Americans and the Germans? Information given? Focusing audience attention?

5.The professor and his status, the decoy, his murder? the real professor, Lucien as his secretary? In Frankfurt, the contacts, the kidnap, the hostile group, the bargaining? The search for the professor? On the Berlin Express, the threat to his life, being saved? The character of the professor and his contribution to world peace?

6.Lucien as his secretary, the cover, her use of different languages? Friendship with Robert Lyndley? The dilemma in Frankfurt, working with Lyndley, the nightclub, the pursuit into the ruins, being taken? The fights? On the Berlin Express? The happy ending?

7.Robert Lyndley as the American hero, first time out of America, working for the government? Observation, intermingling with the characters, the pursuit in Frankfurt, the dangers and the fight? The rescue on the express?

8.Sterling and the Englishman, contribution to Europe, participating in the rescue?

9.Perrot as the Frenchman, suave and pleasant, his journey on the train, contribution? The revelation that he was the villain? His shooting his henchman? Keeping his cover? Persuading the others that he would guard the professor, the attempt to kill him, the pursuit in the corridors?

10.The portrait of the fanatic group? Underground? In Frankfurt? The group and their beliefs? Organisation?

11.The international police, the international law enforcement groups? The military police, the masquerades, the clown?

12.The confrontation situations, action adventure thriller techniques? Fights?

13.The significance of the group at the end, the powers in Berlin, each going their separate ways? Hopes for peace? The perspective of 1947-48?