Stop Train 349 is an engaging, though uneven and largely forgotten, thriller from the hottest peak of the Cold War, a time at which it was easy to imagine a seemingly minor dispute between the U. S. and U. S. S. R. spiraling out of control. The real life premise was an agreement between the superpowers to allow a U. S. military train to operate between West Germany and its enclave of West Berlin, surrounded by Soviet-occupied East Germany and barricaded by the famous Berlin Wall. An East German refugee boards the sealed train, leading the Soviets to stop the train and demand his return.
We spend time getting to know the passengers on the train, an assortment of civilian tourists and military personnel, including the East German soldiers who actually operate the train. José Ferrer provides the film's star power, effectively portraying a cynical journalist who sees professional opportunity in publicizing the refugee's flight. Nicole Courcel turns in the best performance of the film as a reserved nurse who makes the key decision to help the refugee board the train. The key role of Lieutenant Novak, the American officer in charge of the train and tasked with protecting its passengers and military personnel, is highlighted as the situation escalates. Ultimately, the great failing of the film is to miscast Sean Flynn (son of Errol Flynn) in this role, who simply cannot occupy the center of the film's morality play, looking in every scene like he is memorizing his lines for the first time from a cue card.
It's easy to imagine the great film Stop Train 349 could have been, in the hands of a Lumet or Frankenheimer. The tense standoff between the American and Soviet soldiers outside the stopped train is effective as a microcosm of the larger military standoff across the Iron Curtain. Unfortunately director Rolf Hädrich is unable to generate sustained tension through much of the film. The division on the train between passengers sympathetic to the refugee's plight and those who just want to get to West Germany safely is highlighted but not exploited to maximum effect. Instead the film lurches between compelling scenes like the discussions between American military negotiators and Soviet officers, to scenes with Flynn in which the tension and realism dissipate.
Fans of Cold War thrillers may want to check this film out, available on Amazon Prime for rent at the moment, although in a somewhat dilapidated print. On the whole, Stop Train 349 is a film with an intriguing premise that just doesn't have the talent in front of, or behind, the camera to compare favorably with the classics of the genre.
