This film is part of Rentals
Rome Express
A star-studded international cast boards the Paris-Rome express for this lavish comedy-thriller from Gainsborough Pictures.
Director: Walter Forde
Overview
The theft of a valuable Van Dyck painting sets in motion this delightful comedy-thriller, almost entirely set on the VIP-packed Paris-Rome express. With an ensemble international cast including Conrad Veidt, Esther Ralston and Cedric Hardwicke (prefiguring later starry train capers like Murder on the Orient Express) and boasting impeccable production credentials, Rome Express was at the time Gainsborough Pictures’ most lavish production.
The studio was rewarded with considerable international, both commercially and critically, with the film winning the American National Board of Review award for Best Foreign Film. Screenwriter Sidney Gilliat would later refine his train-based thriller template for further classics The Lady Vanishes (1938) and Night Train to Munich (1940), while the film itself was remade in 1948 as Sleeping Car to Trieste (also on BFI Player).
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