A New York City detective, traveling by train between New York and Baltimore, tries to foil an on-board plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln before he reaches Baltimore to giv... Read allA New York City detective, traveling by train between New York and Baltimore, tries to foil an on-board plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln before he reaches Baltimore to give a major pre-Inauguration speech in 1861.A New York City detective, traveling by train between New York and Baltimore, tries to foil an on-board plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln before he reaches Baltimore to give a major pre-Inauguration speech in 1861.
- Minister - Passenger in Club Car
- (uncredited)
- Hawker
- (uncredited)
- Young Mother
- (uncredited)
- Fernandina
- (uncredited)
- Hawker
- (uncredited)
- Miller - Drummer in Ticket Line
- (uncredited)
- Detective
- (uncredited)
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first director attached to this subject, several years before the film was finally made, was Joseph Losey. He had wanted to cast Lena Horne in the role played by Ruby Dee, which originally was planned as a much larger part.
- GoofsIn spite of being set in 1861, there are electric lights hanging in the station and in other locations.
- Quotes
Rachel - Slave Maid: Freedom isn't a thing you should be able to give me, Miss Ginny. Freedom is something I should have been born with.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits slowly roll up from the bottom of the screen, over a background of a train station. The word "TALL" is extra tall, and the credits are followed by: "Ninety years ago, a lonely traveler boarded the night train from New York to Washington DC and when he reached his destination, his passage had become a forgotten chapter in the history of the United States. This motion picture is a dramatization of that disputed journey."
The simple idea of Anthony Mann approaching a crime movie about Abraham Lincoln made me seek this out. And it's great stuff, filmed with the lively, dramatic black and white of the time. And in a weird quirk, the leading man (played by Dick Powell) is named John Kennedy. Mann was just beginning his legendary set of eight Westerns with James Stewart.
While not a bit a film noir officially, this is coming from that era, and has the dark, ominous feel of a good noir. Powell (a noir staple) plays a detective with a somewhat modern air (not 1861, when is when the film is set), and he some of that man alone against the world quality. And then, on top of it, this is a "train movie," one of that unnamed genre of films that is primarily or entirely set on a train, up and down the length in various ways (what one character with a drink in his hand calls "the longest bar in the world, New York to Baltimore").
This one starts beautifully at night, and there is some terrific stuff just to look at, as the lights against the night sky are stark and the shadows heavy. The smoke and steam billows gray into the black sky. The plot, proceeding, is remarkably visual, too, with Powell looking for clues as things start to look increasingly ominous.
There are some great side characters here, including Ruby Dee in her young elegance and strength. And then there are some side actors who play their caricatures a little too hard (like the train conductor, briefly, but several times).
The cloak and dagger plot is fairly linear—the story is based on fact loosely, so there might not have been total freedom. But I'm not sure how many times on one train ride Mr. John Kennedy can get himself into a total lethal trap and then fight, trick, or luck his way out of it. But that's part of the fun of it, I suppose.
And there is enough other stuff going on here to make it really interesting and beautiful. A surprise for me.
- secondtake
- Jun 8, 2017
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Man on the Train
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $966,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 18 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1