Reviews

Besides Action in the Afternoon, one of my earliest TV memories was this show. I recall there was an episode where a skeleton face appeared to rise up at a window and as a six-year old kid this scared the daylights out of me. This event stayed with me for years. It made me wary of looking out windows in the dark for years and I still remember and write about it today. I wonder which episode that was in? Was it Poncho in that skeleton mask?

While growing up with my older brother we would often quote a line from one of Laurel & Hardy's movies that we knew so well, including this movie. It was sort of like that old joke about career convicts in a cell-block who after repeating the same jokes over and over, found themselves resorting to simplifying the system by yelling out a number. Each number was associated to a specific well-worn joke, and thus, when the number was yelled it would made everyone in the cell-block remember and laugh. Number 6!!! LOL. Our L&H routine basically created the same reaction for me and my brother. Our mother did not understand how a simple line of dialogue would set us off. Some of the best lines I still remember, and which still makes me laugh are: 'There's going to be a fight. It's going to be terrible.' 'There were two of them… Nick and Nick Jr.' 'We ship-hiked.' The quotes would often lead to further laughter as we commented on the actions that transpired in the movie that keyed on the quote. This kept us in hysterics for some time. Our mother just ignored it and left us to our own little world. It is funny we remember these small events all our lives. An interesting side note: When I briefly lived in southern California in the 1970's I attended several meetings of the "Sons of the Desert," which was the official Laurel and Hardy fan club (or 'Tent"). These meetings were surprisingly staid and quiet. It often included the showing of a L&H short, or obscure silent movie. Frequently it included the introduction of a little-known, surviving player or technician whom were involved in making L&H movies. At the time I wished my brother was there with me so we could have lightened up the place with our L&H routine. Isn't that what a fan club is all about?

I agree that this movie is one of the greatest. One way to judge the quality of a movie is by how many number times one can watch it and still not be bored. After some movies I never want to see them again… ever. The Train, however, is one of those movies that I have watched many times over, and will again.

However, the main reason I am writing this review is to mention that the DVD I have, like many new DVD's, has an option to play a talk-over by someone associated with the movie. Here John Frankenheimer has that role. I believe his work here is the best and finest talk-over job ever done for a movie DVD. His performance here should be held up as the finest example of this type of work. Anyone considering doing a DVD talk-over for a movie should listen to Frankenheimer here and replicate the approach. How many times have I turn on a DVD movie talk-over and then, after a few minutes, turned off the babbling nonsense that has nothing to do with the movie. Frankenheimer performance here matches the movie. He does not talk about anything else but the making of the movie and follows his comments with the action seen on the movie. I enjoy this immensely. You should, too