Sleeping Car to Trieste

Usually you can rely on a train to provide for a great vehicle (sorry!) for a crime thriller, and this one uses the most famous of them all - the Orient Express - as the base for this chilling, semi-comical, espionage drama. It's all about the search for a stolen diary that contains secrets that could cause quite an international conflagration. Thing is, it's not just one nation that wants this book - and soon our train becomes quite a perilous hotbed of double crossing and red herrings. Finlay Currie casts aside his usual biblical rod and delivers quite a charming effort as the curmudgeonly author "MacBain" and for me, he stood out in this quite well paced drama. It's got a lot of "Rome Express" (1932) about it, and the strong cast lead by Jean Kent ("Valya") and a very dapper, if maybe just a little on the wooden side, Albert Lieven keep the adventure exciting with lots of shots of this luxurious train and the conclusion is effectively disguised to keep us nicely in the dark. It's perhaps just a touch too long, but I still think it's as good as the original and well worth a watch.

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