Tonight's Movie: The Last Train From Madrid (1937) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review
A touch of SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932), a bit of CASABLANCA (1942), a dash of ARISE, MY LOVE (1940), and a large cast add up to THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID (1937), just released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID is set during the Spanish Civil War, which took place from 1936 to 1939, but viewers are never told exactly which characters are fighting for which side. Indeed, one of the film's opening title cards reads "We neither uphold nor condemn either faction of the Spanish conflict. This is a story of people...not of causes."
It rather reminded me of how the enemy was never disclosed in TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022). Truly, "everything old is new again."
The 1937 film's noncommittal attitude about good guys and bad guys is all the more interesting given contemporaneous events in Europe. One suspects Paramount Pictures didn't want to lose a foreign market when future European business was already on shaky ground.
In short order we're introduced to numerous characters, beginning with Captain Ricardo Alvarez (Anthony Quinn), who is working at the office where the train passes are distributed. Quinn is billed ninth but deserved more prominent billing playing one of the film's most significant characters.
Captain Alvarez manages to save his old army friend Eduardo de Soto (Gilbert Roland) from execution, at great risk to his own life. The men belatedly realize that they both love Carmelita (Dorothy Lamour).
Juan Ramos (Bob Cummings) is another military defector "sentenced" to death at the front; he hopes to board the train with Lola (Helen Mack). Karen Morley plays a Baroness attempting to help Eduardo leave Madrid, but Michael Balk (Lee Bowman) stands in her way...
THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID is a mid-range film which isn't especially distinguished, but I found it worth seeing for its interesting cast and relatively unusual setting. It has a few excellent moments, including an exciting opening credits sequence, and everyone in the cast looks great thanks to the beautiful black and white photography of Harry Fischbeck.
Roland is impossibly handsome, Quinn and Cummings impossibly young, and Bowman impossibly sleazy. (I'm a Bowman fan and was quite surprised by his character!) Lamour is lovely and haunting, Ayres dashing and kind, and Bradna appealing as a girl who falls head over heels for Ayres in short order. (Well, I probably would have too.)
One of the moments I enjoyed most was when Maria (Bradna) is marching in a column of women soldiers...and "Spain" turned out to be Iverson Ranch. When the camera pulls back to show a plane strafing the group, I've stood exactly in the spot where everyone is running for cover. That kind of personal experience definitely makes viewing a film more fun.
The screenplay by Robert Wyler (brother of director William Wyler) and Louis Stevens, based on a story by Paul Hervey Fox and Elsie Fox, might be described as serviceable; it's nothing especially memorable -- and at times it's overly melodramatic -- but it gets the job done while being entertaining enough to hold viewer attention.
The Kino Lorber Blu-ray, from a brand-new 2K master, looks very good, showing off the polished Paramount Pictures look at its best.
Extras consist of the trailer; a gallery of trailers for six additional films which are available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Bryan Reesman which I'm looking forward to hearing soon.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
posted by Laura @ 10:45 PM
3 Comments:
Laura, I enjoyed your good write-up of THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID(1937). I've never viewed this movie and your review has piqued my interest in seeking it out. I've always been interested in the History of the Spanish Civil War(1936-39), because it was a dress rehearsal for the fast approaching World War II in Europe. Also, I've read that the movie was the first Hollywood feature movie involving the Spanish Civil War, so it has Historical significance. There were only two other Hollywood movies made during the actual time of the Spanish Civil War: LOVE UNDER FIRE(1937) and BLOCKADE(1938).
Concerning the movie's noncommittal attitude about good guys and bad guys, such a point of view was also the result of the restraint exercised by the Production Code Administration(PCA) involving politics of that particular Historical time period.
THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID has a really good cast and I look forward to viewing it.
I have always thought The last Train was a super B -- but super dominates. Your review is right on, but I add this thought, it is as good as one wants it to be, meaning the viewer brings his or her own background to the table.
Thank you for your comments, Walter and Barry!
Walter, I haven't yet seen either of the other Spanish Civil War films you mention. There is one other film I'm aware of which addresses it briefly in the opening scenes -- ARISE, MY LOVE (1940) with Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland. I'm learning more about that war relatively late in life and the connections to the oncoming WWII are indeed interesting. I hope you get to see THE LAST TRAIN FROM MADRID.
Your point about the Production Code is a good one -- and as discussed in my review of Chris Yogerst's book HOLLYWOOD HATES HITLER! Congress actually held Senate hearings on Hollywood "warmongering" in 1941, until that attempt to force isolationism on Hollywood was effectively ended by Pearl Harbor.
Barry, I think your description of this film as a "Super B" is a fair one -- and also yes, very good quality for a B. I do agree that, as is often the case, personal context impacts the viewing experience -- including, in my case, having been to one of the film's significant locations.
Best wishes,
Laura
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