What to expect
Richard Fleischer turns a modest production into a model of compressed noir suspense, using corridors, compartments, sound, and the train’s continuous movement.
How to ease in
Learn the geography of the carriages early. Suspense comes from restricted routes and partial views, so every door and passing reflection matters.
Heads-up
A detective escorts a murder witness by train while killers search the carriages and identities become dangerously uncertain.
A train promises forward motion while giving its passengers almost nowhere to go. I like how the narrow corridor makes every stranger feel one step too close.
Open the note ↓
A train promises forward motion while giving its passengers almost nowhere to go. I like how the narrow corridor makes every stranger feel one step too close.
— Momo
Credits & versions
- Screenplay
- Earl Felton · Martin Goldsmith · Jack Leonard
- Production
- Stanley Rubin · RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
- Cinematography
- George E. Diskant
Where to go next
Want a gentler, shorter, or stranger next film?
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