Saturday, January 12, 2008

My Favorite "Train" Movies

I've noticed over time that trains are a recurring motif in a lot of the movies I like, and I don't think it's any great coincidence; I regard train travel as extremely romantic and something that hearkens back to a certain golden age of gentility. Two of my favorite movies are The Sting and North By Northwest, both of which, of course, have key scenes that take place on the Century Limited (in the former, the poker game in which Paul Newman first fleeces Robert Shaw, and, in the latter, Cary Grant's first love encounter with Eva Marie Saint). One of my favorite James Bond movies, From Russia with Love, has an important sequence on the Orient Express, which culminates in Sean Connery's killing Robert Shaw in a very well-staged fight scene. Another movie I like, Murder on the Orient Express, not only has many big-name stars, but it takes place almost entirely on the Orient Express. (I also like Albert Finney's portrayal of a conceited and slightly epicene Hercule Poirot.) Finally, I must mention the first Mission Impossible movie with Tom Cruise and Jon Voight, whose unforgettable climax ("Red light...green light!") takes place on the TGV as it enters the Chunnel southbound.

Sometime, I'd really like to travel somewhere on a train. My dream is to go back to Chile and ride the train south from Santiago all the way down to Puerto Montt, then hop on a ferry over to
ChiloƩ island. (My wife's brother Don and his wife Margarita, who has an aunt living in the Santiago area, will be going there shortly; needless to say, I'm envious.)