All Buckle & No Swash

Stop Train 349. From West Berlin, a sealed U.S. military train rolls by night through the Soviet-occupied East German Republic. Destination: Frankfurt. Its passengers are the usual assemblage of harassed or abrasive or mysterious strangers. Most objectionable of the lot is Jose Ferrer as a famous newsman with a nose for international incidents. Sure enough, an incident occurs when a French nurse (Nicole Courcel) helps a frightened refugee to jump aboard the train. Thus a U.S. lieutenant (Sean Flynn), commanding officer of the train, is caught between the quadripartite treaty and the Brotherhood of Man. When the Soviets uncouple the engine at the border station of Marienborn, demanding that the prisoner be surrendered--well, what's a fellow to do?

Instead of doing anything, Flynn just stands there. Meanwhile Stop Train 349, which might have made a sizzling topical melodrama, is sidetracked by flaccid direction, routine performances, and a script that turns people into points of view. The biggest jolt is pitting Errol Flynn's tall, handsome but impassive son against the Communist menace, and letting the Reds get the best of it. In this generation, Hollywood's good guys appear to be all buckle and no swash.

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