Von Ryan's Express

Von Ryan's Express
Theatrical release poster by Tom Chantrell
Directed by	Mark Robson
Produced by	Saul David
Screenplay by	Wendell Mayes Joseph Landon
Based on	Von Ryan's Express by David Westheimer
Starring	Frank Sinatra Trevor Howard
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	William H. Daniels
Edited by	Dorothy Spencer
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	June 23, 1965
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5.76 million
Box office	$17,111,111

Von Ryan's Express is a World War II adventure film, released in 1965, about a group of Allied prisoners of war who conduct a daring escape by hijacking a freight train and fleeing through German-occupied Italy to Switzerland. It stars Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard, and is based on the novel by David Westheimer. It was directed by Mark Robson. The film changes several aspects of the novel, most notably the ending, which is considerably more upbeat in the book. It became one of Frank Sinatra's most successful films.

Colonel Joseph Ryan is a USAAC pilot who is shot down over Italy. He is taken to a POW camp, run by the cruel Major Basilio Battaglia. Ryan insists that Battaglia salute him as a superior officer, which is reluctantly translated by the sympathetic second-in-command, Captain Vittorio Oriani. The camp is mainly populated by British prisoners. The previous Allied commanding officer, who was British, has recently died, due to being placed in the "sweat box" as punishment for hitting Battaglia with a stick. When Ryan arrives in camp, Major Eric Fincham is the Senior British officer. Ryan, being senior, assumes command.

Ryan, aware that the Allies are close to liberating Italy, reveals several of the prisoners' escape attempts, infuriating Fincham and the British soldiers. When Battaglia refuses to improve camp conditions, Ryan orders the prisoners to strip and burn their filthy clothes, forcing Battaglia to issue new ones. Battaglia throws Ryan into the sweat box as punishment.

After hearing of the Italian surrender, the guards flee. The British promptly put Battaglia on trial as a war criminal, and allow Oriani to defend him. Battaglia portrays himself as a broken man who has repudiated fascism. Ryan orders him to not be executed but, instead, to be put in the sweat box.

The men head out across the Italian countryside to freedom. Oriani moves forward in an attempt to contact Allied forces. In the morning, the Germans recapture the prisoners. Fincham thinks Oriani has betrayed them. When the POWs are put on a train, they find a severely battered Oriani in the prisoner carriage. They realise Battaglia betrayed them. The Germans shoot all the sick prisoners. Fincham blames Ryan for letting Battaglia live. The train travels to Rome, where a German officer, Major von Klemment, takes command.