Berlin Express

When Paul Lukas, a politician traveling with the express train to Berlin to present a unification plan for post-War Germany is kidnapped en route, his secretary asks the train’s multinational passengers to help her track him down. Set in the bombed ruins of the city, Berlin Express may seem to fit neatly into the noir/thriller genre category in terms of narrative and suspense building, but Tourneur’s impressive camerawork manages to transform it into an allegory on the unity of mankind. Berlin Express was the first American production to be shot in post-War World II Germany and remains an invaluable visual record of the war-ravaged country to the present day.

USA , B & W , 87’