Von Ryan's Express is a 1965 World War II adventure film directed by Mark Robson, starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard based on a novel by David Westheimer.
Colonel Joseph L. Ryan is an American pilot whose P-38 Lightning is shot down. He is captured by the Axis and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy, run by the cruel Major Battaglia. The camp is populated mainly by British prisoners (9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, 167 Infantry Brigade...
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Von Ryan's Express is a 1965 World War II adventure film directed by Mark Robson, starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard based on a novel by David Westheimer.
Colonel Joseph L. Ryan is an American pilot whose P-38 Lightning is shot down. He is captured by the Axis and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy, run by the cruel Major Battaglia. The camp is populated mainly by British prisoners (9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, 167 Infantry Brigade, 56th (London) Infantry Division).
The previous British commanding officer, Col. Brian Lockhart, had recently died as a result of the harsh discipline in being put in the metal "sweat box." When Ryan arrives in camp, Major Eric Fincham is the ranking British officer. The American colonel being senior to Fincham, he assumes command of the prisoners.
Ryan pays respect to his predecessor by refusing to sit in the late commanding officer's chair. When an American prisoner (of which there are only eight) is about to be punished for stealing...
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