''Orient Express'' is a 1954

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (8 July 1894 – 4 January 1998) was an Italian film director whose career spanned from the 1930s to the mid-1960s. He mainly directed adventure pictures and popular comedies, including some starring Totò. His 1942 ...

and starring

Silvana Pampanini Silvana Pampanini (25 September 1925 – 6 January 2016) was an Italian film actress, director and singer. She was also the niece of the well-known soprano of the golden era of opera, Dame Rosetta Pampanini. Silvana Pampanini caused a sensation ...

Henri Vidal Henri Vidal (26 November 1919 – 10 December 1959) was a French film actor. Film career Henri Lucien Raymond VidalSource Les Gens du cinéma/ref> was first noticed after he won the "Apollo of 1939" contest in Paris. He was spotted by Éd ...

Folco Lulli Folco Lulli (3 July 1912 – 23 May 1970) was an Italian partisan and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1946 and 1970. He was the brother of actor Piero Lulli. Selected filmography * ''How I Lost the War'' (1947) * ' ...

Eva Bartok Éva Márta Szőke Ivanovics (18 June 19271 August 1998), known professionally as Eva Bartok, was a Hungarian-British actress. She began acting in films in 1950 and her last credited appearance was in 1966. She acted in more than 40 American, ...

, and

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in '' Des Teufels Gene ...

. It was made as a co-production between Italy, France and West Germany. It was shot at the

Farnesina Studios Farnesina may refer to: Architecture * Casa della Farnesina, an historic building of the ancient Rome, in the neighborhood of Trastevere, Rome * Palazzo della Farnesina, the headquarters of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of the ...

Titanus Titanus is an Italian film production company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Via Tiburtina, 13 km from the centre of Rome. Lom ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and on location in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

Ottavio Scotti Ottavio Scotti (1904–1975) was an Italian art director. Scotti was born in Umago, which was then part of Italy but is today in Croatia. He worked on more than a hundred films during his career, including Orson Welles's ''Black Magic'' which wa ...

Plot

The plot revolves around a two-day stop at a village in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

by passengers on the

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe and int ...

Reviews

The national and international reviews were mostly bad. Below are three examples: "Intermezzo" wrote: "The Italian and German film industries collaborated in the production of this film, which, judging by the results, did not deserve so much fervor of international activity." Der Spiegel wrote: “After 150 long meters, the express gets stuck in an avalanche of snow and the film gets stuck in a conglomeration of boredom and acting mistakes (Silvana Pampanini and Eva Bartok), which proves once again that co-productions are often not just a cost - but also bring about a reduction in quality.” The Lexikon des Internationales Films states: "One of the first major international co-productions with German participation after the Second World War: with popular film stars, but without speed, excitement and credibility."

Cast

as Beatrice Landi *

as Jacques Ferrand *

as Filippo dal Pozzo *

Robert Arnoux Robert Raymond Arnoux (23 October 1899, in Lille – 13 March 1964, in Paris) was a French actor. Selected filmography * ''Hantise'' (1922) * '' Napoléon'' (1927) - Un conventionnel (uncredited) * ''Rive gauche'' (1931) - Alfred * ''Le congr� ...

as Jean Tribot aka Mr. Davis *

as Roxane *

as Bate * Michael Lenz as Giovanni *

Liliane Bert Liliane Bert (1922-2015) was a French film and television actress.Hayward p.146 Selected filmography * '' The Blue Veil'' (1942) * '' We Are Not Married'' (1946) * '' Colonel Durand'' (1948) * '' Sergil and the Dictator'' (1948) * ''The Heroic M ...

as Agnès, the pharmacist *

Olga Solbelli Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russ ...

as Olga, la ricevitrice postale *

Gemma Bolognesi Gemma Bolognesi (4 November 1894 – 26 March 1983) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1916 to 1954. Biography Bolognesi began acting at an early age and made her debut with the ensemble of the Teatro Manzoni in ...

Arturo Bragaglia Arturo Bragaglia (7 January 1893 – 21 January 1962) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1938 to 1961. Selected filmography References External links * 1893 births 1962 deaths Italian male f ...

* Giuseppe Chinnici *

Liliana de Curtis Liliana Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno de Curtis di Bisanzio Gagliardi (10 May 1933 – 3 June 2022), commonly known as Liliana de Curtis, was an Italian actress and writer. She was the daughter of Totò and Diana Rogliani. Early life De Curt ...

Anita Durante Anita Durante (28 September 1897 – 2 May 1994) was an Italian actress. Born Anita Bianchi in Rome into a humble family, after attending a dramatic society for several years Durante made her official debut on stage in 1919, in Ettore Petro ...

* Ugo Filipponi *

Ivo Garrani Ivo Garrani (6 February 1924 – 25 March 2015) was an Italian actor and voice actor. In films since 1952, Garrani is possibly best known for his role as Prince Vajda in Mario Bava's '' Black Sunday'' (1960). Biography Born in Introdacqua, ...

* Mimma Gheducci * Iga Ritzenfeld *

Sandro Ruffini Alessandro "Sandro" Ruffini (21 September 1889 – 29 November 1954) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Born in Rome, Ruffini appeared in 64 films between 1913 and 1954, and was also active in theatre and radio. He was well known for his b ...

* Tullio Tomadoni

References

Bibliography

* Chiti, Roberto & Poppi, Roberto. ''Dizionario del cinema italiano: Dal 1945 al 1959''. Gremese Editore, 1991. * Wiesenthal, Mauricio. ''The belle époque of the Orient-Express''. Crescent Books, 1979.

External links

* 1954 films 1950s Christmas drama films West German films 1950s Italian-language films Films set in the Alps Films set on the Orient Express Films shot in Rome Films produced by Raymond Borderie Italian Christmas drama films Films directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia French Christmas drama films German Christmas drama films 1954 drama films Films scored by Renzo Rossellini 1950s Italian films 1950s French films 1950s German films Italian-language French films Italian-language German films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub