User reviews

Awesome warlike movie with memorable images and outstanding acting by well-known faces . This is a splendid film about a daring breakout from an Italian concentration camp with all star cast and magnificently realized by Mark Robson . The opening prologue states: "Italy , August 1943. With the Allies poised to strike, the Germans seized control of Italy. So the war-weary Italian nation fought on, a prisoner of the German armies¨ . There appears Ryan, an American POW Colonel (Frank Sinatra , his leather jacket was later worn by Bob Crane in Hogan's Heroes and was later worn by Greg Kinnear in Auto Focus) and a British military (Trevor Howard who was second choice for Major Fincham after Peter Finch turned it down and Jack Hawkins was possible for this part) is the officer in charge until Ryan takes over the escape plan . Ryan leads his fellow prisoners as foreign soldiers (James Brolin , John Leyton , Edward Mulhare) as Italian local military (Sergio Fantoni , Adolfo Celi and Vito Scotti as Train Engineer) on a perilous getaway from the Germans (led by Wolfgang Preiss as Major Von Klemment) in Italy . Having seemingly made errors of judgement, Ryan has to get the support of the mainly British soldiers he is commanding . As they aboard a German train to neutral Switzerland .

This great action tale contains thrills, intrigue, tension, excitement galore, entertainment and lots of fun . Suspenseful WWII epic packs exceptional plethora of prestigious actors incarnating the motley group of POWs , giving good acting and support , as a sensational Frank Sinatra whose character , Colonel Ryan, remains today as attractive iconography ; Edward Mulhare as an army priest posing as a Nazi officer , Brad Dexter as roguish Sgt. Bostick ,Sergio Fantoni as Capt. Oriani , a very young Raffaela Carra and Michael Goodliffe, who was an actual Prisoner of War during WWII , being captured at Dunkirk and spent the next five years in a German POW camp . Excellent production design and art direction with evocative scenarios by Walter Scott . Rousing and lively soundtrack , nowadays a classic score, by Jerry Goldsmith . Colorful cinematography by William H Daniels , Greta Garbo's usual cameraman .

The motion picture lavishly produced by Saul David was well realized by Mark Robson. In the early 40s Robson was much involved with the low-budget terror unit in charge of producer Val Lewton , for whom made ¨Seventh victim¨, ¨The ghost ship¨, and ¨Island of the dead¨. In the late 1940s Robson joined Stanley Kramer's independent company and directed his biggest commercial hit to date with ¨The champion¨. Years later Robson made another good film about corruption in boxing world titled ¨The harder they fall¨ with Humphrey Bogart. In the late 1960s, his work did decline . His last movie was a jinx one titled ¨Avalancha express¨. Robson and his main star, Robert Shaw, died suddenly from heart attacks. And of course , ¨Von Ryan Express¨ was one of his best films . A top-notch cast , spectacular images , tense images and noisy action help make this one a superior effort of its kind . Well worth seeing , this is the ordinary War movie that Hollywood does so well . This one is certainly one of the best movies ever made about the WWII escapes . Rating : 7 . Two thumbs up , essential and indispensable watching for WWII lovers , a real must see.

Von Ryan's Express which was a best selling action adventure novel in the sixties combines some of the best elements of The Great Escape and Bridge Over the River Kwai.

Culture clashes abound in Von Ryan's Express, Britsh versus American, Italian versus German. Sometimes the participants seem to forget just who was the enemy.

Frank Sinatra is an American Army Air Corps flier shot down near Rome before the invasion of Italy. The Italians grab him and take him to an Italian prisoner of war camp run by a strutting Mussolini wannabe in Adolfo Celi. The prisoners are mostly British and in fact members of a single regiment, the 9th Fusiliers. Command has now devolved to Major Trevor Howard with the death of their colonel. Sinatra becomes the ranking POW when he arrives.

Sinatra and Howard clash over several issues. Watching the film you'll see I believe that Howard was right. But Sinatra has the rank.

When the Italians switch sides as the landing at Salerno commences, the Italian soldiers desert and Sinatra and Howard have to make some hard decisions. They opt to move towards the sea, but are captured by the Germans and put on a train north. They recapture the prison train from the Germans and decide to keep going north to Switzerland.

It'a pretty impossible tale, but that doesn't mean it ain't entertaining. Sinatra keeps his swinging hipster persona in check and Trevor Howard was born to play those British military roles.

Of the rest of the cast my favorite performance is that of the British regimental chaplain Edward Mulhare. The fact that he went to graduate study in Germany and speaks it fluently is of inestimable help to the escaping prisoners.

For those who like action war films, this is your cup of British tea.

Von Ryan's Express (1965) : Brief Review -

A thrilling POW escape adventure on the running track. I have been through almost hundreds of POW escape flicks, but this one will have its own space and magic for running on the track. First, we are in a prisoner camp, and then we move on to tracks against the Nazis. John Frankenheimer made "The Train" (1964), a thrilling and classic train adventure set in World War II, and gave me the most memorable film of my life that runs on the tracks. Now you ask me, What's after that? Von Ryan's Express would be my answer for now. "If only one gets out, it's a victory," but Ryan believes in taking everyone out. Well, he does it. But who is that one who doesn't get out? That's where this film touches your heart. No matter how adventurous and action-filled this film is, by the end you realise that it's a patriotic film at heart. The last frame and this quote will remain with you. It's a two-hour film, but it never feels boring. At one moment, I thought this film was made a little late. It would have been more effective in the 1940s-the decade it is set in. But then I realised that these filmmaking techniques like colour and cinemascope looked better in the 1960s only. The film is about a pilot who is taken to a POW camp, and then he takes charge as a senior officer. It felt a little weird to see such funny scenes in POW camp in the first half hour. Ryan and other prisoners are freed once Italy surrenders, and there begins their escape journey. From the Italian countryside to getting captured again and then again planning to escape on the train, Ryan and his team take you on a thrilling ride. Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard are the best performers here. The entire cast is brilliant, actually. Drama, thrill, adventure, action, and patriotism-Mark Robson packs every brick in the right place to build a solid wall. Easily my favourite Sinatra movie from the 60s after The Manchurian Candidate.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This is a very logical and well-considered storyline developed from David Westheimer's WWWII thriller by Wendell Mayes and Joseph Landon The escape that ends this film, a trainborne flight across Italian lines toward Switzerland provides a vivid action climax when the train is attacked; it is a bit implausible only because of the length of time the train has to go on unstopped. The film begins its exciting adventure narrative with the arrival of "Von Ryan", then Ryan, among a group of busy British and American sorts trying to escape from a stalag run by a sadistic commandant. They are being punished, but will not give up their attempts. As the now-ranking senior officer, Ryan orders them to stop escaping, then betrays their tunnels to the enemy in return for decent conditions. He is betrayed; then he issues an order that causes him to be put into solitary. he gets respect from this; but he is now "Von Ryan" for the remainder of the film. the war ends; the prisoners revolt successfully and capture the Commandant. Then they have to move overland to escape, and"Von Ryan's" sparing of some prisoners costs lives. But it his great idea once they are captured and put aboard a train to be taken to imprisonment in Germany is to steal the train and head for safety elsewhere. They succeed; against all odds, even though he must kill an Italian officer's loyal betrayer, a beautiful woman; and by ruse, attack, feint, false messages and speed, they do what is necessary. Then as they head for Switzerland, the German planes attack. And at the last, Ryan runs after the train, the last of all--and becomes a legend the hard way. Music by Jerry Goldsmith, makeup by Ben Nye, cinematography by William H. Daniels , art direction by Hilyard B. Brown and John Martin Smith all under the direction of producer-director Mark Robson add up to a recipe for a first-rate color adventure film. As Ryan, Frank Sinatra is not entirely miscast and tries very hard, sensibly underplaying his role, matched every step of the way by Trevor Howard who mostly reacts and gives speeches about the way things ought to be done, very effectively. Edward Mulhare comes off Academy Award level in the film, and others such as John van Dreelin, Sergio Fantoni, Adolfo Celi as the Commandant, and Vito Scotti do well. Raffalla Carra is the girl Ryan must kill, Wolfgang Preiss, Brad Dexter, John Leyton and Richard Bakalyan are soldiers on one side or another. There are many exciting scenes provided, none moreso than Mulhare's impersonation of a German officer; the death of the girl, the final attacks on the train, several of the scenes set in the Stalag and the train's progress which is counterpoised many times to German language scenes of what their pursuers are doing; dialogue scenes lead here to action, action to reassessments, to challenges and to consequences. This is sometimes a slick film, but never a boring one, I suggest. Its characters are not developed as they would have been in a dramatic film; this is an adventure-level film with dramatic elements. And it is a good and occasionally thrilling ride, with the curious sense about it of a dream and a symbol both. Its theme is the courage to dare; and in the enigmatic Ryan, it finds an appropriate hero, a bit tarnished about the edges as a soldier but a first-rate result-getter nevertheless.

Buoyed by the success of 'The Great Escape' - the one cast member the two films having in common being John Leyton - and set in Italy in 1943, this time it's Frank Sinatra's turn to sashay about in German uniform surrounded by an otherwise European cast.

For a change the captors were Italians rather than Germans, with Adolfo Celi's function as chief baddie anticipating his role as Largo in 'Thunderball' (although this time its his subordinate officer who gets to wear the eye patch).

Aided by a rollicking score by Jerry Goldsmith, like 'The Great Escape' it all treats war as a bit of a lark, and if like the earlier film the ending (SPOILER COMING:) is a real downer its the part of the film everybody remembers.

*** Warning ***: I make a few references to this film's plot in the comments below.

I think if I was living during 1943 and was involved in World War II then being with Frank, Trevor and the rest of the boys as portrayed in this film is where I'd want to be. Racing up Italy in a captured POW train, honorable American and British soldiers fighting pesky Nazis, and just trying to make it to beautiful Switzerland. Who could ask for more? You have adventure, killing in self-defense (well mostly), outsmarting the enemy, and a gorgeous young Italian woman on the train with you! Sure beats being a German soldier stuck in Stalingrad in 1942!

And let's face it, if you're looking for a WW II film with historical accuracy about specific WWII events or a "war is heck, here's why" kind of film then this is not the kind of film you're going to like.

But to me this film offers something many others don't by how it relates to everyday life and its struggles. So what am I saying, escaping from a German POW camp and fighting Nazis is a daily life struggle for anyone nowadays ?? No, of course not. But I like the way misfortune then opportunity seem to go hand in hand in this movie. A misfortune is turned into another opportunity simply by trying or moving forward. The following two lines best sum up this film: Captured German Major: "But still you have NO choice!" British Major: "And nothing to lose by trying to make one!"

Nothing is mapped out they way they want it and each misfortune has its cost in lives lost, but they push on. Each loss looks like it is rewarded with something positive... British physician (who up 'till now has been supportive of Colonel Ryan): "Roll, roll where?...Maybe this is the end of the line". Italian Captain (just running in): "Colonel Ryan, the conductor has a plan, he thinks he can get us all to Switzerland!" British Major: "Switzerland?...You're mad!" (The Italian major explains the conductor's plan) British Major: "You know it may just work" Colonel Ryan: "Let's move!"

Sometimes we are all fighting those "Nazis/demons" in our life and we are all just trying to escape to "Switzerland" and like the end of the film says: "I once told you Ryan, if only one gets out it's a victory".

I read in another review of this film where it was said Frank Sinatra looked like he was sleep walking through it -- well then way to go Frank! No award grabbing performance from "ol' blue eyes" here, just a man who acts and feels like he's just been in a POW camp (the Rat Pack must've just broken up or a gig in Vegas got canceled or something). I think this is one of Frank S.'s best movies, yes much better than that depressing "Manchurian Candidate" (1962).

And give this film credit for one thing: Here at least the Germans speak German and the Italians speak Italian. There's none of that English with a heavy German or Italian accent stuff here. And filming outside when possible with picturesque Italian and Switzerland scenery are an added bonus.

I know there are several other WWII films made during the 1960s that get mentioned a lot, but off-hand I think there are only two or three made during the '60s that offer or have any value: "The Train" (1965) and "Closely Observed Trains" (1966) are the only two I can think of (hmmm...that's odd, but all three involve trains).

If you liked "Von Ryan's Express" then please recommend other war films from any decade. I'm always on the look out for a good war film. And if you didn't care for this film, well then when you're through picking this one apart tell me of one you did like. Thanks.

It begins slow and gets faster and faster until the end. The color is wonderful and the music from Jerry Goldsmith well tuned to each scene. The screenplay is well adapted and the special effects good executed. The train scenes are very interesting to see and for all old locomotive lovers a must see. I liked the escape by train from south of Italy to the mountains of Switzerland.

I share the opinions on IMDb that Frank Sinatra delivered one of his best performance of his career. Interesting seeing also Wolfgang Preiss that has for me the right profile for a SS. He characterizes in several war movies always a high SS and this in a very believable way. The end therefore was very poor and it seemed to me that they wanted just to stop somewhere the story.

After THE TRAIN with Burt Lancaster and THE GREAT ESCAPE with Steve Mc Queen this is another good adventure war movie to add to my best of DVD collection. If you ask me which one of these three I like the most I would classify it as follows: 1) THE GREAT ESCAPE (read my critic) 2) VON RYAN'S EXPRESS 3) THE TRAIN (black and white, read my critic)

My vote: 7/10 that matches exactly the rating on IMDb.

From a slow start this build into an exciting if somewhat unrealistic war film. However, it was designed for entertainment and not to depict any remotely historical fact.

The cinematography and scenery look good and although no expert on trains, they look from the right period. The characters are not fleshed out but as this is an adventure film this lapse is not too important. Some of the main characters are also casualties by the end thus avoiding the usual Hollywood line from that period of everyone escaping without a scratch.

I'm not a big fan of Sinatra as an actor but he does well here depicting a flawed character who appears both likable and unlikeable. It is established early in the film that Col Ryan is not a career airman and has limited military experience and so it is not surprising that he makes some key mistakes although he does learn from them.

The supporting cast is good although with the exception of John Leyton far too old to have been on military service.

Not up with the very best WW2 films but well above the average.

Von Ryan's Express (1965)

Not exactly a Frank Sinatra vehicle, but he is the leading figure in a movie that has lots of ulterior motives. And it pulls off an action film about World War II with pizazz.

When the war ended there was a lot of consternation about the difference in the roles of the two European antagonists--the Germans and the Italians. That's maybe the biggest ongoing theme of this movie, and clearly the Italians are being shown as victims and eventually as heroes to the Americans once the troops start to arrive and the Nazi occupation is pushed out. This is set and filmed in Italy, and the locations are terrific. And so is the filming, nicely dramatic widescreen stuff.

Sinatra represents, in almost all his film roles, a kind of regular guy who isn't overly engaged but who is gentle and relaxed and ready to do the right thing. He's a real American archetype just as much as Bogart was, and his characters (including this one) mix a compelling personal demeanor with a moral fiber that makes him admirable. He doesn't seduce the woman who really is ready to let him. He doesn't put criticize his British counterpart in the prison until he has to. He stands up to the enemy but doesn't every sound arrogant or nasty. He's the ultimate good guy and is presented this way for the ongoing reason often seen in post-war American films, establishing a national character in film characters that matches the best of what was really in the air and on the ground in the U.S. at the time.

It's all pretty wonderful to watch. You admire him and wish there were more people like him around.

The plot is exciting as heck. What starts as a kind of prison break movie shifts to another kind of escape and survive movie, with a train running right through enemy territory. Filled with daring, with this one American amidst mostly British soldiers, the enemy is dispatched, tricked, and evaded several times. When the good guys fail, it's only temporarily.

And ultimately the good guys, beyond Sinatra's American type, are the Italians, who are shown to hate the Germans and are glad for the invasion by the British and Americans.

This movie, unlike, say, The Guns of Navarone, has aged very, very well. Just keep in mind that it's a male fantasy film that just happens to be set during WWII. Like other male fantasy films, it involves one heroic individual using wholesale levels of violence to persevere over evil at impossible odds (hence the fantasy). If you liked male fantasy film Goldfinger and its FIVE DIGIT combination to the Fort Knox Gold Depository vault, which I did, then you'll love this film. The acting is terrific, the characters are unforgettable and the ending will leave you stunned. No one but Sinatra could have played Ryan.

One other comment--the sound effect used for the German machine pistols used throughout this movie is the best among all Hollywood productions I have seen (this sound is presumably yet another fantasy). That sound effect alone is worth the price of the rental.

I had last seen VON RYAN'S EXPRESS (Mark Robson, 1965) a long time ago as a kid as one of many WWII movies that my father loved and wanted to introduce me to. Watching it again as an adult on Reel 13 last night, I realized that the film is not as strong or fun as I remembered. As a matter of fact, it is probably among the weaker films of its genre. Its superior contemporaries are films like THE GREAT ESCAPE (John Sturges, 1963), THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (J. Lee Thompson, 1961) and THE TRAIN (John Frankenheimer, 1964). The difference, I believe, is personality. All three of the films feature characters, both leading and supporting, that are significantly more fleshed out, three-dimensional and therefore, interesting.

While VRE contains some impressive and well-choreographed action sequences, it isn't worth a damn without stronger character detail. The titular Colonel Ryan lacks any distinguishing characteristics or traits. He's a two-dimensional cookie-cutter war hero and its no wonder Frank Sinatra looks so bored playing him. The usually reliable Trevor Howard is frustratingly annoying as the head of the British forces in the film – Major Fincham. His only character feature is that he is a wet blanket for two hours, constantly whining, complaining and naysaying at every turn. It might have been a much better film if Sinatra had just shot him in the early going.

Another positive aspect of VON RYAN'S EXPRESS is the level of detail put into the WWII accuracy. While I'm no history expert and they could have made dozens of mistakes that I didn't catch, everything seemed to be precise, from the style of trains and plains to the uniforms to the military procedures. Even if they missed something, Robson and screenwriters Wendell Mayes and Joseph Landon take great pains to explain how things work so that we understand how our heroes overcome each obstacle that falls in their path. It is always clear and sensible how each approaching problem is solved. The tradeoff, however, as is common amongst plot-heavy films, is that you run the risk sacrificing character development. Great films are a balance of plot and character. The three films I mention above managed to achieve that. VON RYAN'S EXPRESS did not.

(For more information on this or any other Reel 13 film, check out their website at www.reel13.org)

"Von Ryan's Express" is overall a satisfying WW II actioner. The movie is long but never boring, there's some excitement and suspense, and some action.

The only problems I found with the movie is that the above is at the expense of characters - not enough time is given to these characters, so we don't have as much of a personal stake - so whether the characters live or die doesn't matter as much as it could have. Also, some of the special effects, even for 1965, are somewhat embarrassing.

It's still a good movie, and it's worth watching - it's just not the classic it could have been.

An overlong WWII "prison escape" actioner, starring the singer-turned-actor Frank "My Way" Sinatra and stout, dependable Brit, Trevor "It will never work!" Howard.

Coming very much on the heels of the more famous "The Great Escape", Von Ryan's Express (VRE) is very much style over content compared to its more involving & character-driven bigger brother.

For Steve McQueen, we now have Frank as, Jo Von Ryan, an America POW encamped with a load of Brit POWs in deepest Italy. The first half of the film concentrates on the grimness & harsh reality spent in the sweltering prison camp, where living conditions are unbearable and the Italian guards (led by a wasted Adolfi Celi) brutal.

But, unlike The Great Escape, very little time is spent fleshing out the lead characters into people we can care about. Instead, director Mark Robson, just touches the edges with the usual stereotypical characterization that simply doesn't work at all.

Sinatra is your typical New Yorker with attitude, and Howard, is your typical British Stiff-Upper-Lipped cynic who doesn't like been told what to do by a Yank. And that's about it as far as characterisation before Robson, moves the film up a couple of gears to an all-out actioner.

Some of the action sequences are quite well done, even though the majority of the shots are taken on board a train on its way to Switzerland. But to me, Robson, fails to capitalise on turning each key sequence into something really memorable. He first sets a scene up, but then fails to develop it other than to resorting to a hamfisted shootout that's all over in a matter of minutes.

Compare this style to that of The Great Escape, when the sequences are developed and ratcheted up gradually, resulting in a very satisfactory pay off at the end of each one.

None-the-less, VRE does have its moments, but I think the choice of Sinata as the action hero just doesn't quite ring true somehow. Every time disaster strikes I keep on thinking he is going to grab the nearest microphone and burst into song with "My Way" or something.

Even the direction and script is only moderately well done, the cinematography is quite excellent, especially with some very good exterior shots of the Swiss Alps. The music, also, is quite useful, and helps pace the movie without drowning it too much in pathos, especially the rather shocking (by Hollywood standards)finale

That said, VRE still falls way short in the suspense & entertainment stakes of any comparable film of its era such as The Great Escape, Guns Of Navarone or the truly excellent Where Eagles Dare.

***/*****

Of the movies I have seen him in, I have to say that his turn as Colonel Ryan in "Von Ryan's Express" is probably the best acting I have ever seen from Frank Sinatra. As Ryan, Sinatra plays an American pilot shot down over Italy in 1943 and sent to an Italian POW camp that has mostly British prisoners from a single regiment. Ryan, however, becomes the ranking POW upon his arrival, setting up a conflict between himself and the senior British officer (played by Trevor Howard.) Ryan insists on changes in how things are done. The British don't like it. The tension is palpable and very believable in the circumstances. Upon Italy's surrender after the Allies invade, there's more conflict over what to do with the former Italian commander of the camp (who's now the prisoner of the former prisoners) and disagreement over how to get past the Germans who have begun to occupy Italy.

The escape is an exciting adventure. Captured by the Germans, the Allied prisoners are put on a train to be taken to a new camp in Austria, but en route manage to hijack the train and head for Switzerland, with a German troop train and Messerschmidt fighters in hot pursuit. Eventually, a grudging respect develops between Ryan and the Brits as the movie reaches its climax.

This is really an excellent movie. No doubt that the plot is somewhat unbelievable, but that doesn't take away from the excitement of it all, nor does it take away from the superb performances by Sinatra and Howard. On occasion, the movie even manages to introduce a sense of humour and there are several scenes that do cause at least a smile, if not a chuckle.

Film obviously a bit dated now, but still entertaining enough

Frank as always gets your attention , and visually the film back in 1965 would have looked impressive on the big screen and still now looks good

During his acting career, Frank Sinatra took a lot of hits from people who thought he couldn't act. While his early films are a tad rough, I've always thought this criticism was entirely undeserved. With films like SUDDENLY, MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and this film, he proved pretty conclusively that in addition to singing, he was a heck of an actor. I wonder if some of the criticism of Sinatra was more a criticism of him as a person. Sure, he was in many ways difficult, but say what you want about this--he still could act.

In VON RYAN'S EXPRESS, Frank plays the leader of a huge group of soldiers who escape from an Italian prison camp. The Italian government is in shambles and the soldiers have no desire to press the war, but when an entire camp of Allied soldiers bolts, the Germans come in force to stop them and save face.

This is a big scope picture--with exciting prison camp scenes, chases, railroad scenes, etc. While not the best prison film I have seen, it's among the best and apart from a small handful of films (such as THE DIRTY DOZEN and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE), it's one of the best of the genre made in the 1960s. Give it a look--you won't be disappointed.

Frank Sinatra stars as Col. Joseph Ryan, who is taken to a POW camp, where he soon takes command as superior officer. With many prisoners suffering from malaria and being malnourished, he vows to improve the situation - and even getting them new clothes.

The camp commander, is Italian Major Basilio Battaglia. When Italy surrenders, Battaglia is accused of being a war criminal, and Ryan and the other prisoners are freed. However, Ryan and a handful of men are captured by the Germans, who take them as prisoners on a train.

The rest of the film is set on the train, and I enjoyed this adventure element. The film then follows Ryan and the men trying to escape, and make their way to freedom to Switzerland. There were moments when the film dragged a little bit, but in general this was an exciting action adventure war drama. Frank Sinatra was well cast as Ryan.

The film's final act is action-packed and rather thrilling. It doesn't have the ending I was hoping for and I'm still wondering why they opted for the film to end that way. Nope, I'm not going to spoil it for you! If you're into vintage war movies, this is a good choice. But, as mentioned, the film is set mainly on a train and not on the battlefield, so keep that in mind going into this movie.

Released in 1965 (and starring a noticeably scrawny, 50-year-old Frank Sinatra as the title character), I honestly found this WW2, hero-worship, drama to be hardly worth getting very excited about.

With its decidedly weak, paint-by-numbers storyline, this film certainly pushed the limits of daring and resourceful heroics just a little too far for their own good.

If nothing else - This 2-hour war/drama (set in 1943 in Italy) definitely went well out of its way to prove to its audience that the Nazis were all just a bunch of bungling "dummkopfs" (natch). And, in the same breath, this film repeatedly reinforced Colonel Ryan's complete adaptability and quick-thinking as though it were his second language, or something.

Anyway - For me, the comical highlight of this picture came about in a scene involving a pair of nylon stockings. I mean, you really need to see this scene for yourself in order to believe it in all of its utterly laughable absurdity.