The Man Who Watched Trains Go By

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By

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The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By poster (U.S. title The Paris Express)
Directed by	Harold French
Produced by	Josef Shaftel Raymond Stross David Berman (associate producer)
Screenplay by	Harold French Paul Jarrico (originally uncredited)
Based on	novel L'Homme qui regardait passer les trains by Georges Simenon[1]
Starring	Claude Rains Marius Goring Märta Torén
Music by	Benjamin Frankel
Cinematography	Otto Heller
Edited by	Vera Campbell Arthur H. Nadel
Production company	Raymond Stross Productions Josef Shaftel Productions Inc.
Distributed by	Eros Films (UK) MacDonald Pictures (USA)
Release date	December 1952 (1952-12) (London, UK)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United Kingdom / United States
Language	English

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952) is a crime drama film, based on the 1938 novel by Georges Simenon and released in the United Kingdom with an all-European cast, including Claude Rains in the lead role of Kees Popinga, who is infatuated with Michele Rozier (Märta Torén).^[2] The film was released in the United States in 1953 under the title The Paris Express.^[3] It was directed by Harold French. This was Rains' seventh film in color, his first being Gold Is Where You Find It (1938).

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 Plot
• 2 Cast
• 3 Critical reception
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Plot[edit]

A Dutch company's owner bankrupts his own company, then burns the incriminating ledgers and plans to run to Paris with the company payroll. But he is caught in the act by his accountant who challenges his actions, leading to a reversal of roles.

Cast[edit]

• Claude Rains as Kees Popinga
• Marius Goring as Lucas
• Märta Torén as Michele Rozier
• Ferdy Mayne as Louis
• Herbert Lom as Julius de Koster, Jr.
• Lucie Mannheim as Maria Popinga
• Anouk Aimée as Jeanne
• Eric Pohlmann as Goin
• Felix Aylmer as Mr. Merkemans
• Gibb McLaughlin as Julius de Koster, Sr.
• Michael Nightingale as Popinga's Clerk

Critical reception[edit]

TV Guide wrote that the film "boasts good performances from Rains, Toren, and Lom, but is hampered by the static direction of Harold French";^[4] whereas Culture Catch called it a "solid adaptation," which "embraces Simenon's favorite archetype, an innocent who mistakenly thinks he has committed some evil act, and then eventually actually does...Directed by Harold French, a British stalwart, this little thriller is worth every one of the 82 minutes you'll spend with it."^[5]