The picture's screenplayβwritten by Franklin Coen, Frank Davis, and Walter Bernstein βis loosely based on the non-fiction book Le front de l'art by Rose Valland , who documented the works of art placed in storage that had been looted by Nazi Germany from museums and private art collections.
Arthur Penn was The Train 's original director but was replaced by Frankenheimer three days after filming had begun. Inspiration for the scenes of the train's interception came from the real-life events surrounding train No.
Alexandre Rosenberg of the Free French forces outside Paris. In August , masterpieces of modern art stolen by the Wehrmacht are being shipped to Germany; the officer in charge of the operation, Colonel Franz von Waldheim, is determined to take the paintings to Germany, no matter what the cost.
After the works he selects are removed from the Jeu de Paume Museum , curator Mademoiselle Villard seeks help from the French Resistance. Given the imminent liberation of Paris by the Allies , SNCF French National Railways workers associated with the Resistance need only delay the train for a few days, but it is a dangerous operation and must be done without risking the priceless cargo.
After that sacrifice, Labiche joins his Resistance teammates Didont and Pesquet, who have been organizing their own plan with the help of other SNCF Resistance members. In an elaborate ruse, they reroute the train, temporarily changing railway station signage to make the German escort believe they are heading to Germany when they have actually looped back round towards Paris. Two deliberate collisions then block the train in at the small town of Rive-Reine without damaging the cargo.
