The Paris Express

I enjoyed this little, quiet movie enough to watch it twice in a row, despite the bad quality of the print I was watching. Claude Rains is heartbreaking as an obedient, flawlessly accurate little bookkeeper so devoted to his boss (Herbert Lom)that he is blind to the fact that he's an adulterer and a thief that has ransacked the companies funds, and is planning to declare bankruptcy and run away with his little floozy (Marta Toren). Of course, Lom is not too clever about what he's doing, and Inspector Lucas (Marius Goring) is already sniffing around long before Rains does anything or knows anything. The story is modestly interesting, although there are some bits and pieces that are a little hard to swallow. The real value of the film is in the characterizations. Rains is convincing as a man repressing his impulses and desires until everything he understands about life and his place in it comes apart, and he lets go of all control. I love the quiet conversations between Goring's detective and Rains trembling, stammering suspect, as they enjoy a game of chess. We believe the detective is genuinely concerned about the little bookkeeper, and knows that something important is breaking down in this essentially good man. Unfortunately, the telling climactic scenes were so dark that I almost had to guess what happened. This film needs to be restored. Somehow the director made it seem like the only people in Paris were Rains, Goring, and a handful of miscreants. Nice claustrophobic feel. Worth a look.

Kees Popinga (Claude Rains) is an uninteresting man who has been senior clerk with the same firm for 18 years. When police inspector Lucas (Marius Goring) turns up to question his boss Julius de Koster (Herbert Lom) about money laundering, it sets off a chain of events which sees Kees travelling to Paris with a suitcase of the firm's money to live out his fantasy. De Koster has drowned and Lucas is investigating the case. For the rest of the film, he pursues Kees who goes to De Koster's Parisien lover Michele (Marta Toren) in order to take her away with him for some excitement in life. However, she is after the money from him so that she can take off with her lover Louis (Ferdy Mayne). She protects Kees, who has hidden the money, from Lucas so that she can get hold of the money herself........how do things work out?........How will Kees's rigid moral code of integrity and loyalty cope with betrayal..?...

Its a well acted film, my favourite character being Marius Goring who plays a sympathetic policeman who genuinely cares about Kees and wants to protect him. The colour adds to the spectacle and its an enjoyable film......... It was nice to see that even boring people have got some cunning inside them!

Several years earlier this Technicolor film would have been filmed in b&w at Warner's or RKO instead of an English studio. Nonetheless, it's still noir all the way, with Rains as the fall guy, Toren as the spider woman, and trains as fate symbolizing the life that's passing Rains by. His dull company clerk, Popinga, has a bland conventional life in Holland with a wife and two kids. Oddly, he's fascinated by the sound of passing trains, knowing many are going to Paris, and a glamorous life he can only dream about. Then one day, fate takes over and soon the repressed Popinga is on that Paris train with his dreams appearing at last to come true. But then this is noir.

Rains is ace in his aging role, a long way from his usual sinister master-minds. In fact, the flick amounts to a Rains showcase as he spotlights about every scene. Good thing that there's leggy relief for us guys with the sexy likes of Toren and Anouk in their slinky outfits. Anyway, to me, it's an underrated noir, maybe because of its often bright coloring and European provenance. After all, American studios had wide avenues of movie distribution not so available to European others. Thus, the flick remains largely unknown to fans of noir, and qualifies as a possible sleeper; that is, if you can get past some of the plot stretches that may not pass you by, (especially the cat-and-mouse between Rains and Lucas). Also: I expect the morally ambiguous drowning accounts for the rather ambiguous ending that I wasn't expecting. Anyway, give it a try, especially if you would like to catch that passing train.

As comes across in so many of his Maigret stories, Georges Simenon always loved to depict how any group or locality was characterized by its own particular attitudes and social mores. In this tale of two cities, Simenon has matched unsophisticated dull respectable Protestant Groningen in the northern Netherlands against wicked exciting corrupting Paris. This contrast (though set out less clearly than in the novel) establishes the context for the movie.

Good-natured earnest Kees Popinga (Claude Rains) exemplifies Groningen. His boss Julius de Koster (Herbert Lom), seduced by Parisien temptress Michele (Marta Toren), bankrupts his firm and flees, only to meet his death. Fearing suspicion of murder and with a growing taste for adventure, Kees finds himself en route to Paris with de Koster's stolen money to seek out Michele. Sympathetic Paris cop Lucas (Marius Goring) pursues Kees wanting to save him from a further fall from grace.

This prelude sets the stage for all that is to follow. Must Kees fall victim to the treacherous Michele? to her dangerous lover Louis (Ferdy Maine)? or to the progressively corrupting influence of Paris? Or can the innate goodness of Kees redeem Michele? And can Lucas prevent a tragedy? The acting is of a high quality. We care about the outcome and our concern for Kees sustains our suspense. We are kept guessing to the last.

Claude Rains is the reason to tune in along with Herbert Lom and good supporting staff. An amusing little off-beat little tale that starts out with conservative values and morphs into predator-prey dynamics startling when it does. It causes one to consider the traditional way of life i.e. hard work, steady long-term employment, owning a home raising two children and then repeating this over and over versus risking that life into an adventure and exploring another way to go about living. The catch? Be careful what you ask for. The whole movie is a good lesson in examining if you are content in what you do, if it is passion driven and if it is real. The main character is rather abruptly swept up into these dynamics and is intrigued while trying to figure things out on the way. Because he has not traveled in this fashion before, he doesn't know what he is doing but is content in not knowing. A simpleton comes to mind but with a struggle to keep his innocence against what would have him bet it to live or to give the illusion of living. We are introduced to large sums of money, a detective, a seductress and the lure of the carrot of life along with the favorite cliché "the grass is always greener somewhere else" which we know is not true but the main character does not. I found it interesting that the lust of the world was so well portrayed in more than one way. Watch how it has a push and pull to it but at some point loses its power if you can last that long. Fancy dining out, expensive wines, beautiful women, money to burn, having no rules, all wear-off leaving the "player" worse for it as the movie makes this point. Good snack movie or even a sandwich with a tasty drink while watching. Lots of human nature to discover in this movie. See if it applies to you and if you can relate. Enjoy