L'homme qui regardait passer les trains

It was a surprise to see this title on the shelves at the local video store: although Claude Rains is one of my favourite actors, and this film features other fine actors such as Herbert Lom, Marius Goring and Felix Aylmer, the story line didn't seem to be the usual fare rewarded with a video release. And indeed it is the story that both fascinated me and left me flat at the end.

Rains' meek company clerk is nicely judged; cunning but not worldly-wise, and seduced by the lights of Paris, in contrast to his small home town. The contrast, though, is poorly made - Rains' clerk suit looks perfect throughout, even at Maxims - and we don't see a return to family or their reaction to his plight. Even so, the story's unfolding was interesting enough to keep me watching, (as well as for the technicolor exterior shots of Paris in the early 50's).

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.

Filmed in Europe, the story is about a meek little clerk working for a respectable Dutch company who, by happenstance, finds himself with a suitcase full of stolen funds on a train to Paris.

He abandons his wife and children (the latter laughing at him behind his conservative, respectable back) to indulge in a life of excitement and adventure such as he had never dared dream. Yet, beneath it all, once he gets to Paris, he is still a mouse in many ways ready to be laughed at and exploited by those of the underworld that he encounters. But, as these people will also find out, the mouse can turn.

The clerk who goes on a spree is played by Claude Rains in, shockingly, one of only six motion pictures in which he appeared during the '50s. A woman of questionable morals that he meets and with whom he becomes obsessed is played by Marta Toren, a dark haired beauty whose appearance always reminded me of the gorgeous Alida (The Third Man) Valli.

Also in the cast are Marius Goring as a police inspector who wants to catch up with Rains before he really gets himself into even more serious trouble, and Herbert Lom, as his employer of the company for whom the clerk has been the perfect accountant for 18 years. All four actors give solid interpretations of their roles. Watching Rains and Lom together made me think of a former Phantom of the Opera working with a future one.

But it's Rains who is the primary source of interest in this drama, and it's his performance that brings many of the small pleasures to be found in this film which, at times, is also noteworthy for its lovely Technicolor. Rains plays a man who, by circumstances, stumbles into crime after a life of total boring respectability, and there are unsettling scenes in which an inner demon suddenly springs upon the face of an otherwise docile little man. There's a wickedness, suppressed for years, that bubbles to the surface, only to suddenly disappear again.

The change in character might be a little too sudden for complete conviction, at times, but it's such a pleasure to watch a seasoned professional like Rains at work here that I'm ready to forgive this little film for its weaknesses.

In the final analysis, The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (the title is explained by the film's opening scene, which shows Rains on his bicycle day dreaming about the exotic destinations of a train passing by him) is a minor drama. However, it is distinguished by the strong work of its cast and, in particular, the performance of the silken haired, elegant Claude Rains.

One of the great character actors of the studio system days, Rains' best work was behind him after leaving Warner Brothers in 1947. Here, however, he is given an opportunity to bring his subtle art to the screen once again in this independently produced European production.

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.