L'aventure est commencée

Films set in and around trains with spies or gun runners were clearly the rage in the late 30s.Those that come to mind are Oh Mr Porter(Ghost Train remake),The Lady Vanishes,Night Train To Munich,The Ghost Train(another remake with Arthur Askey) and this film.The other 4 films had the advantage of skilled directors ,inventive screenwriters ,and a good cast.Alas this film had none of these attributes.This film ignored the first basic rule of these type of films.Namely keep it simple.So we are faced with an over elaborate plot.The cast ,Harrison apart,are not the best,and Verne is no Lockwood.However what is most lamentable is the finale.Jerry Jackson,the associate producer,produced many of Michael Powells quota quickies.Irving Ahad been head of production for Warners Teddington studios,turning out support features for Warners Hollywood imports.So maybe the fact that they did some location work in Paris made them decide to save money on the climax.as a result it looks as if the finale was filmed in the toy train department in Hamleys in Regent Street.It is possibly the worst use of models that i have ever seen.It singlehandedly destroys any tension that the film might otherwise have generated.Harrison is his usual debonair self.However he would utilise this quality to much greater effect in Night Train To Munich,which shows how this sort of film should be made.

It is very difficult to get any head or tail out of this. It actually starts confusing enough with the hero (Rex Harrison) waking up in a hospital having been shot in his head, while he is certain he just had an airplane accident. Then he is taken for someone else and gets mixed up in all sorts of confusions as a valet in some chateau, and he just follows the games trying to understand anything about them, trying to get a lead by someone somewhere, while too many appear to be having claims on him for different means, and it gradually amounts to a great spying game with sabotage plans and bombs on trains and things like that. Well, it all ends up by his waking up in a hospital again, but this time at least he has a girl by his side. It could be worse, but it could hardly be more confused. At least it is entertaining enough, but you miss some clear red thread thourgh it all and the professionalism of other great train thrillers of the same time, like "Night Train to Munich" and "A Lady Vanishes". Here at least the geographical location is clear enough, it's all around Paris, but intelligence in London is involved, and it appears that the wrong man was killed in that airplane accident...

Rex Harrison wakes up in a hospital in Paris with a bullet wound in his head. The last thing he remembers is leaving from Gatwick on his private plane. However, the police show him a newspaper which indicates he has spent ten days in Paris. As he investigates on his own, it turns out he has spent the time as a butler/chauffeur to an eccentric family there under a different name. Gradually, the situation grows more serious....

This is an excellent comedy thriller, directed by old comedy hand Tim Whelan -- he had spent time writing for Harold Lloyd in the 1920s. His light touch and frequent gag construction, Harrison's breezy insouciance and a well-constructed story line keeps this one humming along. Harrison's career was on the upswing and he was credited about the title on the print I saw -- an Australian print, so it might have appeared in Oz after his success in NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH had made him a star. It's a minor picture, but one that is highly enjoyable.