Following on from the box-office success of The Great Escape, this is a rattlingly exciting Second World War escape adventure, with a well-cast Frank Sinatra as Colonel Joseph L Ryan, a tough PoW who seizes a German train delivering Allied prisoners. Sinatra's character is unusually uncompromising, even for him, and the star delivers one of his best performances. Director Mark Robson uses his camera skilfully, and the support cast is exceptionally well chosen: co-star Trevor Howard is always excellent in confrontation roles, and a nod to The Great Escape finds John Leyton (who had a number one hit with Johnny Remember Me in 1961) as a British lieutenant. The eagle-eyed should note Hollywood restaurateur Michael Romanoff as an Italian noble. The film was a major commercial success in its day.

Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from WWII Italy by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding.