"Night Train to Munich" (1940) is a smaller and lighter Carol Reed film, a little uncharacteristic, but nevertheless very good. The stars are Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison, Paul von Henreid, Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne. A Czech scientist is taken to England for safety so the Nazis won't get him or his work when the Czechs invade, but his daughter Anna (Lockwood) is captured and sent to a concentration camp. While there, she meets Karl Marsen (Paul Henreid as Paul von Henreid) who recognizes one of the Nazi officers at the camp as someone he knew, and the man helps both of them to escape. Once in England, she contacts her father through a performer, Gus Bennett (Harrison),in reality a government agent. Unfortunately, she and her father again fall into enemy hands, and Randell disguises himself as a Nazi officer in order to return to them England.

Very suspenseful with great chemistry between the two stars. What helps make this film, though, are Radford and Wayne of "The Lady Vanishes" fame, who are hilarious as two airhead train passengers, one of whom recognizes Harrison as British, though he's in Nazi regalia. The two were an extremely popular pair and appeared together in several films.

Very good.

Czech scientist James Harcourt has perfected a new kind of armor plating and right before Czechoslovakia is taken over, Harcourt is spirited away to Great Britain to continue his work. But the Nazis manage to grab his daughter Margaret Lockwood and toss her into a concentration camp.

But that's only the beginning as fellow prisoner Paul Henreid figures out a way to escape and they both flee to Great Britain. But it was all a ruse so that the Nazis could recapture Harcourt and get him working for them before the shooting war starts.

The guy who loses Harcourt to the Nazis, Rex Harrison is anxious to redeem himself so he goes to Germany in search of Harcourt and Lockwood with an elaborate ruse.

At this point the film starts to look very suspiciously like The Lady Vanishes as Henreid and Harrison play a deadly cat and mouse game where the roles of cat and mouse seem to change. I'm sure that Alfred Hitchcock knew and approved of the homage Carol Reed was giving him.

Otherwise there's no way that Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne to have done the same parts they did in The Lady Vanishes for Hitchcock. The two of them did get a lot of acclaim for their roles as a couple of Colonel Blimps on holiday who do in fact come through in the clutch.

Because Carol Reed gets some good performances out of his cast a rather improbable tale is well handled for the screen.

Though I do believe the Nazis did ultimately win this one because what Harcourt was working on was armor plating and the armor plating on their Panzer tanks was pretty darn impregnable to say the least.

NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH is a very enjoyable WWII spy film, though it's also one that may be difficult to watch if you think too much, as the plot is awfully unrealistic and hard to believe. But, if you are able to put aside these problems, the overall film is entertaining and well made.

Dr. Bomasch and his daughter, Anna, live in Czechoslovakia. However, when the Nazis take over the country, the Doctor is spirited out of the country because he is a genius at armor plating technology. However, just as Anna is about to join him, she is arrested and put in a concentration camp. Eventually, however, Anna is able to escape--thanks to a "nice guy" who is also an inmate (Paul Henreid). When Anna is reunited with her father, the Nazis spring a trap and take them both by force back to their native land. At this point, secret agent Rex Harrison sneaks back into Czechoslovakia and risks everything to get them back.

An interesting addition to this film is the presence of Charters and Caldicott--two characters who were in Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES. They play the same people but with a different director--a very odd thing indeed. I liked them, though they did seem like very improbable heroes! The film is tense, the acting is fine (heck, I'd watch Rex Harrison in practically anything) and the direction is good. The problem is that sneaking in and out of Nazi territory seemed amazingly easy. The Nazis, unfortunately, were not that stupid and were also a lot more vicious than they appeared in the film.

Overall, a better than average WWII film thanks to good acting and production values. Just don't look for perfection, as the film seems more designed for its propaganda value than for realism.