The Man Who Watched Trains Go By

One-minute read
movies • trains • knitting

I just watched The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952), directed by Harold French. The screenplay was written by Harold French and Paul Jarrico (originally uncredited 1). It is based on the 1938 novel L'Homme qui regardait passer les trains by Georges Simenon. It was released in the US in 1953 as The Paris Express.2

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It stars Claude Rains, who was in Casablanca (1942) and Notorious (1946). It also features Marius Goring, who I don't recall seeing before, but was in a whole bunch of things.

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It, of course, has lots of trains

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and there is also a weird dream sequence with giant knitting needles.

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Overall, this movie was a pleasant surprise. I didn't know anything at all about it before watching it.

1

This was the McCarthy era and Jarrico was blacklisted, but I don't know if that was why he was uncredited. This is not an American film.

2

Odd. They referred to "the 7:22 to Paris," but I don't think they ever called it "the Paris Express."