Avalanche Express

''Avalanche Express'' is a 1979 adventure thriller film starring Lee Marvin, Robert Shaw, Maximilian Schell and Linda Evans, and produced and directed by Mark Robson. The plot is about the struggle over a defecting Soviet general. The screenplay by Abraham Polonsky was based on a 1977 novel by Colin Forbes. It was the last film for Shaw and Robson, who both died during production in 1978.

Synopsis

Soviet General Marenkov (Robert Shaw) decides to defect to the West. He is in charge of Operation Winter Harvest, a plot to poison crops in the West. CIA agent Harry Wargrave (Lee Marvin) leads the extraction team. Marenkov meets the team in Milan at La Scala where a rehearsal of '' Nabucco'' is underway.

Wargrave's team hustles Marenkov onto the ''Atlantic Express'' train to travel across Europe. During the extraction, Wargrave is killed, but his death is a ruse. He reappears on the train's crew, and he is using Marenkov as bait to lure Soviet agents out of hiding. Wargrave knows they will attack the train and expose their identities.

KGB spy-catcher Nikolai Bunin (Maximilian Schell) leads the Soviet agents who try several ways of stopping Marenkov's defection. They trigger an avalanche. Wargrave blows up the gangway connection between the front and the back of the train, which allows the lead cars to escape to the safety of a tunnel. At another point, the train is hijacked, but the attempt is foiled. The film ends with Marenkov safely on board a jet headed for his debriefing in the West.

Cast

* Lee Marvin as Col. Harry Wargrave
* Robert Shaw as Gen. Marenkov (Voice later dubbed by Robert Rietti)
* Linda Evans as Elsa Lang
* Maximilian Schell as Col. Nikolai Bunin
* Joe Namath as Leroy
* Horst Buchholz as Julian Scholten
* Mike Connors as Haller
* Claudio Cassinelli as Col. Molinari
* Kristina Nel as Helga Mann
* David Hess as Geiger
* Günter Meisner as Rudi Muehler
* Sylva Langova as Olga
* Cyril Shaps as Sedov
* Vladek Sheybal as Zannbin
* Arthur Brauss as Neckermann
* Sky du Mont as Philip John
* Richard Marner as General Prachko
* Arnold Drummond as Commissar (Maxim Gorky)
* Paul Glawion as Alfredo
* Dan van Husen as Bernardo

Original novel

The film was based on a novel by Colin Forbes which was published in 1977. ''The Guardian'' called it an "irresistible adventure yarn." The ''Evening Telegraph'' praised it as an "extremely satisfying modern adventure story... told in razor sharp style."

Production

In June 1977 it was announced film rights had purchased by Lorimar Films, the filmmaking arm of Lorimar Productions, best known for its work in television. Mark Robson, who had just made ''Earthquake'' and had made another successful train set movie ('' Von Ryan's Express''), signed to produce and direct. Jerry Gershwin was the Lorimar executive originally responsible.

Abraham Polonsky wrote the script. Robson called the novel "rather sprawly for film" and "very difficult to synthesize into a motion picture. What Abe brought to it was unity. He has given the characters better motivations which means the total work is better motivated." Robson added the film "does make a political statement in a way... The movie will really come out for those who want to live in peace and co operation."

Shooting started in Munich on 27 February 1978 and also took place in Milan and Venice. Filming was physically tough, complicated by increased security caused by terrorism in Europe, and Robson's health deteriorated. The movie had been filming for 65 days in Europe, with ten to go, when Robson fell ill. He was flown to a hospital in London where he later died of a heart attack on 20 June 1978. He was 64 years old. "He sure went with his boots on," said Marvin. Mike Connors said Robson's death "was not unexpected. We could see him go downhill from day to day. The lack of communication on a European picture is terribly exhausting."

Lorimar Films' President Peter Bart called in Monte Hellman to finish the direction and Gene Corman (Roger Corman's brother) was enlisted to complete Robson's duties as producer. Hellman had recently helped complete '' The Greatest'' after the death of its director, Tom Gries. He had worked a number of times for Gene Corman, who was preparing another film for Lorimar, '' The Big Red One''. John Dykstra was hired to stage an avalanche using models. Then on 28 August 1978 Robert Shaw died of a heart attack in Ireland. He was 51 years old.

Robert Rietti was hired to re-record Robert Shaw's dialogue in the opening scene, as it was decided to redo that scene in Russian with English subtitles instead of having the Russians speak broken English. As a consequence, for continuity, all of Shaw's dialogue throughout the film was re-recorded by Rietti.

Hellman later said he worked on the film for a year and estimated he directed around ten percent of the principal photography, plus all the special effects. "We had to shoot three new live action scenes plus all the special effects scenes and all of the avalanche stuff, and so it was a pretty complicated," he said. "It was the biggest picture I had worked on. I learned a lot on shooting really complex special effects, with miniatures and so forth, combining miniatures and live action."

Hellman, Corman and Rietti were not credited for their work, but the film's end credit contains a note stating: "The producers wish to express their appreciation to Monte Hellman and Gene Corman for their post production services."

Dorothy Spencer, Robson's long time editor, was reportedly replaced by Garth Craven. She is not listed on the credits nor is the original cinematographer, Jack Cardiff.

Reception

Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'' criticized the film's tackiness, suggesting it was copied from '' The Cassandra Crossing'' and likening it to the work of exploitation filmmaker Lew Grade, criticizing the actors as appearing "at a loss".

Kevin Thomas of the ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "handsome but routine."

''Time Out'' called it "awful", "formulary" and "hammily acted" but explained its curious editing as resulting from the production problems. The ''Radio Times'' gave it 2/5 stars, noting its disjointed quality but praising the acting and snowy special effects. Leonard Maltin's annual publications ''TV Movies'' and ''Movie Guide'' give the film a BOMB rating and were especially critical of the cast.

Rotten Tomatoes rates the film 20% based on five reviews.

See also

* List of American films of 1979

References

External links

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{{Mark Robson

1979 films
1970s action thriller films
1970s spy thriller films
American action thriller films
Irish action thriller films
American disaster films
American spy thriller films
1970s English-language films
Films directed by Mark Robson
Films with screenplays by Abraham Polonsky
Cold War spy films
Films about bioterrorism
Films about terrorism in Europe
Films based on British novels
Films based on thriller novels
Films set in Milan
Films set in Italy
Films set in Zurich
Films set in Switzerland
Films set in the Alps
Films set in West Germany
Films set in Belgium
Films set in Amsterdam
Films set in the Soviet Union
Films set on trains
Films shot in Munich
Films shot in Bavaria
Avalanches in film
1970s American films
English-language action thriller films
English-language spy thriller films