As the Allied forces approach Paris in August 1944, German Colonel Von Waldheim is desperate to take all of France's greatest paintings to Germany. He manages to secure a train to transport the valuable art works even as the chaos of retreat descends upon them. The French resistance however wants to stop them from stealing their national treasures but have received orders from London that they are not to be destroyed. The station master, Labiche, is tasked with scheduling the train and making it all happen smoothly but he is also part of a dwindling group of resistance fighters tasked with preventing the theft. He and others stage an elaborate ruse to keep the train from ever leaving French territory. Written by garykmcd

Did You Know?

Trivia The character of Mlle Villard is based on The character of Mlle Villard is based on Rose Valland --a French art historian, member of the French Resistance, captain in the French military and one of the most decorated women in French history. As overseer of the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris during the German occupation, she began secretly recording as much as possible about more than 20,000 pieces of art that had been brought to the Jeu de Paume. She understood German and for four years kept track of where and to whom in Germany the plundered artworks were shipped. She provided this and also information about railroad shipments of the art to the French resistance so that they would not mistakenly blow up the trains loaded with art treasures. A few weeks before the liberation of Paris, on August 1, 1944, she learned that the Germans were planning to ship out five last boxcars full of art, including many of the modern paintings they had hitherto neglected. She notified her contacts in the Resistance, who prevented the train from leaving Paris. The movie was inspired by her 1961 non-fiction book "Le front de l'art: défense des collections françaises, 1939-1945" ("The Art Front: Defence of the French Collections, 1939-1945"). See more

Goofs When the art train is rerouted in the wrong direction to return to Paris, instead of going to Germany, the soldiers on the train should have noticed the deception when they saw the sun rising behind them, instead of in front of them in the morning. They were supposed to be traveling East, but were in fact traveling West. When the art train is rerouted in the wrong direction to return to Paris, instead of going to Germany, the soldiers on the train should have noticed the deception when they saw the sun rising behind them, instead of in front of them in the morning. They were supposed to be traveling East, but were in fact traveling West. See more

Quotes

: Especially if you're French, and the train's German.

See more » Pesquet : You can get killed stopping a train. Didont : Especially if you're French, and the train's German.

Crazy Credits Opening credits prologue: PARIS August 2-1944 1511th day of German occupation Opening credits prologue: PARIS August 2-1944 1511th day of German occupation See more