The Last Train from Madrid


1h 17m 1937
The Last Train from Madrid

Brief Synopsis

The story of seven people: their lives and love affairs in Madrid during the Civil War.

Film Details

Genre
Drama
War
Release Date
Jun 25, 1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 17m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels

Synopsis

The Spanish Civil War is destroying Madrid, and the military offers a last chance for those people to whom they grant passes to leave on a train headed for Valencia at midnight. That day, Colonel Vigo tells his second-in-command, Captain Ricardo Alvarez that he is releasing some prisoners who have agreed to fight at the dreaded battleground of Cordoza. Among the prisoners is Eduardo de Soto, one of a brotherhood called the Five Valiants, of which Ricardo also is a member. Ricardo helps Eduardo escape the military police and provides him with a hiding place. Having been in prison for two years, Eduardo's first thoughts are of his girl friend, Carmelita Castillo, who, although she is thrilled to see him, has not waited for him, and has become engaged to Ricardo, unaware that the men are acquainted. Carmelita is now torn between Ricardo, who has been a loyal companion, and Eduardo, whom she has loved for so long. Eduardo gallantly hides his disappointment, but Ricardo senses something between his two friends. Meanwhile, people in the city are frantically trying to obtain passes for the midnight train. A female soldier, Maria Ronda, deserts her troop and hitches a ride with American reporter Bill Dexter, who promises to help her see her father before he is executed. Bill manages to get Maria in to the prison to see Carlos Ronda, and both men make her believe that he has been reprieved, so she will leave Madrid without hesitation. As they leave the prison, Carlos is executed, although Juan Ramos, one of his executioners, refuses to fire. Because of his apparent cowardice, Juan is transferred to Cordoza, but is given two hours before he must report. As he walks through town, Juan comes to the aid of a man who has just been shot by a sniper. He and Lola, from whom the man had just departed, take the dead man to her room, where Juan desperately begs her for the man's pass. While talking, Juan and Lola discover they both spent their childhoods in the same town, and as they reminisce, they fall in love. Juan decides to add Lola's name to the pass as his wife. In another part of town, Bill and Maria escape an air raid in a cellar, where Bill gets drunk on wine and proposes. When he revives in his apartment from a stupor, he tells her it was all a joke, and while he is at the door getting his pass from military police, Maria, brokenhearted, runs away. In a restaurant, Eduardo meets a former lover, Baroness Helene Rafitto, who promises to get him a pass so they can leave together. At her apartment, she pays her cruel lover, Michael Balk, $20,000 for his pass, but when he threatens to call the police and tell them to cancel the pass, Helene becomes filled with hatred for him and kills him. Ricardo is then arrested for treason for helping Eduardo. He escapes from the police to warn Eduardo, and Vigo orders his men to shoot to kill should they find Ricardo. Finally, the train prepares to board, and the station is mobbed. While Juan and Lola are on their way to the train station, they are attacked by robbers. Lola is mortally wounded during the ensuing gunfire and dies in Juan's arms. At the driver's urging, he continues on to the station. Eduardo boards the train with the pass Helene gives him, and when police come near their compartment, he moves to another while Helene is arrested for Balk's murder. Bill and Maria find each other at the station and successfully board the train. Vigo orders the train delayed until Ricardo and Eduardo are found, but Ricardo holds him hostage and forces him to call in an "all clear" so the train will leave. The train departs, and as Ricardo leads Vigo out of the building, intending to hold him until the train arrives in Valencia, one of Vigo's compatriots shoots him. Vigo disarms him and discovers that Ricardo's gun was never loaded. Impressed by Ricardo's loyalty to his friend, Vigo allows the train to continue without interruption to Valencia, and Ricardo dies in peace. Maria and Bill plan to marry, and Eduardo and Carmelita are reunited.

Cast

Dorothy Lamour

Carmelita Castillo

Lew Ayres

Bill Dexter

Gilbert Roland

Eduardo de Soto

Karen Morley

Helene Rafitto

Lionel Atwill

Colonel Vigo

Helen Mack

Lola

Robert Cummings

Juan Ramos

Olympe Bradna

Maria Ronda

Anthony Quinn

Captain Ricardo Alvarez

Lee Bowman

Michael Balk

Jack Perrin

Guard

Harry Semels

Guard

Frank Leyva

Chauffeur

Roland Rego

Officer

Frank Lyman

Officer

Merrill Mccormick

Officer

Robert Strange

Officer

George Lloyd

Intelligence officer

Louise Carter

Rosa Delgado

Henry Hale

Dias

Karl Hackett

Herrera

Hooper Atchley

Martin

Otto Hoffman

Fernando

John Oliver

Orderly

John Picorri

First hotel clerk

Peter De Rey

Second hotel clerk

Allan Garcia

Third hotel clerk

Dan Colette

Fourth hotel clerk

Guy D'ennery

Dignified man

Ralf Harolde

Spanish man

Joseph De Stefani

Factory owner

Nigel De Brulier

Philosopher

John Marshall

Clerk

Stanley Price

Clerk

Sam Appel

Warden

Stanley Fields

Avila

Francis Mcdonald

Mora

George Magrill

Militiaman

Carl Harbaugh

Militiaman

Jack Gardner

Militiaman

Sid D'albrook

Militiaman

Robert Middlemass

Militiaman

Bert Le Baron

Militiaman

George Macquarrie

Driver

Rollo Lloyd

Hernandez

Henry Brandon

Radio announcer

Louis Natheaux

Headwaiter

Maurice Cass

Waiter

Alonzo Price

Leader

Harry Worth

Gomez

Donald Reed

Husband

Leonard Sues

Young man

Harry Woods

Government man

Ben Hendricks

Perez

George Lollier

Secret Service man

Bob O'conor

Secret Service man

Stanley Andrews

Secret Service man

Hallene Hill

Mother

Francis Ford

Pedro

Reynolds Denniston

Stationmaster

Adele St. Maur

Mother

Yvonne Pelletier

Daughter

Bess Flowers

Saleswoman

Carlos De Valdez

Carlos Ronda

Charles Middleton

Warden

Gordon De Main

Gonzales

Bonita Weber

Woman soldier

Tiny Rowland

Turnkey

Sid Nene

Man in railroad station

Charles Stevens

Sharon Lewis

Ricca Allen

Evelyn Brent

Libby Taylor

Film Details

Genre
Drama
War
Release Date
Jun 25, 1937
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 17m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels

Articles

The Last Train from Madrid


After the success of MGM's Oscar-winning Grand Hotel (1932), which essentially created the "all-star" film as well as the idea of telling several interweaving stories in a single setting, studios all over Hollywood rushed to make copycat productions. One of these was Paramount's The Last Train from Madrid (1937), although as The New York Times observed, the cast was "taken from Paramount's second-string list." Instead of, say, Bing Crosby, Claudette Colbert, and Mae West, the film gives us Dorothy Lamour, Lew Ayres, Gilbert Roland, Karen Morley, Lionel Atwill, and Anthony Quinn. Lamour is billed first despite having only a few lines, and it is actually Quinn, in only his fifth credited role, who gives perhaps the most memorable performance and his first truly significant one. He was even lauded by name in major reviews of the time.

This film's other claim to fame lies in having been the first Hollywood feature to acknowledge the Spanish Civil War, which broke out in 1936. (Wings of the Morning, a 1936 British film, contains a brief reference to the war.) Quinn plays a Spanish army officer providing passage by train to various people trying to escape Madrid before the borders close. He helps an old friend (Roland) who's in political danger, but soon a melodrama arises between them and Roland's old girlfriend (Lamour). Meanwhile, Quinn's commanding officer (Atwill) starts to suspect Quinn of turning traitor. Ayres is on hand as an American reporter.

Variety called The Last Train from Madrid "a mixture of Grand Hotel and Shanghai Express," noting that Paramount "doesn't take any political chances with this one." Indeed, the film shies away from presenting any political arguments for or against the war, instead treating it as a backdrop to melodrama. As noted film scholar William K. Everson later wrote: "Hollywood in the '30s was notably reluctant to take any kind of a stance on European political affairs... Exhibitor groups resisted it, and were strong enough to arrange effective boycotts. Pressure groups were constantly at work, and towards the end of the '30s, America's own Neutrality Act technically made it a violation of that act to take obvious sides."

Two months after this film's release, the Spanish Civil War cropped up in two more films: Twentieth Century-Fox's Love Under Fire (1937), starring Loretta Young and Don Ameche, and the well-received documentary The Spanish Earth (1937).

Look fast for Alan Ladd as a soldier and Cecil B. DeMille in a crowd.

By Jeremy Arnold
The Last Train From Madrid

The Last Train from Madrid

After the success of MGM's Oscar-winning Grand Hotel (1932), which essentially created the "all-star" film as well as the idea of telling several interweaving stories in a single setting, studios all over Hollywood rushed to make copycat productions. One of these was Paramount's The Last Train from Madrid (1937), although as The New York Times observed, the cast was "taken from Paramount's second-string list." Instead of, say, Bing Crosby, Claudette Colbert, and Mae West, the film gives us Dorothy Lamour, Lew Ayres, Gilbert Roland, Karen Morley, Lionel Atwill, and Anthony Quinn. Lamour is billed first despite having only a few lines, and it is actually Quinn, in only his fifth credited role, who gives perhaps the most memorable performance and his first truly significant one. He was even lauded by name in major reviews of the time. This film's other claim to fame lies in having been the first Hollywood feature to acknowledge the Spanish Civil War, which broke out in 1936. (Wings of the Morning, a 1936 British film, contains a brief reference to the war.) Quinn plays a Spanish army officer providing passage by train to various people trying to escape Madrid before the borders close. He helps an old friend (Roland) who's in political danger, but soon a melodrama arises between them and Roland's old girlfriend (Lamour). Meanwhile, Quinn's commanding officer (Atwill) starts to suspect Quinn of turning traitor. Ayres is on hand as an American reporter. Variety called The Last Train from Madrid "a mixture of Grand Hotel and Shanghai Express," noting that Paramount "doesn't take any political chances with this one." Indeed, the film shies away from presenting any political arguments for or against the war, instead treating it as a backdrop to melodrama. As noted film scholar William K. Everson later wrote: "Hollywood in the '30s was notably reluctant to take any kind of a stance on European political affairs... Exhibitor groups resisted it, and were strong enough to arrange effective boycotts. Pressure groups were constantly at work, and towards the end of the '30s, America's own Neutrality Act technically made it a violation of that act to take obvious sides." Two months after this film's release, the Spanish Civil War cropped up in two more films: Twentieth Century-Fox's Love Under Fire (1937), starring Loretta Young and Don Ameche, and the well-received documentary The Spanish Earth (1937). Look fast for Alan Ladd as a soldier and Cecil B. DeMille in a crowd. By Jeremy Arnold

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

A pre-release news item in Hollywood Reporter indicates that Al Santell was originally intended to direct. Prior to the film's release, Variety reported that "anti-Fascist and anti-war organizations" were against the production of this film, because they believed it would be "strictly uncolored melodrama." An April 1937 telegram written by writer Louis Stevens in the AMPAS Library production files indicates that Stevens protested Robert Wyler's co-writer credit and claimed full authorship of the screenplay. By May 1937, Stevens agreed to Wyler's credit at the insistence of producer George M. Arthur. According to the New York Times, this was the first picture, other than newsreels and documentaries, to involve the Spanish Civil War. According to Hollywood Reporter, several other major studios also bid for the original story. The pressbook in the copyright records states that Gilbert Roland's father, Don Francisco de Alonso appears in the film, in addition to Cecil B. DeMille, who appears in a crowd scene. The pressbook also notes that background scenes were filmed on location in Palencia, Spain, and some scenes were filmed at DeMille's Spanish-style bungalow on the Paramount lot.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States 1937

Released in United States 1937