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34-434: The gorge is famous for a scary walkway called Caminito del Rey (King's Pathway) which hangs 100m above the base of the gorge. The path provided access to a hydro-electric system and took its name from an official visit by Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1921. Official access to the path was removed in 2000 on grounds of safety, whilst rock climbers, for whom the gorge contains many excellent and historic climbs, were given access by

68-501: A POW during World War II. He witnessed the bombing of Bolzano in 1943 from a box car. Martin Levin, reviewing the book for The New York Times , said the novel "has everything for the screen but the camera directions." The novel was a best seller and 20th Century Fox bought the film rights for a reported $ 125,000. The studio assigned Saul David to produce and Mark Robson to direct. Robson had intended to make The Centurians , but this

102-408: A British secret hoard, Ryan orders Fincham to distribute the medicines to the seriously ill prisoners. He infuriates Fincham by revealing an escape plan to Battaglia in exchange for prisoners being treated better. When Battaglia refuses to issue new clothing, Ryan orders prisoners to strip and burn their filthy uniforms. Battaglia throws Ryan into the sweat box as punishment. When Italy surrenders ,

136-465: A bid to prove that they were still able to make films on an epic scale, shot extensively on location in Europe and built a full-scale prison camp as opposed to shooting on a backlot . It was producer Saul David 's first film for Fox. He followed it with Our Man Flint , Fantastic Voyage , and In Like Flint . Rumours of a personality clash between star Frank Sinatra , who was flown by helicopter to

170-437: A decade. After four years of extensive repairs and renovations, it re-opened in 2015. It has been described as the "world's most dangerous walkway" following five deaths in 1999 and 2000. The walkway was built to provide workers at the hydroelectric power plants at Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls with a means to cross between them, to provide for transport of materials, and to help facilitate inspection and maintenance of

204-404: A quickly forged typewritten order, the prisoners switch their train onto a different line at Bologna . The troop train continues on toward Innsbruck. Von Klemment and Gabriella are kept bound and gagged, but they escape at a stop, killing Orde. Both are shot by Ryan and the train proceeds. Later, German commanders learn of the train's diversion and begin queries. That night the train stops at what

238-410: A via ferrata that leads back onto the remaining 'Caminito' . The local government agreed to share costs of restoration of the "Caminito". The gorge runs from the outlet of the "Embalse del Gaitanejo" to "El Chorro". There are two extremely narrow sections at each end of the gorge with a wider bowl in between. In addition to the re-furbished walkway, the old Málaga-Cordoba railway line runs through

272-514: Is a 1965 World War II adventure film starring Frank Sinatra , Trevor Howard , and Raffaella Carrà , and directed by Mark Robson . Produced in CinemaScope , the film depicts a group of Allied prisoners of war ( POWs ) who conduct a daring escape by hijacking the freight train carrying the POWs and fleeing through German-occupied Italy to Switzerland . Based on the 1964 novel by David Westheimer ,

306-450: Is a walkway pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro , near Ardales in the province of Málaga , Spain . Its name derives from the original name of Camino del Rey (King's Pathway), abbreviated locally to el caminito . The walkway was constructed in the early 20th century, but by the early 21st century, it had fallen into disrepair and was partially closed for over

340-756: Is carrying German troops and is on the same schedule. Further, von Klemment is to receive orders at each railway station. A German-speaking British chaplain, Captain Costanzo, impersonates the German commander to ensure their passage through the next station in Florence . There, a plainclothes Gestapo officer notices Ryan's American wristwatch, then boards the train and buys it from him. The prisoners leave quickly. Through documents received in Florence, they learn that both trains are headed towards Innsbruck , Austria. Through trickery and

374-500: Is thought to be a clearing and the men get off to head for safety; aircraft, which Ryan identifies as Lancaster bombers , appear overhead and begin bombing the area. Ryan orders everyone back on the train. The train restarts and passes an oil storage yard being bombed by the Allied aircraft. Several cars catch fire, and the train must stop to aid the wounded and release burning goods wagons. With three dead and some sixty wounded, Oriani and

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408-493: The 10th-highest-grossing film of 1965. Additionally, this was Sinatra's highest-grossing and biggest-earning film of the decade. According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $ 12,600,000 in rentals to break even and made over $ 17,000,000, meaning it made a profit. The film was nominated for a Best Sound Editing ( Walter Rossi ) Academy Award in 1966 , while the Motion Picture Sound Editors also nominated

442-407: The 9th Fusiliers . Their previous commanding officer recently died due to being placed in the "sweat box" as punishment for hitting Battaglia. Major Eric Fincham is the senior British officer until Ryan, being senior, arrives and assumes command. Italy is close to surrender, and Ryan declines to support Fincham's escape attempts. When Fincham captures American prisoners stealing medical supplies from

476-470: The Germans recapture the prisoners and load them onto a northbound train. Fincham assumes Oriani betrayed them until he is found severely battered aboard the train's prisoner carriage. The Germans then shoot all ill prisoners. Fincham blames Ryan for letting Battaglia live, and derogatively calls him " von Ryan". The train travels to Rome, where a German officer, Major von Klemment, takes command. Ryan pries up

510-492: The area's deterioration is directly attributable to the crashing of planes into the cliffs during the filming. The Horsemen (1971) was shot on location in Caminito del Rey. An extended sequence in the 2012 Spanish thriller The End was filmed on the Caminito. 36°54′57″N 4°46′22″W  /  36.91583°N 4.77278°W  / 36.91583; -4.77278 Von Ryan%27s Express Von Ryan's Express

544-460: The channel. The construction began in 1901 and was finished in 1905. King Alfonso XIII crossed the walkway in 1921 for the inauguration of the dam Conde del Guadalhorce , and it became known by its present name. The walkway is 1 metre (3 ft) in width and rises over 100 metres (330 ft) above the river below. The original path was constructed of concrete and rested on steel rails supported by stanchions built at approximately 45 degrees into

578-646: The film a "ripping adventure" that was "directed with amused panache by Robson, and helped no end by a fine cast...", while the BBC 's TV, film and radio listings magazine The Radio Times described it as "a rattlingly exciting Second World War escape adventure, with a well-cast Frank Sinatra..." The film grossed $ 17,111,111 ($ 165,437,521 in 2023 consumer dollars) at the North American box office, equating to $ 7,700,000 ($ 74,446,885 in 2023 consumer dollars) taken in box office rentals. Variety ranked Von Ryan's Express as

612-542: The film changes several aspects of the novel, most notably the ending, which is considerably more upbeat in the book. Financially, it became one of Sinatra's most successful films. Colonel Joseph Ryan, a USAAF P-38 pilot, is shot down over Italy and taken to a POW camp. Ryan insists that the camp commander, Major Basilio Battaglia, salute him as a superior officer, which the sympathetic second-in-command, Captain Vittorio Oriani, translates. Most prisoners are British from

646-688: The film's closing acknowledgment credit, providing a complete train headed by the specially-bulled up FS Class 735 .236. The train which the Nazis commandeer to pursue the escaping POWs is headed by a Franco-Crosti boiler -fitted Class 743. The railway sequence at the film's conclusion, however, was shot in the Caminito del Rey walkway in the limestone gorge of El Chorro and in the adjacent railway bridge, near Málaga in Andalucía , Spain. This switch from filming in Italy

680-453: The four years leading up to 2013, four people died attempting to climb the gorge. The regional government of Andalusia and the local government of Málaga agreed in June 2011 to share costs of restoration (including car parking and a museum) of €9 million. The project took approximately three years to complete. Many of the original features remained in place. In March 2014, the cornerstone of

714-434: The gorge in a set of tunnels and bridges. The gorge features prominently as a place of escape and refuge for the main characters played by Stephen Boyd and Brigitte Bardot in the 1958 movie The Night Heaven Fell . The railway and sections of the Caminito were used in the final location shots of the 1965 adventure film Von Ryan's Express . Caminito del Rey El Caminito del Rey (The King's Little Path)

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748-537: The guards flee and Ryan is freed; the British promptly try Battaglia as a war criminal . He portrays himself as a broken man who has repudiated fascism. Rather than executing him, Ryan sentences him to the sweat box. A German fighter plane overflies the camp, forcing Ryan and the men to flee into the Italian countryside with Oriani's help. They hide out in some ruins while Ryan attempts to contact Allied forces. The next morning,

782-503: The hero (Denholm Elliott) and his cohort (Peter Lorre) are chased by the antagonist (Paul Lucas). At the end of the chase Paul Lucas is run down by a train in a tunnel that is also part of the Park complex. Some of the final scenes of the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express were shot at the confluence of the gateway and the railway. In the film, they stand for the Italian-Swiss border. Some of

816-459: The occasional model. The aircraft alluded to as Messerschmitts were indeed Messerschmitt Bf 108s . A majority of the film was shot on location around Northern Italy in Cortina d'Ampezzo and Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station in Florence (in reality is Roma Ostiense railway station ). The Ferrovie dello Stato /Italian State Railway closely cooperated on the production, as reflected in

850-405: The railcar floorboards. That night, when the train stops, Ryan, Fincham, and Lt. Orde sneak out and kill several guards. They free a covered goods wagon of POWs, who help them kill the remaining guards whose uniforms they then don as a disguise. Ryan and Fincham capture von Klemment and his mistress, Gabriella. As the train moves out, another train follows. Von Klemment reveals that the second train

884-473: The rehabilitation project was laid by specialized alpinists. The walkway reopened on 29 March 2015, and Lonely Planet listed it in the best new attractions for 2015. The new pathway offers a walk of 2.9 km along the side of the gorge. In the film Scent of Mystery released in 1960, also known as Holiday in Spain there is a chase scene towards the end of the film that takes place on the Caminito del Rey where

918-452: The rock face. It deteriorated over the years, and there were numerous sections where part or all of the concrete top had collapsed. The result was large open-air gaps bridged only by narrow steel beams or other supports. Few of the original handrails remained, although a safety wire ran the length of the path. Several people died on the walkway and, after two fatal accidents in 1999 and 2000, the local government closed both entrances. Even so, in

952-408: The sabotaged railway tracks and stop in time. Many soldiers are killed in the resulting battle, including Bostick. The prisoner train moves out as the men run for the moving rear platform with the Germans in pursuit. Most make it onto the train, but Ryan is killed by gunfire still running for the train as it approaches Switzerland. The novel was published in 1963. The novelist David Westheimer had been

986-537: The set, and director Mark Robson were not enough to cause problems as the film was shot with relatively little trouble. However, Sinatra did insist that the ending of the film be altered, ending any chance of a sequel. Sinatra also insisted the film be shot in Panavision rather than Fox's CinemaScope . The film score was written by Jerry Goldsmith . Von Ryan's Express achieved reality using aircraft, trains, and wheeled vehicles photographed on location along with

1020-542: The train diagrams are finally reactivated, Gortz realizes he has been outmaneuvered and leads troops in pursuit. As the Alps appear, the prisoner train is attacked by German aircraft , rocket fire collapsing boulders onto a section of track. The POWs clear the track and use sections of the rails behind them to repair damaged sections and attempt to derail the oncoming German train. As the Germans race up from behind, Ryan, Fincham, and others stay behind to hold them off. The Germans see

1054-474: The train's Italian engineer tell Ryan and Fincham that the only option is to reroute the train at Milan to neutral Switzerland. Waffen-SS troops, led by Colonel Gortz, have discovered the earlier ruse and await the train, but are slowed when Oriani and the men disable a signal box at Milan, knocking out the track diagrams inside the control center. The prisoners reroute the train northwest through manual switching and drive straight through without stopping. When

El Chorro - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-572: Was also built in the front lot of the Studios. Critics liked Von Ryan's Express . Variety noted, "Mark Robson has made realistic use of the actual Italian setting of the David Westheimer novel in garmenting his action in hard-hitting direction and sharply drawn performances." Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy noted in her biography of her father that his performance fuelled speculation of another Academy Award nomination. Time Out London called

1122-413: Was delayed when his chosen star, Anthony Quinn , was unavailable. Frank Sinatra had read the novel and wanted to buy the film rights himself; when he heard they had been lost to Fox, he offered his services for the lead role. Von Ryan's Express was a project keenly undertaken by 20th Century Fox , which was still financially reeling after the extravagance and critical bashing of Cleopatra . Fox, in

1156-585: Was probably done as the bridge looked more suitably attractive for presenting the final set piece than anything that could be found on the Italian rail network. The train featuring in these sequences was laid on by the RENFE /Spanish National Railways and altered to resemble the Italy-based train. Interiors were completed at 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles. The POW camp (Campo Concentramento Prigioneri di Guerra 202)

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