captive – and that the heavily bandaged "accident victim" is in fact now Miss Froy. This proves to be the case and Dr Hartz instructs his wife, dressed as a nun (with high heels), to drug their drinks, but his wife chooses not to do so. At the next station the train is diverted onto a branch line and only the buffet car and one carriage are left. The train stops and Helmut von Reider, an SS officer (son of Miss Froy's former employer), approaches the train, demanding that Miss Froy be surrendered. The passengers refuse and a gunfight ensues. Miss Froy chooses this moment to confess that she is in fact a courier with a vital coded message (she hums a tune to them) that must be delivered to a senior official in London. She leaves the train and disappears. Condon, Charters and Caldicot contrive to take over the engine and drive the train back to the main line and over the Swiss border. Back in London at the Foreign Office, the duo attempt to remember the tune she sang, then suddenly they hear someone humming the same tune. It is Miss Froy who managed to escape her captors. Cast Elliott Gould – Robert Condon Cybill Shepherd – Amanda Kelly Angela Lansbury – Miss Froy Herbert Lom – Dr Hartz Arthur Lowe – Charters Ian Carmichael – Caldicott Gerald Harper – Mr Todhunter Jenny Runacre – "Mrs" Todhunter Jean Anderson – Baroness Madlena Nedeva – Nun Madge Ryan – Rose Flood Porter Rosalind Knight – Evelyn Barnes Vladek Sheybal – Trainmaster Wolf Kahler – Helmut Barbara Markham – Frau Kummer Peter Schratt – German Officer Production The producer formed a package and approached Tony Williams of Rank who agreed to finance. Williams had recently agreed to finance a remake of The 39 Steps; he defended the idea of remaking a classic: The old films suffer technically against today's. The pace of modern films is much faster. The style of acting is different. Those old actors were marvellous, but if you consult the man in the street, he's more interested in seeing a current artist than someone who's been dead for years. "What we're competing with here is not the real picture but people's memory of it", said George Axelrod. "Hitchcock's film had some brilliant things in it, but as a whole picture you'd have to admit it's pretty creaky.