The Cassandra Crossing

This film is one of those guilty pleasures that you often hear of people liking. Guilty pleasures may not be great classic films, but they contain something that attracts film goers. The film may have a performance, a cast, a plot, FX or writing that really speaks to people. The Cassandra Crossing is one of these films. Not a lot of people know about this film. It is certainly no classic – some of the music is bizarre, the acting is suspect, the editing is choppy and Martin Sheen doing a handstand in Y-fronts is certainly scary. Yes, this film certainly is a guilty pleasure. It has a very European feel to it. In the end, what The Cassandra Crossing has going for it is its premise – a train sent to its doom over an abandoned railway bridge because of the fear of its passengers infecting the population with an incurable plague.

I became attached to the film when I saw it on TV as an afternoon matinee when I was young. Back then, I was intrigued by the great story – a suspected plague-infested train sent to its doom over an abandoned train trestle to prevent the spread of the disease, or so we think. I loved the political overtones. Even after learning that the passengers posed no risk, the military made the decision to kill them all anyway by sending the train over the bridge that they knew was unsafe. Great story. Even though the plot is the star here, Sophia Loren and Richard Harris do put in credible performances.

I think this would be great as a remake – keep the plot and get rid of everything else: the strange, sharp editing, off-kilter acting, off music and the Euro-trash feeling. You must understand that The Cassandra Crossing was made at a time when the all-star disaster craze was sweeping across films in the 1970s. This came out of that era. It often gets lost when the discussion of 70s disaster films comes up – and it shouldn’t be. It’s a cult classic and thoroughly enjoyable to watch because of the premise alone – something it shares with another cult classic disaster thriller from the 1970s: The Medusa Touch. This is great popcorn viewing for a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon.

The bridge used as The Cassandra Crossing was actually the Garabit Viaduct – built by the man who built the Eiffel Tower. Legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith did the score – admirably at times, but his efforts were overshadowed by bizarre Euro-sounds that detracted from his score. The film was produced by Loren’s husband Carlo Ponti. In the end, the disaster theme had run its course and not even O.J. Simpson could save this film at the box office or with the critics.