Margaret Lockwood, Albert Lieven, and Paul Henreid

Night Train to Munich is a great movie, but the thing I most associate it with is the fact it has one of my favorite Paul Henreid performances. Henreid had such a natural gift for “becoming” whatever character he stepped into. He was such a phenomenal actor that he didn’t need extra drama or “scene stealing schemes” to tell the story at hand. He simply became the character who’s face he happened to be wearing at the time – beautifully and (seemingly) effortlessly. He was one of those stars who I’m particularly drawn to – those who never seemed to be acting. They’re simply being the character within the story without trying to command the moment.

I don’t have to tell you how few and far between these stars were and are! Makes them stand out, if you ask me.

The first two Paul Henreid films I saw were Casablanca and Now, Voyager. In spite of sharing the screen with the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Bette Davis, he always stood out to me. There was a quiet strength to his screen presence an it always makes me suspect he had the same presence in real life.

My two most recently seen Paul Henreid films are Night Train to Munich and Stolen Face… again he stands out, yet does so without even trying. It’s almost impossible to put the Henreid effect into words, you simply have to watch his films and his brilliant performances and see for yourself.

As a personal favorite, he is one of the stars I “collect” (photos, cards, movies, etc) and I plan to see his entire filmography. In this case, it’s an absolutely pleasure – he has an excellent filmography and the Henried effect is always something to behold. ~ Joi (“Joy”)