Paris, August 1944. With the Allied army closing in, German commander and art fanatic Colonel Von Wadheim (Paul Scofield) steals a vast collection of rare French paintings and loads them onto a train bound for Berlin. But when a beloved French patriot is murdered while trying to sabotage Von Waldheim's scheme, Labiche (Burt Lancaster), a stalwart member of the Resistance, vows to stop the train at any cost. Calling upon his vast arsenal of skills, Labiche unleashes a torrent of devastation and destruction, loosened rails, shattered tracks and head-on collisions- in an impassioned, suspense-filled quest for justice, retribution and revenge.