First released in 1989, Casablanca Express takes place during World War II.

The three leaders of the Allied nations — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill — are scheduled to meet in Casablanca to plan the Allied strategy for the next phase of the war.  Churchill insists that he will take a train from Algiers to Casablanca, despite the danger that might put him in.  Even though everyone advises him against it, Churchill is determined.  He makes it clear that he will be traveling by train.

When Major Valmore (Jean Sorel), Colonel Bats (Donald Pleasence), and Maj. Gen. Williams (Glenn Ford) learn that the Germans are aware that Churchill will be on the train and that they will be sending their own intelligence agents to try to kidnap or even assassinate him, they assign three intelligence agents to travel with Churchill.  The agents are Alan Cooper (Jason Connery), Captain Franchetti (Francesco Quinn), and Lt. Lorna Fisher (Jinny Steffan) and they are under orders to do whatever is necessary to protect Churchill’s life.  Unfortunately, Cooper gets so busy chasing after a French double agent that he misses the train’s departure time.  When Otto van Tiblis (Manfred Lehmann) makes his move to take over the train, it falls to Franchetti and Lorna to stop him.  Despite their best efforts, they fail.  Now, it appears that Churchill’s only hope is that Cooper will not only be able to reach the train but also defeat the army of Germans who have taken it over.

Directed by Sergio Martino, Casablanca Express is an Italian film that owes quite a bit to the legacy of writers like Ian Fleming and Jack Higgins.  The plot to capture Churchill owes more than a bit to The Eagles Has Landed, right down to one of the film’s final twists and Donald Pleasence making a cameo appearance as an authority figure.  Alan Cooper is a combination of James Bond and Indiana Jones.  He’s just as comfortable in a suit and tie as he is riding a camel across the desert.  Sergio Martino was one of the best directors of Italian genre films.  He dabbled in everything, from giallo films to Hercules films to crime films to cannibal films to action films like this one.  As a filmmaker, he was efficient and quick to get to the point.  The action in Casablanca Express moves quickly.  In fact, it moves so quickly that the audience often doesn’t have time to consider all of the plot holes.  Martino knows better than to worry about authenticity.  That’s not the type of film that Casablanca Express is.

The film stars Jason Connery and Francesco Quinn, the sons of Sean Connery and Anthony Quinn.  They are both adequate in their roles, even though neither one of them has quite the screen presence of their famous fathers.  Jason Connery is handsome and he looks good in a suit and Francesco Quinn looks good throwing a punch.  That’s all that’s really required of them.  Personally, my favorite character was Lorna Fisher, who fought the Nazis by distracting them with her legs.  That would be my strategy as well so I’m glad to see that it worked here.

Casablanca Express was made at a time when the Italian film industry was going through a down period.  Hence, the budget is low and the film can sometimes seem a bit rushed.  But, all in all, it’s an entertaining B-action movie.