The Cassandra Crossing

Richard Harris,Martin Sheen,Sophia Loren,Ava Gardner

When the existence of a strain of plague (vaguely identified as pneumonic) is revealed at the US mission at the International Health Organization, three terrorists seek to blow up the US mission. Two of them are shot, one mortally, by security personnel, but one escapes. The surviving terrorist is hospitalized and quarantined, identified as Swedish. Soon after, Dr. Elena Stradner and US military intelligence Colonel Stephen Mackenzie argue over the nature of the strain, which Stradner suspects is a biological weapon but which Colonel Mackenzie claims was in the process of being destroyed.The third terrorist, Eklund, escapes and stows away on a train bound from Geneva to Stockholm. Stradner believes that the train should be stopped so that the terrorist can be removed and quarantined, but Mackenzie is concerned that all of the passengers on the train might be infected. Mackenzie insists on rerouting the train to a disused railway line which goes to a former Nazi concentration camp in Janov, Poland, where the passengers will be quarantined. However, the line crosses a dangerously unsound steel arch bridge known as the Kasundruv Bridge or the "Cassandra Crossing", out of use since 1948 (former railway Zagorz-Solina-Turka-Lviv between Poland and Ukraine). Meanwhile, Eklund infects numerous people (and Iago, a pet basset hound in the cargo area) as he wanders the train as a stowaway; Eklund coughs over a bowl of rice that is to be served to guests, he touches a baby, brushes past numerous people, and finally contains himself in a guest's bathroom, desperate for drinking water. The guests in question, a young hippie couple who enjoy singing, catch him in the bathroom and mistake him for a "sweaty pervert", unaware that he is carrying a deadly disease.Mackenzie understands that the Cassandra Crossing bridge might collapse as the train passes over it. The presence of the infected terrorist, and the rerouting of the train, precipitates the second conflict among passengers on the train; they include: Jonathan Chamberlain, a famous neurologist - his ex-wife Jennifer Rispoli-Chamberlain - a former inmate of Janov and Holocaust survivor turned watch salesman Herman Kaplan - Max (the conductor) - an elderly nun who likes romance novels - the hippie couple and their fellow bandmates - and Nicole Dressler, the wife of a German arms dealer. She is embroiled in an affair with her gigolo companion, a much younger man and mountain climber named Robby Navarro. Navarro is secretly a heroin trafficker being pursued by Interpol agent Haley, who is travelling undercover as a priest. Haley is desperate not to have his cover blown; unfortunately for him, he shares a car with a spoiled little schoolgirl named Caterina (spelled "Katerina" in the English subtitled version), who suspects him immediately of not really being a priest when she sees an anchor tattoo on his arm from a previous navy career. He calls the little girl "sweets" as a nickname, which Caterina's nanny finds charming. Caterina considers him a bizarre sort of priest when he doesn't say his prayers at the dinner table that evening.Jennifer, a successful author, plans to publish a tell-all, unauthorized biography of her rocky marriage and divorce, a book that would greatly embarrass Chamberlain if it were released. Still, the two can't bring themselves to stay mad at each other for long; they kiss, only for things to quickly go sour again as Jennifer makes a catty remark about still going through with her publication. Chamberlain scolds her, telling her that he can never be sure whether or not her behavior is genuine. Jennifer goes to open the window for some fresh air, only to see the train passing through its intended station stop, with police at the station platform. She hurries to warn Chamberlain, who is busy discussing his research (regenerating damaged brain cells in mentally retarded children). Dressler, hearing this, comically tells Navarro, "there's hope for you yet!", which Navarro doesn't find amusing. Frustrated by the casual banter, Jennifer tells her ex-husband about the police, anyway. Before Chamberlain can respond, he's told that he has an emergency telephone call coming in for him, which he goes to take.Mackenzie informs Chamberlain of the presence of Eklund, who is found, but when attempts are made to remove him via helicopter, they're unsuccessful because the train enters a tunnel, and Eklund is overweight and bloated, thus a struggle even for four people to try to lift out of the train. Stradner insists that the Iago the basset hound, removed via helicopter in a net, not be dumped overboard into the snowy mountains; the dog is instead brought back to the lab for observation, where it falls into a coma quickly afterwards. Chamberlain is also told that the plague has a 60% mortality rate. Mackenzie, however, lies to passengers via radio that police have received reports of anarchist bombs placed along the rail line, and that the train will be rerouted to Nuremberg. There the train is sealed with an enclosed oxygen system and a US Army medical team is placed aboard, with the now-deceased terrorist being placed in a hermetically-sealed coffin. Most of the medical team is not made up of doctors, but rather armed military guards.The elderly nun sadly passes away after suffering from chest pains, and Eklund's coffin is hoisted away, which causes another female passenger to panic at the sight of it. Passengers are stunned by how callous the medical team is, watching as they shove around a pregnant woman and confiscate sentimental items and expensive valuables, including Kaplan's suitcase, which contains things like items that he uses for amateur magic tricks to impress children and customers. The guards also threaten to shoot anyone who attempts to flee the train. They shoot Kaplan, who attempts to escape through a safety hatch after confiding in Max about his Holocaust survival (Max had conducted the train as a young man and remembers a concentration camp being on a nearby route); Kaplan is wounded, but survives. Haley attempts to leave out one of the passenger doors, but is threatened that he'll be shot at too if he flees, convincing him to remain aboard.Kaplan begins to suffer a nervous breakdown upon realizing that they're heading for the concentration camp where he was once imprisoned; he finds the whole process of being sealed into a train by force, held at gunpoint and having his beloved watch collection stolen from him to mirror his own Holocaust experience. Stealing Chamberlain's scalpel, he runs away in terror, planning suicide, but luckily he is stopped. As Chamberlain sedates him, he pleads not to be sent back to the Nazis. Unable to watch his suffering any longer, Jennifer bolts, running from the car in tears. As morning approaches, back at the lab, Stradner is surprised to discover that Iago has awoken from the coma. Meanwhile, MacKenzie wants to discuss the stress tolerance of Cassandra Crossing, suspecting already that the train isn't going to make it. Max suggests as much to Jennifer over morning coffee as the train nears Poland; he notes that the line hasn't been used by trains since 1948, and that the locals all moved out ages ago, fearing that the shoddy construction would collapse. As it's the 1970's, this indicates that the bridge has not been used or tested in over twenty years. Exterior shots of the bridge in cutaway scenes reveal a rickety, rusty structure with multiple loose pieces, missing bolts and random scrap metal all over the tracks, confirming Max's words.MacKenzie begins to feel guilty about sending the passengers to Cassandra Crossing when he analyzes the stress figures for the bridge, as well as his knowledge that the disease came about due to biological warfare research. He urges his superiors to listen to him, but they order him to keep things going as planned. Meanwhile, Navarro develops a severe fever as he's afflicted with the disease. A worried Dressler urges him to seek Chamberlain's help, but he stubbornly refuses. Finally he relents, rolling up his sleeve for an injection. Chamberlain sees the telltale marks of heroin injections on Navarro's arms, and concludes that Navarro is in withdraw, opting not to medicate him until it's over. Jennifer asks the now conscious Kaplan if Cassandra Crossing is really as dangerous to travel on as Max has told her. Kaplan agrees, telling her that no human being wants to be near the bridge anymore. He also suggests that being made to go back over the bridge is God's will, and that God wants him back at the concentration camp to die. He further reveals that it's fitting, because the camp is where his wife and two daughters were killed; he wishes to be with them.Chamberlain learns of the risk of Cassandra Crossing. He also begins to suspect the disease is not as serious as originally thought: few of the passengers have become infected, and few of those have actually died. He radios MacKenzie, suggesting the infected portion of the train be uncoupled and isolated, but MacKenzie, acting under orders, has no intention of stopping the train: if, as expected, the Cassandra Crossing collapses, it will neatly cover the fact that the U.S has been harboring germ warfare agents in a neutral country. Stradner elatedly reveals that Iago is fully recovering, which offers some hope of survival for the passengers of the train. MacKenzie insists the train continue on its intended journey anyway, as it's beyond his control now.Navarro snaps after being caught by Haley. He takes Dressler hostage, and threatens to shoot every guard aboard the train unless the train is stopped and he gets a helicopter on the roof. Chamberlain suspects Navarro just wants a fix, and shouts at him until he cries, calling him a coward, while Dressler scolds him for using a drug as "common" as heroin. Navarro breaks down sobbing, but since he hasn't hurt anybody, he's spared after surrendering his guns. Chamberlain notices that Navarro is recovering, and he's even more surprised to see that the hippie couple, who'd both been almost comatose with fever earlier on, are fully recovered and looking for something to eat. An unnamed infant baby that was sick, as well as Caterina, have both recovered completely, thus further revealing that the disease may not have been as serious as MacKenzie and Stradner thought. Stradner begs MacKenzie to stop the train, noting that if he simply stands by and allows innocent people to be killed, it's almost worse than murdering them. She believes that murder is not his intent, and that he's merely following orders, which still repulses her.Chamberlain rounds up Navarro and Haley to help him in trying to force the guards to stop the train. Navarro coldly snaps at Dressler that his gigolo routine with her was simply to get in and out of various parts of Europe to traffick drugs as her companion without suspicion, and he leaves her in stunned shock. The hippie couple create a diversion for the guards; the female hippie, Susan, undresses out in the open, attracting a leering guard to watch, while Susan's boyfriend, Tom, knocks out the guard and steals his machine gun. Meanwhile Chamberlain tries to convince Captain Scott, the guard leader, that even his own life will be cut short if they don't disobey orders and stop the train. Scott punches Chamberlain in the face. Haley tries to exercise his own authority as a police agent, but is held at gunpoint. Navarro admits to having feelings for Dressler despite his cold exterior, requesting that Jennifer take her to a place on the train where it's safer, while Max, Haley, and a number of other passengers gather together, armed and ready to stop the train on their own. While Navarro climbs to the roof of the train, a shootout ensues. Bobby, a friend of the hippie couple, is able to get one of the machine guns as the guards are subdued.Caterina's nanny is almost killed, but is pulled back by Navarro and rescued before she can be shot at. Navarro reveals that the roof of the train is just as inaccessible as the rest of it for getting to the engine. Chamberlain has another idea, unhooking one portion of the car from the rest of the train, but this horrifies Jennifer, who argues that the remaining military guards and the children, including Caterina, will all be killed if they're left behind. Navarro offers to help by attempting to climb the outside of the train from one shutter to the next so that he can unhook the cars, in the hopes that he can also redeem himself for his past actions by saving his new friends. Haley doubts the altruism of the man's intent, fearing he might just jump off the train and leave the passengers to die as he looks for his next drug fix, but Navarro is eager to help, acquiring Tom's tennis shoes so that he'll have better footwear for climbing across. He says farewell to Dressler, calling her "baby" (her usual preferred pet name for him), while Caterina's nanny fears that the little schoolgirl will be killed when the cars are separated. Back at the lab, Stradner reveals that Iago has completely recovered, hoping MacKenzie will finally understand her hope. Instead, the man rudely quips that she should take the dog out for a walk. On the train, Haley enters another shootout, and is stunned to find Mr. Kaplan sitting alone by himself in the abandoned car, having resigned himself to death. Navarro climbs out the window, and Chamberlain wishes him good luck.Navarro makes his way across the shutters nervously, nearly losing his footing, while Stradner and two military officials watch a real-time computer tracker showing the train rapidly approaching Cassandra Crossing. Meanwhile Jennifer finds some cheap booze and a ball of twine, hoping that if Navarro's plan fails, she can light the twine on fire and dislodge the cars with an explosion from a nearby propane tank in the kitchen. Caterina drops her musical chime ball toy in the hallway, and when picking it up, she sees Navarro out the window. She begs the military guard nearby not to hurt him, but the guard shoots Navarro, knocking him from the moving train where he falls to his death on a boulder nearby, much to the horror of Chamberlain, who watches out another window. Caterina cries for her nanny, horrified at Navarro's murder, which disturbs the military guard when he looks over his shoulder and sees how upset the children are. Chamberlain reveals to Jennifer that Navarro didn't make it, thus leaving her plan the only feasible option left. Chamberlain, out of ammunition in his machine gun, orders Jennifer to get all the passengers to second class where it's safe, while he stays behind to execute the plan.Tom and Caterina's nanny are both shot by a military guard, and dragged to safety in another car by Susan, Max and Jennifer while Bobby subdues the guard. A nervous Captain Scott, who doesn't want to kill, orders Chamberlain to come out and face him, but Chamberlain is busy trying to light the piece of twine soaking in booze that Jennifer left behind, as the flame keeps going out. Captain Scott rolls out a canister of tear gas. Chamberlain desperately calls out to Haley to give him a match so he can re-light the twine, while Kaplan sits there frozen in silent shock and gas fills the hallways. In a daze, he gets up and wanders out into the hallway, urged to go to second class where it's safe, while Haley is relieved to discover a frightened Caterina sobbing in the hallway, calling her by her nickname, "sweets". Caterina runs into his arms and he attempts to flee with her to safety, but she's shot in the back by Captain Scott, falling to his death, much to Caterina's terror. Luckily, Caterina was taken just far enough by Haley to a safe place that she's able to stay beside Chamberlain, while Kaplan stands near the twine and lights it, committing suicide but also courageously stopping the engine with an explosion at the same time. Jennifer finds Chamberlain and Caterina, but sadly, they are forced to leave Haley's body behind.Stradner and MacKenzie watch silently in surprise when they see that the train tracker has frozen on-screen, indicating that the train has stopped before reaching Cassandra Crossing, when in actuality, the cars are still attached and gliding by without the engine. Luckily, Kaplan has slowed it down enough that Chamberlain can get to the hinge that lodges both sides of the train together, which he struggles to do before it's too late. He's finally able to dislodge the second class car, jumping to his safety. He falls out of the back of the train and rolls down a hill, alive, while Max puts on the emergency brakes for the second class car. The first class car continues on its trajectory over Cassandra Crossing, and as predicted, numerous people are killed as the bridge collapses in a bloody scene, including two of the children whom Caterina had befriended, an elderly lady, some young teenagers, the military guard who murdered Navarro, many crew members for the train, and numerous other people. Stradner shuts her eyes as she and MacKenzie listen to the collapse over the radio, as she believes that nobody survived. When she sarcastically congratulates MacKenzie on "quarantining" the passengers for good, telling him that maybe there were survivors, he tells her that the oxygen pumped into the train would have generated an explosion that killed everybody, including the appointed military guards. Stradner, disgusted, is only able to say, "I see", finally aware that his goal all along was to have them killed to contain the disease. MacKenzie tries to push a collectivist ideal, arguing that he's a military man whose goal wasn't just to contain the disease itself, but also any knowledge of it. He then threatens Stradner into silence, urging her not to risk her career as a doctor over the lives of the passengers.An exterior shot shows the unfortunate train submerged in the water of the river below Cassandra Crossing, along with large concrete chunks of the ill-fated bridge, steel beams, human corpses, and sentimental objects belonging to the passengers, including Jennifer's advanced reader's copy of her biography. Meanwhile, a number of survivors pour from the train, including Jennifer herself, Caterina, a lesser military guard, Susan, Tom, Max, Bobby, Dressler, the unnamed mother and her baby, and Chamberlain assisting with getting everybody out alive. Sadly, Caterina's nanny does not emerge, implying that she died of her gunshot wounds. A tearful Caterina is hugged by Chamberlain and Jennifer as more unnamed survivors exit the train. Meanwhile, a guilt-ridden MacKenzie shuts off the tracking equipment and alerts his superiors - or rather, promises them - that there are no other survivors. He finds himself on the receiving end of his own disregard for individual human life though when another military official, Major Stack, informs MacKenzie's superiors that both MacKenzie and Stradner are under surveillance to make sure they don't freely speak out about the disaster.