David Westheimer, 1917-2005, author of VON RYAN’S EXPRESS

November 15, 2005 by wfzimmerman | No comments

David Westheimer, 1917-2005 | Ann Arbor District Library

David Westheimer, author of Von Ryan’s Express (1964), died yesterday in Los Angeles.

The former WWII POW and later editor of the former Houston Post newspaper, used his wartime experience to pen Von Ryan’s Express which was made into a movie by the same name a year later, and starred Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard. In 1980, Westheimer wrote the sequel, Van Ryan’s Return.

Westheimer also wrote My Sweet Charlie (1965), which became a Broadway play in 1966 and which netted Patty Duke an Emmy for the TV adaptation in 1970.

David Westheimer was 88.

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The book is darned good, and the movie is true to it. This is a death to be mourned.

Update: my trusty Ann Arbor District Library still had its first edition of the 1964 book. I re-read it this weekend. It is still a cracking good story with well constructed characters in a compelling situation. Gee, with all the cruddy Hollywood movies that they remake, why don’t they remake Von Ryan’s Express? It’s a natural.

The novel has aged well. There are some aspects of the story I didn’t notice on first reading that stood out more this time. For example, to make his escape from the prison train, Ryan has to kill twelve guards with his bare hands. That’s a lot of killing, and it shakes him … which is absolutely realistic.

One of Ryan’s key aides is the camp padre, who winds up being intimately involved in the death of German soldiers who confided in him in the confessional. Ryan forces him to make a choice between his uniform as a soldier and his uniform as a chaplain. A great side part for an accomplished actor!

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