 Director Arthur Penn oversaw the development of the film and  directed the first day of shooting. The next day was a holiday.  Lancaster, dissatisfied with Penns conception of the picture, had  him fired and replaced by John Frankenheimer. Penn envisioned a more  intimate film that would muse on the role art played in the French  character, and why they would risk their lives to save the countrys  great art from the Nazis. He did not intend to give much focus to  the mechanics of the train operation itself. Frankenheimer said that  in the original script Penn wanted to shoot, the train did not leave  the station until page 90. The production was shut down briefly  while a the script was rewritten. Lancaster told screenwriter Walter  Bernstein the day Penn was fired, "Frankenheimer is a bit of a  whore, but hell do what I want." What Lancaster wanted was more  emphasis on action in order to ensure that the film was a hit after  the failure of "The Leopard" by appealing to a broader audience.