The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Charles Crichton

Writer:

T.E.B. Clarke (original screenplay)

Release Date:

20 October 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Full steam ahead for this comedy classic!

Plot:

Comedy of railfans who take over their village's passenger train service (against bus company resistance) when British Rail abandons it.

Plot Keywords:

Train | Railroad | Railway | Pub | Water Tower

Cast

Stanley Holloway	...	Walter Valentine
George Relph	...	Vicar Sam Weech
Naunton Wayne	...	George Blakeworth
John Gregson	...	Squire Gordon Chesterford
Godfrey Tearle	...	Ollie Matthews, Bishop of Welchester
Hugh Griffith	...	Dan Taylor
Gabrielle Brune	...	Joan Hampton
Sid James	...	Harry Hawkins (as Sidney James)
Reginald Beckwith	...	Coggett
Edie Martin	...	Emily
Michael Trubshawe	...	Ruddock
Jack MacGowran	...	Vernon Crump (as Jack McGowran)
Ewan Roberts	...	Alec Pearce
Herbert C. Walton	...	Seth
John Rudling	...	Clegg - Inspector from Ministry

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System) | Mono (Gaumont Kalee Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G (TV rating) | UK:U | Iceland:L | UK:U (video rating) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bristol Temple Meads station, Bristol, England, UK

Company:

Michael Balcon Productions

Trivia:

The credited driver, fireman and guard were not actors, they were British Railways employees from Westbury depot and were originally to be uncredited extras. After director Charles Crichton spoke to them on location and realized they "looked and sounded the part", they were given speaking parts.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the trial the chimney on the saloon coach changes sides from right to left and back again in comparison to the Titfield Thunderbolt. The coach obviously was turned around during filming and pulled the other way.

Quotes:

Sam Weech: They can't close our line, it's unthinkable
Gordon: What about the old Canterbury-Whitstable line? They closed that.
Sam Weech: Perhaps there were not men of sufficient faith in Canterbury.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Forever Ealing (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Eton Boating Song

Patriotism of the best sort

As you may gather from my signature i have railways in my blood,so it is practically inevitable that i love this movie.However it is more than a simple comedy about a village trying to save its railway branch line,though that would be good enough.It is also a picture of a time when a way of life was about to disappear with the railways,a time when people had good manners and treated each other with respect.A time also when to love your country didn"t open you to the charge of xenophobia.The cast are just fabulous with Hugh Griffith as Dan being the funniest,and a youngish Sid James [who always looked 55] before his Carry On heyday!The star is the countryside in beautiful Technicolour and funnily enough my favourite scene is a minor one; its where a girl in a summer dress is running down a hill to see the "Thunderbolt" go past! Now some good news; a couple of years ago i set out to walk the Limpley Stoke-Camerton line where the line was filmed,and was amazed to find how much was unchanged.Apart from the missing track,the cricket field [with the road viaduct behind] was exactly the same and at Monkton Combe [Titfield] the huge iron gateposts are still there.Anyone wanting to do the same should alight at Freshford station near Bath,walk through the lovely village past "Mr Valentines House" then to Limpley Stoke Station and follow the line from there.Like the film you"ll love it!