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Railway footage in feature films and television...


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  • 3 weeks later...

Not seen it mentioned, but one of my favorite films is 'School for Scoundrels' (1960 - Alistair Sim, Terry-Thomas, Ian Carmichael).

 

Near the beginning, the hero (Ian Carmichael) is on his way to attend 'The School of Lifemanship' in Yeovil. When the train pulls into 'Yeovil' though, I seem to remember that the loco is an Eastern Region tank (poss J50). The fingerpost directions to the school then take him on a journey across the goods yard.

The film finishes in the same place, only this time, Terry-Thomas is looking for the school.

 

Anyone know where it was filmed?

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Not seen it mentioned, but one of my favorite films is 'School for Scoundrels' (1960 - Alistair Sim, Terry-Thomas, Ian Carmichael).

 

Near the beginning, the hero (Ian Carmichael) is on his way to attend 'The School of Lifemanship' in Yeovil. When the train pulls into 'Yeovil' though, I seem to remember that the loco is an Eastern Region tank (poss J50). The fingerpost directions to the school then take him on a journey across the goods yard.

The film finishes in the same place, only this time, Terry-Thomas is looking for the school.

 

Anyone know where it was filmed?

 

And it looks very much like a J69 to me (especially as the number is 685XX). The yard also has some very interesting contents but alas not at all well lit.

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has anyone seen "Young winston", a film about the younger days of winston churchill. there are a few bits from his army days with railway scens that are supposed to be sudan and south africa. but a good film though

Edited by sir douglas
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Take a Girl Like You (Hayley Mills/Oliver Reed). Opens with scenes on the WR (blue class 47). Then a blue Hymek arriving at Slough up fast platform. Hayley Mills alighting from blue & grey coaches in the Windsor branch bay. Station renamed Henge. Street scenes are some nice views of Staines (most of which since demolished). Later in the movie Oliver Reed stops his Moggie Minor at Pooley Green level crossing, Egham, as a 2BIL/HAL Reading train goes by.

The Rebel (Tony Hancock). His sculpture "Aphrodite at the Waterhole" is decapitated by a footbridge whilst travelling on a flat wagon on the rear of the 'Golden Arrow'.

Edited by dibber25
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Thanks for that Chris... I have 'Take A Girl Like You' on my Amazon 'item saved for later' list at the moment, based on the above it'll be going straight into the basket ;)

 

In an epeisode of 'The Persuaders' Roger Moore leaps onto a SR unit at Worthing station.

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has anyone seen "Young winston", a film about the younger days of winston churchill. there are a few bits from his army days with railway scens that are supposed to be sudan and south africa. but a good film though

Is that the one where the train goes into a disguised tunnel?

Once in a gate is shut and all traces of the train vanish under the camouflage and it just looks like an empty siding.

 

Keith

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has anyone seen "Young winston", a film about the younger days of winston churchill. there are a few bits from his army days with railway scens that are supposed to be sudan and south africa. but a good film though

 

Saw this at the weekend. Still a great film.

The Boer War armoured train ambush looked like it was filmed in Yorkshire. (KWVR perhaps).

 

Mac

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Saw this at the weekend. Still a great film.

The Boer War armoured train ambush looked like it was filmed in Yorkshire. (KWVR perhaps).

 

Mac

It was filmed at Colbren, on the former Neath and Brecon line just beyond Onllwyn colliery; the line was still in use to a quarry near Craig-y-Nos at the time. The loco was a heavily disguised 14xx 0-4-2t, I recollect.

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It was filmed at Colbren, on the former Neath and Brecon line just beyond Onllwyn colliery; the line was still in use to a quarry near Craig-y-Nos at the time. The loco was a heavily disguised 14xx 0-4-2t, I recollect.

1466 I do believe - and somewhere in the film there is a very brief glimpse of that number painted on the bucket hanging on the fireiron brackets.

 

Edit to add the PS that the other railway scenes were I believe filmed at Longmoor.

Edited by The Stationmaster
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In one of the recent Titianic-themed dramas (thus pretty much fixing the supposed date, I should have thought...), some of the passengers arrived in Southampton in a rake of blue-grey carriages! Can't remember if it was Channel 4, 5 or whatever, but it had David Calder as the Captain, if that helps (sorry, too tired for Googling).

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Towards the end of the film Billy Liar is a very evocative late-night scene at a terminal station. Whenever I see it I think - ah, that's just how it used to be. Hard to explain to anyone who wasn't there, but big stations had a special atmosphere at night in steam days, something that just doesn't exist any more.

 

Any road, I googled the film and found the location used was Marylebone. Which surprised me, as I would have put money on Bradford (Exchange) - that is, the old version, not the modern interchange.

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Towards the end of the film Billy Liar is a very evocative late-night scene at a terminal station. Whenever I see it I think - ah, that's just how it used to be. Hard to explain to anyone who wasn't there, but big stations had a special atmosphere at night in steam days, something that just doesn't exist any more.

I think it lasted a bit longer than steam though that did add its own atmosphere. In the mid 1970s I had a room for about a year in a flat near Paddington and used to enjoy going there late at night to get tomorrow's newspapers today (i.e the regional editions). After most passenger trains had stopped there was a new bustle of parcels, mail and newspaper trains that was very seductive and in those days it was one of the few places where you could get a coffee and a bun/pie after midnight . You get some hint of it in Night Mail in the scene in Crewe (?) but the whole atmosphere was about more than mail trains. Termini did usually have a closed period between about 1AM and the early morning when nothing happened but some stations down the line and particularly in Europe seemed to be alive all night.

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Oh, to be young. 1967 is when I started with Decca Records,"Swinging London" and all that publicity crap, I ended up being in a German film representing "London".... Thank God I've forgotten the name - if it turns up somewhere I'll just deny it anyway.

By the way I never saw "Smashing Time" either, never heard of it. Looks crap too!

 

Best, Pete.

Edited by trisonic
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has this been mentioned? starts at 1min25.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52qJaoSuHX4&feature=related

 

Just watched this. All the graphics feature St Pancras, the shot from the train shows the St pancras approaches but the actual arrival is at another station with pillars supporting the roof bays, (Not sure which but could be Marylebone) then the girls exit St Pancras. Brilliant continuity, perhaps not.

 

Jamie

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British Rail had some kind of rule that any filming inside a London terminus had actually to be done at Marylebone. Why? Dunno, something to do with it being the less busy I suppose.....

You can't blame the film unit this time.

 

Best, Pete.

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British Rail had some kind of rule that any filming inside a London terminus had actually to be done at Marylebone. Why? Dunno, something to do with it being the less busy I suppose.....

You can't blame the film unit this time.

Best, Pete.

I expect if the film folk went via BRB Marylebone would have been the natural place to direct them to - on the doorstep plus, as you've said, nice & quiet. I suspect that going through Regional or Divisional offices would have produced either a 'we have so & so which will be just right for that' or a 'you'd better go to so & so because they have a nice quiet station in London'. All depended on what the film company were prepared or able to pay and how accessible teh site was for them or what the design folk wanted.

 

With the 'Magic Christian' it happened that I was the first person they contacted and their production assistant asked for a 'Blue Pullman train and someone told me to speak to your office'. A bit of chat and asking leading questions revealed that what the producer wanted was a 'blue & white train' and that a shiny blue & grey one would suit nicely and was much cheaper than the price I quoted for a'Blue Pullman'. So they used a 'blue & grey train' and got the exact sort of facilities they needed.

 

If you think some of the stuff we see in films is daft you ought to come across some of the things they ask for - the producers of the Tom Cruise 'Mission Impossible' film originally asked to film the 'Channel Tunnel' scenes in the Tunnel on the roof of a moving train and apparently were surprised to learn there were overhead live wires which supplied the electricity which mad the train work.

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