Director Charles Crichton and writer Tibby Clarke team up for the first Ealing comedy to be produced in Technicolor. When an antiquated railway line is threatened with closure, the villagers decide to run it themselves and enter into frenzied competition with the local bus route, with hilarious consequences!
The Titfield Thunderbolt is another charming film from Ealing with a typically witty screenplay from regular writer T.E.B. Clarke, working once again with director Charles Crichton, who together made several Ealing films including The Lavender Hill Mob for which Clarke won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
I think he deserved it for this too; it so sharply lampoons British traditions (a love of trains) and problems (selling off industry, despite the loss of community). We are a small country and feel it deeply when a way of life comes to an end, which happens all too often in the name of cost cutting efficiency and bloody health and safety. Though the film good naturedly pulls the leg of traditionalists who are blinded by nostalgia, it also rallies against those who ignore it. When John Gregson calls on the villagers to support them running the railway themselves and he says the “village will die without it”, he is sadly correct (in general and specifically if you watch the included clip). That scene at the town meeting also features a hilarious argument that exposes the absurdity of unions. And later, the vicar panics when he hears they are making a profit. “We’ll be nationalised!” he wails.
There are endless touches like that though; a civil servant arriving at the Ministry for Transport on a scooter or my favourite, Naunton Smith saying he will not be made a fool of, while pulls his suit over his pyjamas! Early on when the vicar first says they cannot let the railway go and is told the Canterbury line closed, he replies, “well, there cannot be any men of faith in Canterbury”! However, Stanley Holloway steals the show as Mr. Valentine, the amiable, but permanently drunk millionaire (or near enough) who agrees to fund the venture. The banter as he is persuaded to do so is wonderful (check out the clip below).
This is all in the fabric and sadly, the future of the story. Really the plot boils down to the rivalry as the bus company try to sabotage the new venture, but the motley crew of amateurs (funded by a drunk, driven by a vicar!) refuse to give in. I’ve never been a train-spotter, but the gorgeous photography could turn anyone into one.
The story doesn’t call for a notable visual flair, but Charles Crichton is clearly in his element and loves playing with train-sets! And seriously, the sight of these engines billowing steam through the countryside is enough to inspire anyone. He also pulls off an impressive crash and the resultant sequence of Dan and Mr. Valentine drunkenly stealing another engine is fantastic. I wonder if this is the first instance of crashing through billboards with apt phrases, a staple of action films? First the engine smashes through one and then a car swerves to avoid it and hits a second sign that recommends careful driving! His last film was A Fish Called Wanda, which also had inspired lunacy.
It’s a lot of fun with a cast of wonderful characters in an eminently infectious and watchable farce. It plays on national nostalgia while pointedly satirising the post-war policies that killed off a way of life, yet it is never being less than utterly charming and is frequently hilarious. Somehow I think Genevieve from the same year is more well known. It also stars John Gregson and the stories bear similarity, but this is far better while the other film has dated very badly.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon, a review by Achim
Dungeons and Dragons
Yeah, another good episode. Some mysteries were being set up so that there is some suspense to find out what will develop from that. Seeing a T-800 during those flashbacky-forwardsy thingys (just a look-a-like though...) was nice. I thought the future scenes was quite well done and help to develop the "back"story for Derek. ("Dereks don't run." )
I too can hardly wait for Monday so that I can continue (I have a day off Monday, in fact the whole next week, so I just might finish the last disc in one day
No one ;liner stuck in my mind this time
I just checked and found that Season 2 is apparently a full-blown one, according to IMDb there's be 22 episodes. ...for more content ...for higher price when purchasing the Blu-ray set later this year
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May 04, 2024, 05:13:10 AM
However, Stanley Holloway steals the show as Mr. Valentine, the amiable, but permanently drunk millionaire (or near enough) who agrees to fund the venture. The banter as he is persuaded to do so is wonderful (check out the clip below).
...for more content 
...for higher price when purchasing the Blu-ray set later this year