Not to get off-topic but time bombs in movies have always made me laugh. Red wire? Blue wire? Yellow wire? And why is there always a digital readout on the bomb? Is that for the convenience of the people standing next to the bomb? That cracks me up!
54light15 Red wire? Blue wire? Yellow wire?
Well, if you like bomb defusing scenes, you'll love this one!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjZiOcKMew8
"After the Thin Man" and "Double Indemnity" have some good train scenes from the 1930s and 40s.
How about "Sherlock Holmes in Washington"? A New York to Washington train (steam powered. B&O?) after a transatlantic flight on a Boeing 347.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acQGkhTWBmU
I'll light this up for everyone.
From New York To Washington? Well considering the steam sound effects I'd have to say B&O, but on the other hand the station pictured in the film is Pennsylvania Station, so they should be traveling on the Pennsy behind a GG1.
In fact, there is a head-on shot of a GG1, it's murky, but you can tell it's G.
Sometimes it's a pain knowing too much.
And weren't those Boeing Pan Am "Clippers" cool!
Pan Am's big flying boats (B-314, S-42 and M-130) were pretty impressive but tickets were pretty expensive, not unlike tickets on the Concorde for a more recent period.
CSSHEGEWISCH Pan Am's big flying boats (B-314, S-42 and M-130) were pretty impressive but tickets were pretty expensive, not unlike tickets on the Concorde for a more recent period.
Certainly. You needed deep pockets to travel by air back then, or a strong expense account, and even then you only flew if time was of the essence. Or in the case of this film taking place in wartime to get you up and away from the U-Boots, assuming there was much passenger ship travel taking place to begin with, somehow I doubt it. Air travel didn't get really affordable until jet airliners like the Boeing 707 came along.
I had an aquaintance who flew on the Concorde once, and even then the only reason he did it was to say he did it. Once was enough, he didn't like it.
Flintlock76in the case of this film taking place in wartime to get you up and away from the U-Boots,
While the Clippers couldn't be torpedoed, flying westbound over the Atlantic they would fly at low altitudes to try to get under the strongest of the prevailing westerly winds, below 1000 feet (sometimes as low as 100 feet (With landing lights on so the pilots could judge clearance!). It was not unheard of for a Clipper to fly over a U-boot charging his batteries on the surface and come under machine gun fire.
ORNHOO It was not unheard of for a Clipper to fly over a U-boot charging his batteries on the surface and come under machine gun fire.
That's interesting, I've never heard that before. Typically civilian airliners were left alone by the combatants, but on the other hand the RAF had the Short "Sunderland" flying boat and used it in anti-submarine operations. A Sunderland looks very similar to a Boeing 347, especially to untrained eyes. Most likely those U-boot crews weren't taking any chances.
Here's a quick look at the Sunderland.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgY7iQieP_A
Imagine the scene. You have seen them. The hero/heroine running for a train with a couple of suitcases. I have to laugh.
Obviously not Mrs NorthBrit's cases. Run with her luggage and they would be candidates for the hospital with a hernia. Whatever the limit is for luggage Mrs NorthBrit hits it everytime. Travel lite is not an option.
Travel by air on Emirates is her favorite. 30kg limit. I'd love to see a porter swing them round like 'fresh air'.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
NorthBritImagine the scene. You have seen them. The hero/heroine running for a train with a couple of suitcases. I have to laugh.
Absolutely! Running down the platform like Olympic sprinters, and you just know there's nothing in those prop suitcases!
Filming those scenes nowadays in addition to prop suitcases they'd be carrying laptop bags AND juggling a SmartPhone as well! No wonder young actors and actresses have personal trainers!
Yeah, people running for the train with suitcases always catch the train. They don't fumble and drop them and they don't come open spilling clothes all over the platform. Just like how people that jump off trains never get hurt. It reminds me of how in movies when someone is driving a car there is no inside rear-view mirror, the gearshift is still in park and they always find a parking space.
54light15and they always find a parking space.
Right in front of the building!
York1 John
Hey, how about Cary Grant's being chased all over the landscape by the crop-dusting Stearman in "North by Northwest," and after it's all over he should look like something the cat dragged in, but doesn't!
No point in bringing up guns in movies that never run out of bullets either. Whoops, sorry, I just did. Never mind.
Things in movies that don't make sense? Here's Uncle Vinny's and Zia Lucia's take on the subject. WARNING! Some tough language! Don't trigger the link if you mind such things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23yS53YcqXE
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/
It is 75 years ago when 'Brief Encounter' first hit the screens. Filmed in Carnforth Railway Station just before the end of WW2. Cinemas in the UK are showing it again. A great film imho.
I've read somewhere how Cary Grant in North By Northwest was the model for Sean in the Bond films. Makes sense to me.
Flintlock76 Running down the platform like Olympic sprinters, and you just know there's nothing in those prop suitcases!
Wandering off the topic here, but that reminds me of scenes where someone in the military comes home with a duffle bag that must be filled with something like crumpled up newspapers the way he tosses it around.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
54light15 I've read somewhere how Cary Grant in North By Northwest was the model for Sean in the Bond films. Makes sense to me.
Maybe, but I'm not so sure. From what I've read Ian Fleming's idea for James Bond was a proper English gentleman and Fleming didn't like the idea of Sean Connery as Bond at all, thought he was too Scottish "working class."
Until he saw the first rushes, then he agreed wholeheartedly, Sean was the right choice after all. And anyone who remembers Sean Connery as Bond would agree as well, Sean WAS James Bond! All who came after were just not the same, although some were better than others.
I think we can all agree that "From Russia With Love" well fits the criteria of this thread! That movie is what first turned me on to European railways which I've been into ever since. Sean was the man. Ian Fleming was seconded to the Army staff college here in Toronto during the 2nd world war as part of Camp X in Bowmanville. The college was located on Avenue Road in what used to be the North end of the city and now considered to be midtown. Across the street was a church (now a condo) called St. James-Bond United Church. I understand that he named him after a friend but still.
I would argue that Daniel Craig comes closer to playing 007 as Fleming wrote the character: hardbitten, cynical and totally loyal to M.
CSSHEGEWISCH I would argue that Daniel Craig comes closer to playing 007 as Fleming wrote the character: hardbitten, cynical and totally loyal to M.
Agreed. The Craig films were designed to be more realistic. The Connery films were more about fun.
charlie hebdoAgreed. The Craig films were designed to be more realistic. The Connery films were more about fun.
And while some love the more realistic Bond, I'm in the camp that misses the enjoyment of going to the theater to see a "fun" James Bond movie. The last several Bond movies have been disturbing for me, not fun.
To each his own.
The last one I saw was Quantum of Solace- it had the train in the Balkans, the Aston Martin and the thing that got everyone in the theatre was when the iconic Bond theme played at about 20 minutes into the film. I could feel that everyone had the same thought- "Now it's a Bond film!"
I don't know. Maybe Daniel Craig was the closest to the "Hard man who has to deal with other hard men, and thank God he's one of the good guys!" ideal but to me DC looked like he was weaned on a pickle. Maybe that's what made him so hard?
Connery, on the other hand, had the appeal of a very charming man with a great sense of humor who could turn ice-cold and ruthless in a flash, kind of what you'd think Bond would be like considering the circles he had to move in.
You know what I think a real secret agent should look like? Remember Steven Hill from the "Mission Impossible" TV series? Good actor, but someone who you wouldn't look at twice and would blend into a crowd easily. THAT'S what a secret agent would look like!
You know, I think just for fun this weekend I might go play George Carlin's game of "Find The Spy At The Airport!" As George said:
"You KNOW there's a spy at the airport! Your job, FIND HIM!"
James Bond. Trains.
Great fun in Bond movie with Sean Connery, who died today, and the fight on the Orient Express in "From Russia With Love":
Thanks Sean, for all the great movies.
A pibroch for Sir Sean Connery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNxCs7g8_vs
A fine life well lived and a lucky man indeed. How many actors are fortunate enough to become icons due to the role they played? The only James Bond.
York1 James Bond. Trains. Great fun in Bond movie with Sean Connery, who died today, and the fight on the Orient Express in "From Russia With Love":
That's the scene where the villian posing as an MI5 agent reveals his identity by ordering red wine with his fish....
But some good scenes of steam hauled passenger trains in Turkey...
Peter
M636CThat's the scene where the villian posing as an MI5 agent reveals his identity by ordering red wine with his fish....
Mamma mia! You never order red wine with fish! I learned that as a child, but then having an Italian background helped a bit.
Maybe a rose' if your tastes incline that way, but that's as far as you go!
I have been scanning some photos from Kuala Lumpur in 1996 and I was reminded of another Sean Connery film "Entrapment" of 1999 with a plot based on the Millennium Bug and stealing money electronically.
The final scenes are on the KL "Star" system, an elevated electric railway (well, elevated in the city).
A good movie and the character is barely disnguishable from James Bond...
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