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Trains in old movies but not necessarily train movies

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Posted by NorthBrit on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 11:33 AM

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.   

David

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 10:36 AM

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  

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Posted by York1 on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 9:31 AM

54light15
and they always find a parking space. 

Right in front of the building!

York1 John       

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Posted by 54light15 on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 9:17 AM

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. 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 9:13 AM

NorthBrit
Imagine 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!

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Posted by NorthBrit on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 7:10 AM

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 

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I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 4:53 PM

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  

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Posted by ORNHOO on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 4:26 PM

Flintlock76
in 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.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 10:39 AM

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.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 10:07 AM

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.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 8:12 AM

I'll light this up for everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acQGkhTWBmU  

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!  

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Posted by ORNHOO on Monday, October 26, 2020 11:04 PM

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

 

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Saturday, October 24, 2020 10:04 PM

"After the Thin Man" and "Double Indemnity" have some good train scenes from the 1930s and 40s.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, October 24, 2020 9:19 PM

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  

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Posted by 54light15 on Saturday, October 24, 2020 7:17 PM

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! 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, October 24, 2020 6:19 PM

It's a British movie called "Time Bomb" also "Terror On A Train" for the American release version.  From 1953, and starring Glen Ford.  Here's the story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Bomb_(1953_film)  

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Saturday, October 24, 2020 5:24 PM

There was a black and white movie set in the UK during WW=2.  There was a train load of sea mines that a sabatouer was spotted . the trains was parked on a siding and a demolition expert was called iin.  Believe it was played by Glenn Ford ?.  Ended up having 2 bombs and last minute the woman showed up at the train,   Anyone more info ?

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Posted by 54light15 on Saturday, October 24, 2020 3:22 PM

I did see that but the thing I was looking for was the house above the tracks, I assumed it was closer to King's Cross than Frederica st. I was at the big model train show (the biggest I've ever attended) a couple of years ago at Alexandra Palace and there was an N scale diorama of the entire area depicted in the film from the West side of the tracks. It was a work of art, mixing fact with fiction and all in perspective. 

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Posted by Overmod on Saturday, October 24, 2020 11:01 AM

54light15
The last time I was in London I walked all around the Copenhagen Fields area, trying to find Mrs. Wilberforce's house but had no luck.

You did see the note that it was filmed along Frederica Street, right?

It'll be interesting to see what they have done with the 'film quality' in the 4K release ... this is likely getting in the grain resolution range of the film stock... 

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Posted by 54light15 on Saturday, October 24, 2020 10:26 AM

The last time I was in London I walked all around the Copenhagen Fields area, trying to find Mrs. Wilberforce's house but had no luck. I did see some areas that looked similar to scenes in the film. A part of my model railroad is based on that area just North of King's Cross and her house is just above a tunnel entrance and the "musicians" are walking toward the house. The "professor" is standing on a platform just below a semaphore. Fun stuff! 

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Posted by Great Western on Friday, October 23, 2020 3:23 PM

54light15

I imagine that everyone has seen the classic British comedy, "The Ladykillers?" Well, check this out!

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/oct/23/on-set-ealing-comedy-the-ladykillers-alec-guinness-in-pictures 

 

It was on UK tv this week.  I have watched it many times.

A lot of the older, often black and white, UK 'who done it's' and comedies feature trains, either as stars or in supporting roles.  It is probably due to the UK not becoming quite as car conscious as North America in those far off days.

Alan, Oliver & North Fork Railroad

https://www.buckfast.org.uk/

If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. Lewis Carroll English author & recreational mathematician (1832 - 1898)

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Posted by 54light15 on Friday, October 23, 2020 2:32 PM

I imagine that everyone has seen the classic British comedy, "The Ladykillers?" Well, check this out!

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/oct/23/on-set-ealing-comedy-the-ladykillers-alec-guinness-in-pictures 

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Posted by 54light15 on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 10:09 PM

"The Lineup" from 1958 with Eli Wallach at his evil best is a noir-ish picture filmed on location in San Francisco mainly in the port area where there are rail tracks serving the piers. You don't actually see any trains moving but tracks do play an important part. There are ships, a vintage airliner (DC-6?) and lots of period cars and a whole lot of men wearing hats. There are scenes filmed on an elevated freeway that I understand collapsed in an earthquake. Well worth checking out! 

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Posted by 54light15 on Sunday, October 4, 2020 9:59 PM

Hmm- not to make a big deal out of that, but that is an official train movie (like Buster's The General) as opposed to the theme of this thread. Not complaining by any means. It's been discussed on another thread about a club in New York who fool around with Fairmont track speeders like the one that Buster rode. 

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Posted by ORNHOO on Sunday, October 4, 2020 6:10 PM

I was watching a documentary on Buster Keaton on TCM and found out about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYmcN12M97o

a short film he made for the Canadian National Railway.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 8:14 PM

54light15

I wonder if he asked about trackside service? Man, that was great! 

 

It sure was!  When I saw the film in 1972 with some friends it had us laughing so hard we almost choked!  Too bad it's only 30 seconds long.

I found a longer version on YouTube but the video quality's awful, looks like it was shot off someone's TV.  

I found a better expanded version, changed the link on the original post.

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Posted by 54light15 on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 6:41 PM

I wonder if he asked about trackside service? Man, that was great! 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 4:07 PM

Woo-hoo!  I just found Joe Kidd's saloon visit!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78CM3oItu1U   

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Posted by York1 on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 2:31 PM

ORNHOO
For those who haven't seen it recently (or at all) "Ring of Fire" starring David Janssen will be on TCM tomorrow (9-30-20).
 

 

Thanks!  I've never seen that one.  I have it set to record if I forget.

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Posted by ORNHOO on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 2:25 PM
For those who haven't seen it recently (or at all) "Ring of Fire" starring David Janssen will be on TCM tomorrow (9-30-20).

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