8mm Forum: The Titfield Thunderbolt

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on November 02, 2006, 02:06 PM:

Derann’s “The Titfield Thunderbolt” (Ealing, 1953) (4x400’) is no longer available new, but turns up regularly on their used lists and has been described as one of Derann’s most requested used titles.

It is a comedy about the village of Titfield, which upon finding out that British Rail wants to close their branch line, rises up behind their Vicar (George Relph) and takes over the line with the help of Wealthy Local Drunk Mr. Valentine (Stanley Holloway) and the Squire (Naunton Wayne). There is a great deal of can-do local spirit, a shoving battle between a train and a steamroller at a crossing, the bad guys wreck the good guys’ train the night before their licensing trial, but in the end the good guys pull an ancient locomotive out of the museum as a substitute and they win the day! The good guys are not only good, but lovable. The bad guys are sleazy and seem to realize it too!

It also happens to be Ealing Studio’s first color feature. (...or is that “colour”?)

As a longtime railroad fan (through a convoluted process I’ve described here before, railroads got me interested in Super-8), I was especially interested in grabbing a print of this film, and it took a number of tries before my E-mail to Derann got there first and I actually owned one.

I’ll begin by saying that the 4x400 footer is the feature, but not the whole feature. Based on the VHS I also have, it is missing a couple of scenes, one of which is the preliminary hearing before the Ministry of Transport, which I kind of miss not being there. Ditto for the drunken exchange between Mr. Valentine and Dan Taylor (Hugh Griffith) before they decide to stagger off and steal a locomotive to replace their wrecked one (the theft and comic calamity that follows is there, though). A few other scenes are trimmed a little here and there, however the main story still comes through very well and the missing scenes don’t put any major holes in the story.

Verrry rare prints exist which are 2x400+2x600, which are the whole thing. I know of one such print and have advised the owner to guard it with his life! (When he asked Derann about it, even they were unaware such prints existed.)

It is most commonly available as a 1x400 which basically just shows the MOT trial at the end. It’s good if you happen to be in a hurry…

Reel one has a pulsating vertical bounce to the image about every other second, which I suspect is in the negative since if you watch closely you see it on the VHS too, it’s just not as noticeable on the small screen. The colors are a little bit subdued and seem to change suddenly in the middle of the first scene in the Vicar’s study, but the sound throughout is quite good.

Naunton Wayne is often credited with learning to drive a car for this film (his first after Genevieve, which is a film he really SHOULD have learned to drive for!), but isn’t it about time somebody recognized Sid James for learning to drive a steamroller?

Hats off to you, Sid! (It looked like a lot of fun!)

Real railway men were hired to operate the train during filming, but were so perfect in their “roles” they were given speaking parts. I guess a lifetime of “rehearsal” pays off!

Reality often mirrors fiction, although the outcomes usually aren’t as happy. After this film was made, British Rail really did close the branch this was filmed on, and no Vicars or Wealthy Drunks could save it.

There!
I finally reviewed a feature!

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