The Titfield Thunderbolt

2022-09-26T23:09:52Z

2601:243:1980:2810:D831:1BBF:529F:2A9:

{{short description|1953 film}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Titfield Thunderbolt
| image = Titfield Thunderbolt poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Charles Crichton]]
| writer = [[T.E.B. Clarke]]
| producer = [[Michael Truman]]
| starring = [[Stanley Holloway]] [[George Relph]] [[Naunton Wayne]] [[John Gregson]] [[Hugh Griffith]] [[Gabrielle Brune]] [[Sid James]]
| music = [[Georges Auric]]
| cinematography = [[Douglas Slocombe]]
| editing = [[Seth Holt]]
| color_process = [[Technicolor]]
| studio = [[Ealing Studios]] Michael Balcon Productions
| distributor = [[General Film Distributors]] (UK) [[Universal Pictures|Universal-International]] (US)
| released = {{film date|df=y|1953|3|5|Gala premiere|1953|3|6|London}}{{film date|1953|10|5|New York City|1953|10|20|United States}}<ref name="Art & Hue">{{cite web|url=http://artandhue.com/shop/the-titfield-thunderbolt/|title=The Titfield Thunderbolt |work=Art & Hue |date=2019 |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref>
| runtime = 84 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}

'''''The Titfield Thunderbolt''''' is a 1953 British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Charles Crichton]] and starring [[Stanley Holloway]], [[Naunton Wayne]], [[George Relph]] and [[John Gregson]].<ref>{{Citation|title=The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046436/fullcredits|access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref> The screenplay concerns a group of villagers trying to keep their [[branch line]] operating after [[British Rail]]ways decided to close it. The film was written by [[T. E. B. Clarke]]<ref>{{Citation|title=The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046436/fullcredits|access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref> and was inspired by the restoration of the [[narrow gauge railway|narrow gauge]] [[Talyllyn Railway]] in [[Wales]], the world's first [[heritage railway]] run by volunteers. "Titfield" is an amalgamation of the names [[Titsey]] and [[Limpsfield]], two villages in [[Surrey]] near Clarke's home at [[Oxted]].<ref>{{Cite web
|title=The Titfield Thunderbolt and the Camerton Branch
|date=February 2011
|last=Castens
|first=Simon
|work=Address to Wells Railway Fraternity
|url=http://www.railwells.com/documents/WRF_Meeting_Reports/WRF_Meeting_02_2011.pdf
}}</ref>

[[Michael Truman]] was the producer.<ref>{{Citation|title=The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046436/fullcredits|access-date=2020-04-24}}</ref> The film was produced by [[Ealing Studios]] and was the first of its comedies shot in [[Technicolor]].

There was considerable inspiration from the book ''Railway Adventure'' by established railway book author [[L. T. C. Rolt]], published in 1953.{{sfn|Roberts|2018|p=58}} Rolt had acted as honorary manager for the volunteer enthusiasts running the Talyllyn Railway for the two years 1951–52. According to British rail enthusiast and film historian [[John Huntley (film historian)|John Huntley]]'s book ''Railways in the Cinema'' (published by Ian Allan in 1969), T.E.B. Clarke actually visited the Talyllyn Railway in 1951 and spent two days learning about the tribulations faced by its volunteers. A number of scenes in the film, such as the emergency re-supply of water to the locomotive by buckets from an adjacent stream, or passengers being asked to assist in pushing the carriages, were taken from incidents on the Talyllyn Railway recounted in ''Railway Adventure''.

==Plot==
The residents of the village of Titfield are shocked to learn that their railway [[branch line]] to the town of Mallingford is to be closed. Sam Weech, the local [[vicar]] and a railway enthusiast, and Gordon Chesterford, the village squire, decide to take over the line by setting up a company through a [[Light Railways Act 1896|Light Railway Order]]. Upon securing financial backing from Walter Valentine, a wealthy man with a fondness for daily drinking, the men learn that the Ministry of Transport will give them a week's trial period, after which they must pass an inspection to make the Order permanent. While Weech is helped by Chesterford and retired track layer Dan Taylor in running the train, volunteers from the village help to operate the station.

Bus operators Alec Pearce and Vernon Crump, who bitterly oppose the idea and wish to set up a bus line between Titfield and Mallingford, attempt to sabotage the men's plans. Aided by Harry Hawkins, a [[steam roller]] operator who hates the railway, Crump and Pearce attempt to block the line on its first run and sabotage the line's [[water tower]], but are thwarted by Weech and the line's supportive passengers. After Chesterford refuses to accept a merger offer from them, Crump and Pearce hire Hawkins to help them derail the [[steam locomotive]] and passenger coach entitled to the villagers by [[British Railways]], the night before the line's inspection. Blakeworth, the village's solicitor, is mistakenly arrested for this, despite trying to stop the attempt, while the villagers become disheartened that their line will now close without any rolling stock and a working steam locomotive.

Valentine visits Taylor, who suggests that they borrow a locomotive from Mallingford's rail yards. Despite being both drunk, they manage to acquire one, but accidentally crash it after they're spotted taking it. Both men are promptly arrested by the police as a result. Meanwhile, Weech is inspired by a picture of the line's first locomotive, the ''Thunderbolt'', which is now housed in the Mallingford's Town Hall museum. Upon securing Blakeworth's release, he helps them to acquire the locomotive for the branch line. To complete their new train, the villagers use Taylor's home, an old railway carriage body, hastily strapped to a flat wagon. In the morning, Pearce and Crump drive to the village to prepare to take passengers, but are shocked to see the train waiting at the station. Distracted from his driving, Pearce crashes the bus into the police van transporting Valentine and Taylor, and when Crump lets slip that they have been involved in sabotaging the line they are promptly arrested.

With Taylor arrested, Weech takes help from Ollie Matthews, a fellow railway devotee and the Bishop of Welchester, in running the ''Thunderbolt'' for the inspection run. The train departs Titfield late because the police demand transport to Mallingford for them and the arrested men. Despite a mishap with the coupling, the villagers help the train complete its run to Mallingford. Upon arriving, Weech learns that the line passed every requirement for the Light Railway Order, but barely. In fact, had they been any faster, their application would have been rejected.

==Cast==
{{div col |colwidth=30em}}
* [[Stanley Holloway]] as Walter Valentine
* [[George Relph]] as Vicar Sam Weech
* [[Naunton Wayne]] as George Blakeworth
* [[John Gregson]] as Squire Gordon Chesterford
* [[Godfrey Tearle]] as Ollie Matthews, the Bishop of Welchester
* [[Hugh Griffith]] as Dan Taylor
* [[Gabrielle Brune]] as Joan Hampton
* [[Sid James]] as Harry Hawkins
* [[Reginald Beckwith]] as Coggett
* [[Edie Martin]] as Emily
* [[Michael Trubshawe]] as Ruddock
* [[Jack MacGowran]] as Vernon Crump
* [[Ewan Roberts]] as Alec Pearce
* Herbert C. Walton as Seth
* [[John Rudling]] as Clegg
* [[Nancy O'Neil]] as Mrs Blakeworth
* [[Campbell Singer]] as Police Sergeant
* [[Frank Atkinson (actor)|Frank Atkinson]] as Station Sergeant
* [[Wensley Pithey]] as Policeman
{{div col end}}

Driver Ted Burbidge, fireman Frank Green and guard Harold Alford were not actors but British Railways employees from the [[Westbury, Wiltshire|Westbury]] depot, located on the former-[[Great Western Railway]] main line from London to [[Bristol]]. Originally they were provided only to operate the locomotives employed in the film on location but, when [[Charles Crichton]] talked to them and realised they "looked and sounded the part", they were given speaking roles and duly credited.

When interviewed for an article in ''[[Railway World]]'', T. E. B. Clarke revealed that he based Mr. Valentine on an elderly gentleman that he remembered in the hotel bar while on a holiday.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Huntley|first=John|title=Railways on the Screen|publisher=Ian Allan Ltd.|year=1993|isbn=0711020590|page=182}}</ref>

==Production==
[[File:The Lion.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[LMR 57 Lion|Lion]]'' (seen here in May 1980) masqueraded as ''Thunderbolt'' for the film.]]
As related in an article focused on the production published in the March 1953 edition of ''[[The Railway Magazine]]'',<ref>Southern Railway Email Group https://sremg.org.uk/RlyMag/TTT.pdf, retrieved 19 December 2021</ref> the script requirements called for several weeks' filming (in 1952) on a suitable single-track railway line passing through attractive scenery, complete with a main line junction, a level crossing, and a pleasant branch line terminus station. Assistance was provided by the Railway Executive in charge of British Railways, and a number of branch lines were examined in pre-production, including the [[Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway]], the [[Mid-Suffolk Light Railway]], the [[Kent & East Sussex Railway]] and the [[Lambourn Valley Railway]].

Shooting was largely carried out near [[Bath, Somerset]], on the [[Bristol and North Somerset Railway#The Camerton branch|Camerton branch]] of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway, along the [[Cam Brook]] valley between [[Camerton, Somerset|Camerton]] and {{stnlnk|Limpley Stoke}}.{{sfn|Roberts|2018|p=58}} The branch had closed to all traffic on 15 February 1951, but was reopened for filming. Titfield railway station was in reality [[Monkton Combe Halt railway station|Monkton Combe railway station]], whilst Titfield village was nearby [[Freshford, Somerset|Freshford]], with other scenes being shot at the disused [[Dunkerton, Somerset|Dunkerton]] Colliery.{{sfn|Roberts|2018|p=60}} Mallingford railway station in the closing scene was [[Bristol Temple Meads railway station]]. The opening scene shows [[Midford|Midford Viaduct]] on the [[Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway]], where the branch line passed underneath. The scene of the Squire attempting to overtake Harry Hawkins' [[steam roller]] was filmed in [[Carlingcott]].

The scene where a replacement locomotive is 'stolen' used a wooden mock-up 'locomotive' mounted on a lorry chassis: the rubber tyres can (just) be spotted between the locomotive's driving wheels.{{sfn|Roberts|2018|p=61}} The scene was jointly filmed in the [[Oxfordshire]] market town of [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire|Woodstock]] and in [[Richmond Park]], London, but the lead-in scene with the turntable was filmed at [[Oxford]] locomotive depot with a real engine. The earlier scene of [[GWR 1400 Class]] No. 1401 crashing and getting wrecked as it heads down an embankment used realistic scale models filmed on a set at Ealing Studios.

The ''Thunderbolt'' itself was represented by an actual antique museum resident, the [[Liverpool and Manchester Railway]] locomotive ''[[LMR 57 Lion|Lion]]'', built in 1838 and so at the time 114 years old.{{sfn|Roberts|2018|p=61}} It was repainted in a colourful red and green livery to suit the Technicolor process and ran under its own power in the film. In the scene in which the ''Thunderbolt'' is "rear-ended" by the uncoupled train, the locomotive's [[Tender locomotive|tender]] sustained some actual damage, which remains visible beneath the [[buffer beam]] to this day. The scene where ''Thunderbolt'' is removed at night from its museum was filmed in the (now demolished) [[Imperial Institute]] building near the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in London, but shots were created using a studio-built model for this.

==Release==
The film had its gala premiere at [[Leicester Square Theatre]] in [[London]] on 5 March 1953, as part of the [[British Academy of Film & Television Arts|British Film Academy]]'s award ceremony, before going on general release from the 6th.<ref name="Art & Hue"/>

==Critical reception==
The [[British Film Institute]]'s ''[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' for April 1953 found the script 'disconcertingly short on wit, and some of its invention seems forced.'<ref>{{Cite journal|last=L|first=G|date=April 1953|title=Titfield Thunderbolt, The|journal=Monthly Film Bulletin|volume=231/20|pages=51}}</ref>

The film has become compared unfavourably with other [[Ealing comedies]]. Ivan Butler in his ''Cinema in Britain'' called it 'A minor Ealing perhaps even a little tired towards the evening of their long comedy day but a very pleasant sunset for all that.'<ref>{{Cite book|last=Butler|first=Ivan|title=Cinema in Britain|publisher=A.S. Barnes|year=1973|isbn=049801133X|pages=201}}</ref> George Perry in his history of the Ealing Studios, ''Forever Ealing'', compared it to ''[[Whisky Galore! (1949 film)|Whisky Galore]]'' and [[Passport to Pimlico]], as this film shares "the theme of the small group pitted against and universally triumphing over the superior odds of a more powerful opponent.' But, quoting a location report by Hugh Samson of [[Picturegoer]], he suggests there was a lack of sympathy for the subject: "Odd point about this railway location: not a single railway enthusiast to be found in the whole crew. T.E.B.'Tibby' Clarke, writer of the script, loathes trains. Producer Michael Truman can't get out of them fast enough. And director Crichton - well, you wouldn't find him taking engine numbers at Paddington Station."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Perry, George, 1935-|title=Forever Ealing : a celebration of the great British film studio|date=1981|publisher=Pavilion|isbn=0-907516-06-8|location=London|pages=111|oclc=8409427}}</ref> Charles Barr in ''Ealing Studios'' felt that the film did not identify with audiences who, for instance in ''Passport to Pimlico'', were yearning for the end of rationing; "There is no grasp of a living community, or of the relevance of the train to people's daily needs."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barr, Charles.|title=Ealing studios|date=1977|publisher=Cameron & Tayleur|isbn=0-7153-7420-6|location=London|pages=163|oclc=3249510}}</ref>

Ealing Studios head [[Sir Michael Balcon]] expressed dissatisfaction with the end result, believing that it didn't quite match up to what had been written in the script.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Huntley|first=John|title=Railways on the Screen|publisher=Ian Allan Ltd.|year=1993|isbn=0711020590|page=181}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*{{cite magazine|last=Roberts|first=Steve|title=Thunderbolt enlightening|date=28 March 2018|magazine=[[Rail (magazine)|Rail]]|publisher=Bauer Media|location=Peterborough|issue=849|issn=0953-4563}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
| last = Fosker
| first = Oliver
| title = The Titfield Thunderbolt ~ Now & Then
| date = 1 November 2008
| publisher = Up Main Publishing
| isbn = 978-0-9561041-0-6
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Castens
| first = Simon
| title = On the Trail of The Titfield Thunderbolt
| date = 22 July 2002
| publisher = Thunderbolt Books
| isbn = 978-0-9538771-0-2
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Huntley
| first = John
| title = Railways in the Cinema
| year = 1969
| publisher = [[Ian Allan Publishing]]
| isbn= 978-0-7110-0115-2
| pages = 76–79
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Mitchell
| first = Vic
|last2=Smith
|first2=Keith
| title = Frome to Bristol including the Camerton Branch and the "Titfield Thunderbolt"
|date=June 1996
| publisher = Middleton Press
| isbn = 978-1-873793-77-0
}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0046436|title=The Titfield Thunderbolt}}
* [http://www.british-film-locations.com/Titfield-Thunderbolt-(1953) ''The Titfield Thunderbolt'' Filming Locations]
* http://www.lionlocomotive.org.uk/ ''Lion'', an interesting 'Old Locomotive', probably best known as taking a starring part in the film ''Titfield Thunderbolt''

{{Charles Crichton}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Titfield Thunderbolt, The}}
[[Category:1953 films]]
[[Category:1953 comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional locomotives]]
[[Category:Rail transport films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Charles Crichton]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by T. E. B. Clarke]]
[[Category:Films scored by Georges Auric]]
[[Category:Ealing Studios films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s British films]]

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The Titfield Thunderbolt