The Railway Children is a 1970 British drama film based on the novel by E. Nesbit. The film was directed by Lionel Jeffries, and stars Jenny Agutter (who had earlier featured in the successful BBC dramatisation of The Railway Children in the 1960s), Sally Thomsett and Bernard Cribbins in leading roles. The film was released to cinemas in the United Kingdom on 21 December 1970.
The entire cast of the film unusually break the fourth wall and perform a curtain call as the credits roll. A voice can be heard shouting "Thank you Mr Forbes" as an acknowledgement to Bryan Forbes who put up a security for the film to be completed.
The film rights were bought by Lionel Jeffries. It was his directorial debut, and he was also responsible for writing the screenplay for the film. The Railway Children turned out to be a critical success, both at the time of its release and in the preceding years. It has gone on to gain a place in several surveys of the greatest films ever made, including surveys conducted by the British Film Institute and Total Film magazine.
Plot
Production
Filming locations
Lionel Jeffries used the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and its station at Oakworth as the backdrop for the film, referring to it as the Great Northern and Southern Railway.[1] A number of working locomotives were used in the making of the film, including MSC67, 5775, 52044, 4744 (69523), all of which have survived. They were painted in brown like the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, green like the Great Western Railway or black like British Railways.
A number of different locations were employed for various scenes. Bronte Parsonage in Haworth was used as the location for Doctor Forrest's surgery. The scenes of the children sitting on a bridge were filmed at Wycoller near Colne. Mytholmes Tunnel and the train tracks running through it was used extensively in the film, including being the location for the the paperchase scene and when the children tried to warn the train about a landslide by waving the girls' petticoats in the air. The landslide sequence itself was filmed in a cutting on the side of Mytholmes Tunnel nearest to Oakworth. The fields of long grass where the children waved to the trains are situated above Oxenhope Station.[2]
Release
Critical reception
Box office
Home media
Awards and nominations
The Railway Children received three nominations for awards at the 24th British Academy Film Awards ceremony. Bernard Cribbins was nominated in the category of Best Supporting Actor. However in a category also featuring John Mills, Colin Welland and Gig Young, the award went to Welland for his role in the film Kes. Sally Thomsett received a nomination for Best Newcomer in a Leading Role but again lost out to an actor from Kes, in this case David Bradley. Johnny Douglas was also nominated for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music but the award was won by Burt Bacharach for his film score for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.[3]
Merchandise
Hornby Railways produced a 00 Gauge train set of the train from the film, and is quite rare. It had a 'Jinty' tank locomotive in GN&SR livery with Synchrosmoke, two period coaches, an oval of track and a station. Children (small boys in particular) loved the set,[citation needed] and it is highly sought after.
Legacy
The film has left a lasting impression on the British film industry and audiences. In 1999, the British Film Institute (BFI) put The Railway Children in 66th place in its list of the Top 100 British films of all time. Five years later, the film magazine Total Film named it the 46th greatest British film of all time. In 2008, the film made it onto Channel 4's list of the 100 Greatest Family Films at number 30.
References
External links
