A journey on the non-stop express from London to Edinburgh.A journey on the non-stop express from London to Edinburgh.A journey on the non-stop express from London to Edinburgh.
- Director
- Writer
- Stars
Alan Wheatley
- Spoken by
- (voice)
Howard Marion-Crawford
- Spoken by
- (voice)
- (as Howard Marion Crawford)
Thomas Arnott
- Self - Stationmaster
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- ConnectionsFeatured in Steam Days: A Tale of Two Scotsmen (1986)
Featured review
The Golden Age of Steam
British Transport Films was an organisation set up in 1949 to make documentary films on the general subject of British transport, in the same way as the GPO Film Unit had been set up in the 1930s to make films about the work of the Post Office. "Elizabethan Express" is one of their productions, dating from 1954, made to advertise "The Elizabethan", a recently introduced non-stop British Railways service between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley along the East Coast Main Line. The film depicts the train, pulled by "Silver Fox", one of the iconic Gresley A4 class of locomotives, as it makes the London to Edinburgh journey.
There is an interesting comparison between this film and "Blue Pullman", another BTF film made for British Rail six years later and also publicising a new luxury express service, the "Blue Pullman" service which ran between London and various provincial cities. (In the film Manchester). Both films depict first the preparations for a train journey, and then the journey itself with striking photography showing the train travelling through beautiful countryside. Both even feature a musical score written by the same composer, Clifton Parker. James Ritchie, the director of "Blue Pullman", had worked as a cameraman on the earlier film.
And yet, despite the fact that the two films were made just six years apart, "Blue Pullman" seems far more modern than "Elizabethan Express". Part of the reason is that the train in the later film is pulled by a diesel rather than a steam train. In 1954 people thought that Britain's railways would continue to be powered by steam for the foreseeable future; BR were introducing new steam locomotives designed to last until the end of the century. By 1960 BR had changed their minds and decided that the future lay with diesel and electric traction; their new locomotives were becoming obsolete almost as soon as they were built. The Blue Pullman service, pulled by diesel locomotives painted in a distinctive shade of blue, was introduced as part of this new era.
Another part of the reason is the way that the two documentaries were made. "Blue Pullman" is in colour, whereas "Elizabethan Express" had been in black-and-white. "Blue Pullman" is made in the "fly-on-the-wall" style, dispensing with commentary altogether; the only dialogue we hear consists of conversations between the people we see. The makers of "Elizabethan Express" were obviously trying to imitate the famous "Night Mail" from the thirties, another documentary film about a train journey from London to Scotland, by having a commentary in verse. Unfortunately the writer, one Paul le Saux, was no W H Auden, and his verse just comes out as doggerel, one of the less impressive features of this film.
Parker's music for the later film sounds more dynamic and evocative of speed than does his lush romantic score for "Elizabethan Express". Whereas "Blue Pullman" still has quite a modern feel to it even today, "Elizabethan Express" can now be seen as a nostalgic record of the now departed golden age of steam on British Railways- and of a now departed style of film-making.
There is an interesting comparison between this film and "Blue Pullman", another BTF film made for British Rail six years later and also publicising a new luxury express service, the "Blue Pullman" service which ran between London and various provincial cities. (In the film Manchester). Both films depict first the preparations for a train journey, and then the journey itself with striking photography showing the train travelling through beautiful countryside. Both even feature a musical score written by the same composer, Clifton Parker. James Ritchie, the director of "Blue Pullman", had worked as a cameraman on the earlier film.
And yet, despite the fact that the two films were made just six years apart, "Blue Pullman" seems far more modern than "Elizabethan Express". Part of the reason is that the train in the later film is pulled by a diesel rather than a steam train. In 1954 people thought that Britain's railways would continue to be powered by steam for the foreseeable future; BR were introducing new steam locomotives designed to last until the end of the century. By 1960 BR had changed their minds and decided that the future lay with diesel and electric traction; their new locomotives were becoming obsolete almost as soon as they were built. The Blue Pullman service, pulled by diesel locomotives painted in a distinctive shade of blue, was introduced as part of this new era.
Another part of the reason is the way that the two documentaries were made. "Blue Pullman" is in colour, whereas "Elizabethan Express" had been in black-and-white. "Blue Pullman" is made in the "fly-on-the-wall" style, dispensing with commentary altogether; the only dialogue we hear consists of conversations between the people we see. The makers of "Elizabethan Express" were obviously trying to imitate the famous "Night Mail" from the thirties, another documentary film about a train journey from London to Scotland, by having a commentary in verse. Unfortunately the writer, one Paul le Saux, was no W H Auden, and his verse just comes out as doggerel, one of the less impressive features of this film.
Parker's music for the later film sounds more dynamic and evocative of speed than does his lush romantic score for "Elizabethan Express". Whereas "Blue Pullman" still has quite a modern feel to it even today, "Elizabethan Express" can now be seen as a nostalgic record of the now departed golden age of steam on British Railways- and of a now departed style of film-making.
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- JamesHitchcock
- Nov 29, 2023
Details
- Runtime20 minutes
- Color
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