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 Post subject: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:55 am 

I've been building my railroad themed film collection over the years and have come to a wall. I have all the films that get mentioned constantly whenever we have one of these dicussions like:

Emperor of the North Pole
Silver Streak
The General
Great Locomotive Chase
The Train
Etc, Etc.

They're all or mostly American titles that can be commonly found. So my question is are there any heavily rail themed foreign or very vague American films out there that usually don't get a mention on here?

The only ones I can think of that I already have are "The Train Killer" and "Odessey of the Pacific".


  
 
 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:12 am 

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:41 am
Posts: 3911
Location: Inwood, W.Va.
I can name two--"The Titfield Thunderbolt," from 1952 (which is an absolute delight), and a French film with a title that translates as "The Battle of the Rails," from 1946.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32463&p=166900

I'll have others, but that four-lettered word, "work," beckons. That are times that word should join those other four-setter words we don't like to use. . .


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:47 am 

Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:50 pm
Posts: 216
Location: www.easttroyrr.org
A Mexican comedy film was done about the retirement of an old streetcar in Mexico City. "Illusion Travels by Streetcar (La ilusión viaja en tranvía)"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045907/

Many great shots of the city's streetcar system as two employees of the company kidnap an ancient Brill to keep it from being scrapped.


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:02 am 

Joined: Sat Jul 30, 2011 12:47 pm
Posts: 43
There's a British Will Hay comedy from the '30s called "Oh, Mr. Porter!" that is a railway film. It can be seen on Youtube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NscLIVQx7A


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:48 pm 

Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 1:37 pm
Posts: 2197
Probably not to be missed: the 1938 Jean Gabin version of "La Bete Humaine" (if that's not already in your collection with the equivalent English title).

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Last edited by Overmod on Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:33 pm 

Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 1:27 pm
Posts: 552
Location: Milford,Mass
Hi

John Wayne Hurricane Express , it was a serial .
It Happen to Jane , filmed in Connecticut
Bite the Bullet , filmed at C&TS .

Try too find the book The Movie Railroads by Larry Jensen , Pat.


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:20 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:31 pm
Posts: 295
Location: TEXAS
One of my favourites, "A Flame Over India"
"When Muslims attack a British fortress in India, Governess Wyatt and Captain Scott save the maharaja's son and escape by commandeering a train. Along the way, they find treason, adventure, and love. Based on the story "Northwest Frontier" by Patrick Ford. This public domain title was originally released as a theatrical production"

Be warned, fairly non pc film, but very British Colonial little lokies...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq0lLvH4J9k


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:42 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6397
Something jolted my memory (such as it is these days). I seem to recall a story about the retirements of the last "Big Boys" and the problems an engineer was having with it. I don't recall that it was a movie, but perhaps a TV production. Maybe "Playhouse 90" or some such program. Perhaps this was discussed previously here on one of these "Films" threads. Or maybe I am just imagining it. Ring a bell (no pun intended) for anyone?

Les


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:44 am 

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:41 am
Posts: 3911
Location: Inwood, W.Va.
Not an imagining from a memory, Les, but an NBC production from 1954s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUEHG6zx7aY

Some other films with significant rail footage, much of it quite good. Most of these have clips on YouTube, and in some cases, the whole film is available. I can't always say the movies as a whole are the best (some are excellent, others less so), but there is also material in them that you don't see elsewhere:

Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day (Note: film is unrated, but might be in either PG-13 or R categories, language and some people need more clothes):

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115925/plotsummary

http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/cl-mo ... 4586.story

Closely Watched Trains:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closely_Watched_Trains

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060802/

The Ghost Train:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033660/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj0u0jkYWHw

The original version of "The Narrow Margin" (1952); very good film, even if the routing of the fictional "Central Pacific," as revealed in the dialogue, is that of the Santa Fe, but with Southern Pacific trains!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Narrow_Margin

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044954/

From the same period, "The Tall Target" (1951):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tall_Target

Edited clips from a Spanish YouTube account:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJZeKFCe6Hg

Not a railroad film as such, but one that's still fun (and hard to find), "Fools Parade" (1971):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fools'_Parade

Two clips from "Fools Parade;" note that the cast includes Paul Merriman and Walter C. Dove, who were in charge of the movie's "biggest" star, Southern 4501, playing a B&O Q-3 (USRA light 2-8-2) (PG, some violence and language):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPhVpUaDJ0Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1geDeECTBk


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:03 am 

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:41 am
Posts: 3911
Location: Inwood, W.Va.
The Spanish site from which the clip of "The Tall Target" came. I don't know the language, but it is apparently run by a fellow who loves the combination of film and trains. Many of the films listed may not be rail flicks as such (one that I know really isn't is "Ring of Fire"), and some are likely stinkers (there are what look like some cheesy spaghetti westerns there), but there may be some titles worth looking into.

http://www.youtube.com/user/FERROCARRIL ... ture=watch

Let's not forget short subjects! From YouTube:

"Pacific 231," based on a classical music score by Arthur Honegger, 1949; check out compound French 231s (the French count axles, these are 4-6-2s to us) with poppet valves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKRCJhLU7rs

"The Train," Swedish, 1948 (not to be confused with the 1960s action film):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJZdyto4cV4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avtMR9PaDVw


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:25 am 

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:41 am
Posts: 3911
Location: Inwood, W.Va.
Just throwing in some other bits:

From "La Bette Humaine:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=en ... bDLQgbhKcA

A French documentary, "231 D 735;" unfortunately, for some reason, the image is "squashed," but the whole film is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fumcpLu2lnc

A portion of the same documentary, with better proportions, but darn, it's not the whole film!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGVs46y7 ... re=related

Another French documentary, from 1958, "La raison du Diesel:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNrEyS3m ... re=related


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:40 am 

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:41 am
Posts: 3911
Location: Inwood, W.Va.
Not sure if this qualifies for your "unusual" film collection, but an old TV series was discussed here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29766&p=144535


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 5:28 am 

Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:36 pm
Posts: 4
Location: Philadelphia
Here's a few more foreign films not mentioned above...

Bullet Train (Japan - 1975)

El Ultimo Tren (Spain - 2002)

Kontroll (Hungary - 2004)

La Bataille Du Rail (France - 1946)

The Navigators (UK - 2001)

Night Train (Poland - 1959)

The Railroad Man (Italy - 1956)

Tickets (Italy - 2005)

List of many more at: http://www.railserve.com/trainmovies/

And while certainly not obscure, the classic Denver & Rio Grande finally made its way to DVD and Bluray a couple months back.


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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 9:07 am 

Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:10 pm
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Location: Iron City
Darjeeling Limited

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 Post subject: Re: Vague and Foreign Railroad Themed Films
PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 9:59 am 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6397
J3a-614 wrote:
Not an imagining from a memory, Les, but an NBC production from 1954s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUEHG6zx7aY



J3a-614:

Yes, that 1954 NBC show is the one I was thinking about. Thanks!


Les


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