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The Titfield Thunderbolt
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Charles Crichton
Written by
T.E.B. Clarke
Produced by
Michael Truman
Starring
Stanley Holloway George Relph Naunton Wayne John Gregson Hugh Griffith Gabrielle Brune Sid James
Cinematography
Douglas Slocombe
Edited by
Seth Holt
Music by
Georges Auric
Color process
Technicolor
Production companies
Ealing Studios Michael Balcon Productions
Distributed by
General Film Distributors (UK) Universal-International (US)
Release dates
5 March 1953 (1953-03-05) (Gala premiere)
6 March 1953 (1953-03-06) (London)
October 5, 1953 (1953-10-05) (New York City)
October 20, 1953 (1953-10-20) (United States)
[1]
Running time
84 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and starring Stanley Holloway, Naunton Wayne, George Relph and John Gregson.[2] The screenplay concerns a group of villagers trying to keep their branch line operating after British Railways decided to close it. The film was written by T. E. B. Clarke[3] and was inspired by the restoration of the 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.[4]
Michael Truman was the producer.[5] 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.[6] 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'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 resupply of water to the locomotive by buckets from an adjacent stream and passengers being asked to assist in pushing the carriages, were taken from incidents on the Talyllyn Railway recounted in Railway Adventure.
^"The Titfield Thunderbolt". Art & Hue. 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
^The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb, retrieved 24 April 2020
^The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb, retrieved 24 April 2020
^Castens, Simon (February 2011). "The Titfield Thunderbolt and the Camerton Branch" (PDF). Address to Wells Railway Fraternity.
^The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - IMDb, retrieved 24 April 2020
^Roberts 2018, p. 58.
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