Elizabethan Express (1954)
- Directed by
- Tony Thompson
- Genre
- documentary
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Runtime
- 20 min
- Rating
- 6.7 of 10 from 3 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
This short film follows a non-stop steam train on its journey from London to Edinburgh. A poetic commentary and lively music capture the spirit of 1950s British rail travel.
nostalgicbriskpoeticcheerfulformalobservationaltransportive
What happens
Elizabethan Express is a 1954 British Transport Film that follows The Elizabethan, a non-stop British Railways service from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley along the East Coast Main Line. Although originally intended as an advertising short, it now acts as a nostalgic record of the halcyon years of steam on British Railways and the ex LNER Class A4. It was directed by Tony Thompson, with a tongue-in-cheek poetic commentary written by Paul Le Saux. It is also notable for its music by Clifton Parker, who also wrote the score for Blue Pullman and several other British Transport Films. He was later to write the music for the 1959 version of The Thirty-Nine Steps, which also features an A4. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
The Travel Game (1958)
London to Brighton in Four Minutes (1953)
Night Mail (1936)
North to Wales (1965)
Bow Bells (1954)
Locomotion (1975)
Calling All Cars (1954)
Rail (1967)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.