THE AMAZING QUEST OF ERNEST BLISS

GB
1936
1hr 20mins
Dir: Alfred Zeisler
Starring: Cary Grant and Mary Brian

A bored millionaire bets that he can live a successful life without his wealth for one year

This romantic comedy features some scenes in East London that depict rare images of trains from the 1930s. There are three main trains featured in these scenes; one is of a mixed-freight hauled by LNER J52 Class 0-6-0ST No.4207, whilst the other two, a mineral train and a passenger made up of vintage LMS 3rd Class non-corridor stock do not show the locomotives. A 1920s District Line train also briefly features as does the frontage to Stepney Green Underground station. The film was a remake of the 1920 film The Amazing Quest of Mr. Ernest Bliss, itself based on The Curious Quest, a 1919 novel by E. Philips Oppenheim. It was re-issued in the United States in 1937 under the title The Amazing Adventure (and subsequently Romance and Riches) and was edited down from the original UK running time of 80 minutes, to just 62 minutes. Most versions found these days are the shorter one, though they depict all the railway scenes.

A vintage District Line train on the approach to South Kensington station
An equally vintage LNER train. What was apparently Cary Grant’s double looks on as J52 Class 0-6-0ST No.4207 passes by at the end of the street. Lovely.
No mistaken identity here. This is the frontage to Stepney Green Underground station. This was a joint District and LT&S station that did not pass into London Transport ownership until 1950.
Mr Bliss returns to his boarding house where we now see a passenger train passing at the bottom of the street. It is formed of old LMS non-corridor 3rd Class coaching stock.