GB
1962
1hr 45mins
Dir: Philip Leacock
Starring: Steve McQueen and Shirley Anne Field
England, 1943, and an American Air Force commander antagonises everyone at an East Anglian airfield
This black-and-white war film was loosely based on the 1959 novel of the same title by John Hersey. It features some good scenes filmed at London Liverpool Street with B1 Class 4-6-0 No.61378 entering the station with Steve McQueen on the footplate. Some attempt has actually been made to give the loco a 1940s look, despite the fact that this particular loco was one of the 136 B1’s built post-war by BR. ‘NE’ transfers have been applied to the tender and the BR ‘6’ prefix has been removed from the cabside number. In the following shots another B1 can be seen in the platforms in the background, with plenty of other rolling stock visible. There is also a reversed stock shot of an East Coast main line express hauled by a ‘named’ LNER V2 Class 2-6-2, rare given the fact that only eight members of the total fleet of 184 were ever given names. Identifiable via its nameplate, the locomotive in question is No.4844 Coldstreamer.
