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GB 1954 1hr 30mins Dir: John Mackenzie Starring: Norman Wisdom and Joan Rice
A man tries to raise money for the orphanage where he grew up and where he now works as a carer
This family comedy is another that features a railway sequence in typical Wisdom slapstick style. Whilst taking a train to Brighton, Norman loses his trousers by hanging them out of a carriage window hoping that the sudden breeze will help to dislodge a wasp that had crawled into them. They then get wrapped around the chimney of a passing Southern Railway C Class 0-6-0 on a freight! However, the scenes onboard the train use a mixture of studio sets and back projection from the window of a 4 SUB EMU, hence the probable reason as to why the electric unit and the steam loco are running wrong line, i.e. passing on the left. Quite a few Southern Region EMU’s appear in these scenes, which begin with a reversed view of a formation of 4 COR stock passing at an unknown location. There is then a run past of a formation of 6 BIL EMU’s at Purley station, followed by shots at Brighton station that include 4 LAV, 6 PAN and 6 PUL units. In one scene, there is a good close up shot of 6 PUL EMU No.3012, which is identified through the rear driving vehicle No.11014. The final railway scene where Norman Wisdom is chased off a station by a policeman for not wearing any trousers was filmed at the original Crawley station before its rebuilding and an arriving train is formed of a 4 LAV EMU, working headcode 2 Three Bridges – Horsham.
The opening railway shot shows passing 4 COR stock. The image is reversed, which is why the ‘blind’ window is on the wrong side. It displays an 8, which is the headcode for a Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour (not calling at Havant) via Woking service. Thanks to Peter Brown for clarifying this.
This is Purley, and a formation of 2 BIL units heads away from the camera and towards London. The platforms for the Caterham and Tattenham Corner branches are on the right. Note the extremely tall semaphore signal adjacent to the box.
Norman Wisdom airs his trousers from the window of a 4 SUB EMU unaware of the approaching light loco steam engine
Here we have the errant trousers wrapped around the smokebox of a C Class 0-6-0. Clear evidence that the scene has been reversed is the smokebox number reading backwards. Sadly, due to the offending item of clothing we can only make out 31??6.
Norman Wisdom looks on in dismay from the window of a 4 SUB, heading the wrong way. Yet more evidence of a reversal of footage.
A packed Brighton station as typical Southern Railway electric units of the era bring the hoards of day trippers to the sea. The units appear to be, from left to right, a 4 LAV, a 6 PAN and a 6 PUL.
On the platforms at Brighton now and the guard gives the right away. The unit is a 4 LAV.
This view shows to the fore driving vehicle No.11014 of 6 PUL unit No.3012. The signs beyond the bufferstops for Whiteway’s Wines, the Hippodrome and Max Bygraves are equally of interest!!
The Brighton scenes finish with this excellent over all shot of the station with another 4 LAV unit departing.
This is the old Crawley station, which happily played the part of Crawley in the film. The arriving train is a 4 LAV on headcode 2, Three Bridges – Horsham.
And finally, we end with this good shot of the former station at Crawley, which was resited 10 chains to the east in 1968 as part of Crawley’s development into a new town. These buildings were demolished but the platforms still remain.
