GB
1948
1hr 35mins
Dir: Julien Duvivier
Starring: Vivian Leigh and Ralph Richardson
The tragic story of a married aristocrat and her affair with an affluent Count
One of many film versions of Leo Tolstoy’s tragic 19th century novel, this British production saw London Films borrow a pair of ex-SECR B1 Class 4-4-0s, Nos 1445 and 1454, to play a couple of ‘Russian’ locomotives. They were equipped with massive smokestacks, headlights and cowcatchers along with front end railings and built up tenders. Some studio work involved models and elaborate sets but the night journey and final suicide scene were filmed at Tattenham Corner station, with the use of some suitably disguised rolling stock adding to the occasion. The film is usually referred to in the UK as Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The 2012 version of the film also featured a British railway sequence (qv).
