CHANCE OF A LIFETIME

GB
1950
1hr 29mins
Dir: Bernard Miles
Starring: Basil Radford and Bernard Miles

In the times of austerity after the Second World War a failing factory’s owner hands the factory over to the workers to run it for themselves

This wonderful drama features a ‘stock shot’ of a Southern Region express passing Esher hauled by a ‘King Arthur’ N15 Class 4-6-0, followed by a scene filmed on the concourse of London Waterloo station. There is then a second shot filmed at Esher of a train formed of a mixed rake of passenger stock and vans going away from the camera. Another express is approaching in the distance, but the shot ends before the train gets closer enough to identify the locomotive.

This Southern Region express is on the approach to Esher at the hands of a ‘King Arthur’. This shot would later appear in the 1953 film A Day to Remember (qv).
London Waterloo station and the sun streaks through the glazed roof
Esher again and a train heads away from the camera as an express approaches in the distance.