LIFE AT THE TOP

GB
1965
1hr 57mins
Dir: Ted Kotcheff
Starring: Laurence Harvey and Jean Simmons

Ten years after becoming a social success, a young executive finds it hard to stand face to face with himself

This drama is based on the novel Life at the Top by John Braine and is a sequel to the film Room at the Top (1959) (qv). The Yorkshire scenes feature some rare shots of Ilkley station just before the route to Skipton closed. No locomotives are seen but there are good views of maroon-liveried BR Mk.1 coaches on the now closed through platforms. Coach No.26194 is one that is identifiable. (With thanks again to reelstreets).

Ilkley station with BR Mk.1s in the platform . Note the genuine ‘sausage totem’ station sign with no attempt made to cover its identity.
School boys on Ilkley station’s island platform with buildings at the junction of Station Road, Springs Lane, Cowpasture Lane and Chantry Drive filling the background.
Laurence Harvey with BR Mk.1’s behind. This scene is facing east towards Ben Rhydding
The train departs in a view that is now looking west towards Addingham. Ilkley was still a through station at this time. The tracks on the right (which the train is on) have now been removed and those on the left now terminate at stop blocks after the closure of the route to Skipton in 1965, the year that this film was released. Filming here so close to closure was a little fortuitous to say the least.