RETURN OF A STRANGER (1937)

GB
1937
1hr 10mins
Dir: Victor Hanbury
Starring: Griffith Jones and Rosalyn Boulter

A couple have plans to elope but a fight with her father’s solicitor ends in murder

This little-known drama was based on an original play by Rudolf Lothar and features a shot of a ‘Southampton Express’ passing a signal box. Although there is plenty of Southern Railway footage in this film, the ‘Southampton Express’ on this occasion is LNER in origin. The coaching stock is pure teak, and the general outline of the locomotive suggests that it may be a Great Central Railway 4-4-0 as evidenced by the two large splashers. The train features during an early montage sequence that appears twice in quick succession and also includes a more unorthodox track level shot of two passing trains. There is then a sequence filmed at London Waterloo with a shot of a Southern Railway ‘King Arthur’ Class 4-6-0 arriving on an express. As it draws into the platform, we catch a rare glimpse of the tender and cab of one of the Drummond Class T14 4-6-0’s in the form of No.461. This was one of just ten built so it is a particularly rare bird. The climax to the film takes place at London Victoria and although the departure scene uses a set, there is one shot of a Pullman train in platform 2 with a tank loco on the rear. Finally, behind the closing title we have a shot of a speeding GWR express passing in the hands of a ‘King’ Class 4-6-0. A veritable mixed bag indeed!

The locomotive passing this signal box appears to be a former GCR 4-4-0
The two large splashers suggest that this could be a very rare glimpse of an LNER Class D6 (or a GCR Class 11A pre-1923), a locomotive designed by Harry Pollitt.
Two trains are visible behind the newspaper headline. Carriages are passing above a camera that has been placed adjacent to the track but perhaps more visible is the passenger train creeping into shot on the right.
Waterloo station, with a train arriving behind a ‘King Arthur’ Class 4-6-0. Just coming into shot on the left is Drummond Class T14 4-6-0 No.461, a rare loco on film. Despite the clarity of the ‘King Arthur’ its identity remains a mystery.
A policeman guides passengers safely across the taxi road at Waterloo station. Yes, police really did guide people across the road in those days, and taxis used to run right into stations as well.
Griffith Jones pays his cab fare under the watchful eye of three porters. Stations also used to have porters in those far flung days!
A classic shot of London Victoria station with a Pullman train in platform 2. The tank loco now on the rear looks like it could be a former LBSCR E4 Class 0-6-2.
The end of the film, and a GWR ‘King’ is obscured by the closing title