GB 1964 1hr 30mins Dir: Robert Tronson Starring: Bernard Lee and Margaret Tyzack
A dissatisfied Navy clerk begins handling secret documents when he is approached by secret Soviet intelligence
This spy thriller is based on the real-life case of the Portland Spy Ring, whose activities prompted ‘Reds under the bed’ scare stories in the British popular press in the early 1960s. It features some good scenes filmed on the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground with Baker Street, Northwick Park, Eastcote, Preston Road, and Ruislip stations all featuring. Metropolitan Line A stock is present in some shots, with vehicles 5071, 6071, 5092 and 6092 all identifiable. Later, there is a brief shot of the frontage to Great Portland Street Underground station and a stock shot of a passing express hauled by an ex-LNER V2 Class 2-6-2. Finally, there is a brief shot of the concourse at London Waterloo and a scene filmed outside the entrance to an as yet unidentified Southern Region station. All in all then, a very broad range of railway material. With thanks to reelstreets for the in depth analysis on this one.
William Sylvester enters Baker Street station….
and has reached the Metropolitan Line platforms where an A stock train is ready to depart
An A stock train arrives into Northwick Park
Like Orpheus in the Underground, William Sylvester gets to travel round. Having started out at Baker Street he decides to leave the train at Northwick Park…..
Then walks to Eastcote…..
Before he boards a train at Preston Road…..
Then leaves another at Ruislip……
After which its back to London, and Great Portland Street on the District and Circle
It isn’t all Underground, and some main line railways also feature. Here, Bernard Lee and Margaret Tyzack leave their car outside a station, probably on the Southern Region. The film states Winchester, whilst Aldershot has been suggested in other sources. It actually appears to be neither, and as yet remains unidentified. Note the goods yard in the background.
The pair enter the platform where a train is waiting
The only main line train to feature in the film is this back lit stock shot of an express train passing in the hands of an ex-LNER V2 Class 2-6-2
A busy scene at London Waterloo with plenty of electric units in the platforms
This is a rare view of Waterloo from the Station Approach Road
