SINGLE HANDED

GB
1953
1hr 23mins
Dir: Roy Boulting
Starring: Jeffrey Hunter and Wendy Hiller

During 1940, a Canadian signaller serving in the British Royal Navy helps cause the destruction of a German battleship

This war drama was based on the 1929 novel Brown on Resolution by C. S. Forester and was given the alternative title of Sailor of the King for release in the US. It was, however, unusual at the time, as indeed it is now, for being filmed with two different endings, both of which are shown in the film. The railway journey at the start was supposedly set in the First World War, though it includes a number of locomotives with BR numbers. The studio-bound journey uses a set with back-projection through the windows of the carriage. The scenes outside possibly show Portsmouth, and shortly after departure a yard can be seen with an ex-LBSCR Class E4 0-6-2T in attendance (the number of which may read 32495). Other locomotives that appear in the film include a shot of the extreme front end of ex-LSWR Class T9 4-4-0 No.30119 (though the image of this is in reverse as evidenced by the backwards reading smokebox number plate!), an extremely rare ground level shot of a SR N1 Class 2-6-0 (one of only a fleet of six) and an equally rare shot of ex-LSWR S11 Class 4-4-0 No.30400 arriving at Battle station. This is particularly good as by the time the film was made, it was the sole survivor from the fleet of ten. It was given mock LSWR livery for the film and its smokebox number was amended to read ‘400’, contemporary to the supposed era. This proved to be a momentary elevation to celebrity status for a loco that was withdrawn the following year. An additional scene a little while later appears to show a different train departing from a different station.

This is the smokebox of T9 4-4-0 No.30119, almost certainly at Waterloo. What is it with reversed footage?
Wendy Hiller sitting on a train, knitting. This is a studio set with the back-projection apparently filmed at Portsmouth, though that sign is awfully big.
As Michael Rennie tries to strike up conversation, an E4 0-6-2 tank passes by outside. It MAY be 32495.
This is a rare glimpse of an N1 Class 2-6-0
Whilst this is an equally rare glimpse of an S11 Class 4-4-0 No.30400 arriving into Battle, masquerading as ‘Longmere Junction’
This may well be a different train, but it is certainly a different station. There is an additional structure crossing the line beyond the footbridge and a lamp standard that was not present in the above photo.
Also, as the train leaves it passes beneath a road bridge. Battle does not have such a structure immediately at the platform end. The loco at the front looks to be another 4-4-0 but the exact type is hard to ascertain.