GB
1947
1hr 50mins
Dir: Roy Ward Baker
Starring: John Mills and Joan Greenwood
A man is suspected of murder but as he is recovering from a head injury he begins to doubt his innocence
This truly excellent film noir features a number of railway scenes but most of these are filmed in the studio using sets and models though they are surprisingly atmospheric, especially those of the express trains passing beneath the road bridge on which John Mills stands contemplating suicide (this was in fact Amersham Hill railway bridge in High Wycombe). The scene where John Mills is chased at a station also uses a studio reconstruction, though there is a real shot of the platforms of London Paddington station in a later scene and there are several shots of the frontage to ‘Brockhurst Common’ station, the real identity of which has not yet been discovered. Amidst all this apparent chaos a real train does feature in the form of a rather good stock shot of LMS 4P ‘Compound’ 4-4-0 No.1038, one of the original 45 Midland Railway Class 1000’s working a Midland main line express. There is also an indistinct view of a passing express at night close to the start of the film.
