THE SMALL VOICE

GB
1948
1hr 25mins
Dir: Fergus McDonell
Starring: Howard Keel and Valerie Hobson

A husband and wife stop to help two men in a car crash, only to find that they are criminals on the run

This crime drama was one of a group of British film noir that were produced around this time, most of which were admirable, and The Small Voice was no different. It received a BAFTA nomination for best British film in 1949, and was based on the eponymous 1940 Robert Westerby novel. Although there are some station scenes that clearly use a set, the film does seem to have a number of sequences that were filmed at a real station. Called ‘Llanbach’ in the film, the identity of this ‘station’ is not yet known, assuming of course that it isn’t a set. A train arrives here hauled by a tank locomotive and there is one additional shot of an express passing at dusk.

The darkened shot of an express at dusk. The loco is possibly ex-GWR in origin.
The first railway station scene, possibly a set but a good one one at that
James Donald stands on the platform at ‘Llanbach’, which is almost without doubt a real station
Smoke from the engine envelopes the train as it comes to a stand. We do not see the train pull in, a common trick when working off a set, but a tank loco can be made out on the front here and it may be an L1 Class 2-6-4, or something similar. I think this is the same station as that above.