GB
1966
1hr 47mins
Dir: Bryan Forbes
Starring: Michael Caine and Cicely Courtneidge
Two elderly brothers are the surviving members of a tontine in which the last member stands to receive a fortune
This quiet little black comedy has a superb cast and the witty script keeps it running along quite nicely, though it is a little on the dull side at times. It was based on the 1889 novel of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson and his step-son Lloyd Osbourne. Part of the story involves a head-on crash between two Bournemouth expresses which involved some clever editing and an elaborate set involving a couple of full-size replica locomotives, placed in a jack-knifed position and locked buffer-to-buffer. The replica locomotives, both in LSWR light green, are Adams T3 Class 4-4-0 No.563 and Class A1 ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T No.72 Fenchurch, renamed Franklin in the film. The ‘crash’ was filmed on the Longmoor Military Railway and the wagons and coaches were real, though the smoke entering the loco funnels is interesting and suggests some sort of reversal of shot. Just before the crash there are a couple of shots of one of the approaching expresses which seems to show it hauled by a light green-liveried Class A1X ‘Terrier’ 0-6-0T, which ties in nicely with the mock-up loco used in the crash. This indicates that the scenes of the train moving were filmed elsewhere, probably on the Bluebell Railway (home to the real No.72), and although the lengthy scene filmed onboard uses a real train the footplate shots are probably an elaborate set using the mock-up locomotive. A little later in the film there is a scene with Dudley Moore at Bath Green Park station with ex-LMS Class 3F ‘Jinty’ 0-6-0T No.47676 at the buffer stops. The loco is again painted light green so as to represent an LSWR locomotive, bringing as it does an unusually diligent attempt at continuity, but in the finished film little of the actual loco is visible. This was the year that Bath Green Park closed to passengers though it remained open for goods and parcels traffic until 1971.
