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US
1942
1hr 50mins
Dir: Anatole Litvak
Starring: Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine
During the Second World War, a WAAF of aristocratic birth becomes romantically involved with an AWOL soldier
This American wartime romance was adapted from Eric Knight’s 1941 novel of the same name. It features a train journey as part of the plot, which is interesting for more than one reason. The departure scene uses a rather unconvincing set that clearly shows the film’s US origins as the British train is standing at Track 5 instead of Platform 5, yet the locomotive in steam at the front of the train is very curious. It is probably nothing more than a detailed model but it looks at first glance to be North British in origin! Although the train journey itself is also studio-bound, the producers had the presence of mind to include a pair of stock shots of British trains for a film set in the UK. The first is a particularly fine shot of an LNER C1 4-4-2, thought to be No.4406 pulling out of King’s Cross, whilst the second shows a ‘going-away’ shot of a Southern Railway ‘Lord Nelson’ Class 4-6-0. Later in the film there is a sequence filmed at London Charing Cross. Again, this never leaves the stage floor, but their is another good representation of a British locomotive beyond the ticket barriers.
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