THURSDAY’S CHILD

GB
1943
1hr 21mins
Dir: Rodney Ackland
Starring: Sally Ann Howes and Stewart Granger

A young girl becomes a film star but her success threatens her family life

This comedy drama features some scenes on the London Underground though this is all a studio set, including the carriage interior shots. However, there is one darkened image of a train of 1938-built tube stock arriving into Golders Green station on the Northern Line. At the end of the film there is a railway journey that sets off from London King’s Cross and again this whole sequence is studio bound, but there are two shots of real trains thrown in. The departure is depicted with a close up shot of the front end of LNER A1 Class 4-6-2 No.4472 Flying Scotsman, whilst a low-level run-by of another A1 on an express is used to depict the journey itself. Both are stock footage taken from The Flying Scotsman (1929) whilst the latter, which shows No.2569 Gladiateur crossing a viaduct, had also appeared in Bulldog Drummond At Bay (1937). There is also one additional point of interest. As the journey gets under way Sally Ann Howes looks out of the window and we get a glimpse of a station passing by as part of the ‘back-projection’. Although the footage is rather dark and grainy it is clear enough.

A Northern Line of 1938 stock arrives into Golders Green station
For comparison this ‘station’ is a studio set. The departing train pulls out very very slowly indeed.
No.4472 Flying Scotsman leaves King’s Cross, only not quite. This somewhat truncated shot is a stock shot from the The Flying Scotsman (1929) and actually shows the loco moving off King’s Cross Top Shed.
The station seen from the window of the passing train
As the shot lingers a parcels van comes into view
A1 Class 4-6-2 No.2569 Gladiateur takes its train across a viaduct. This shot is taken from The Flying Scotsman (1929) but it has also appeared in Bulldog Drummond At Bay (1937).