The Flying Scotsman (1929)

Director:  Castleton Knight

Producer:  uncredited
Main Cast:  Moore Marriott, Pauline Johnson, Raymond Miland, Alec Hurley
Runtime:  57 minutes

This film is quite an interesting one in a few ways.  Firstly, it is one of the first sound (talkie) movies made by Britain where half the movie was made silent with inter-titles and the second half has recorded voices and sounds.  The second fascinating thing about it is one portion of the film where some incredible stunts are performed by the actors.  Oh and how can I not include one of the main stars of the movie being The Flying Scotsman steam train in all its coal burning glory!

Coming in at only 57 minutes, you really can’t expect a lot of character development or a deep story for that matter, so the film gets into it quite fast.  Essentially the movie is about Bob White (Moore Marriott) who has one last run on the train before retiring but has come up against a fellow engineer Crow (Alec Hurley) who has decided to get some revenge for being kicked out of the railway.

During the climax of the movie there are some stunts that put you on the edge of your seat because you know that this is the real deal with a speeding train and no special effects, green screens or CGI but actors doing their job with real life threatening risks.  It’s quite amazing and it is one of the things that the movie is known for.  As shown below Joan (Pauline Johnson) is walking on the outside of a speeding train with high heels and you can tell that the danger is right there as the train whizzes past bridges and so on.  Quite amazing.

The acting is ok though it should be kept in mind that talkie/sound movies were new, so new that the actors had to change halfway through the movie so it’s quite original in that regard, but the acting does show that a bit.  The train itself however is just awesome and the movie is well worth watching for any train fan.

The DVD reviewed was imported from the UK and certainly appears to have had a good restoration job done on it with some scenes being really good but others showing a bit of wear and tear on the 88 year old film but overall it is really quite good in its 1.33:1 aspect ratio.  Audio in the silent section (about the first half of the film) is fine however it tends to vary a bit in the second half which might cause you to play around a little with the volume control but overall is not bad for a movie of this age considering its one of the first talkie movies for Britain.  There are no extras on the DVD.

Overall it’s a good, yet short, movie that is well worth hunting down of you’re a The Flying Scotsman steam train fan as it has some great scenes of the train inside and out.  The stunt sequence is breathtaking and adds to the excitement of this short movie.  It comes recommended particularly for train fans.

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