The first thing we hear is the narration at the start of The Railway Children by seventeen year old Jenny Agutter as Bobbie. Now seventy two, the same lady I remember talking to in the audience of The Globe theatre. Yes, this is a 1970 film from what is now 55 years ago. From the classic book by the great children's author E Nesbitt, it's director Lionel Jeffries (that terrific character actor from films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) who bought the rights having loved the book. He took a draft screenplay to producer Bryan Forbes at EMI films who, by coincidence, was looking for a family film. It was Bryan who persuaded Jeffries to direct his first movie.
It's Christina Newland who tells us the film is "from the point of view of the children" that "sowed the seeds of such films to come". Neil Norman calls it a "bone fide classic". The year is 1905 and the children's father is arrested on a trumped up charge which is why the family have to move from London to the country. We hear about the author of the book who lost his father as a child. Shot on location in Yorkshire, the film looks marvelous.
The cast includes the wonderful Dinah Sheridan as the mother, Jenny playing slightly younger, and Sally Thomsett as the eleven year old Phyllis despite being twenty at the time. and Gary Warren as young Peter. Add in Bernard Cribbins as Perks the porter as well as a superb supporting cast. The station of Oakworth was a main location and they kept the actual name of the real station. The trains themselves were an important part. Some of the old black and white newsreels are wonderful.
We hear about the happy ending and how the film's release around Christmas was a big success. Neil Norman says that the movie is "quietly brave" and a "rare family film" that is "rooted so much in reality". Ian Nathan ends with "it treats children as adults". In a good way.
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