Train enthusiasts should get a kick out of this collection of 14 of the short films produced by the advertising—or propaganda—arm of the British Transport Commission, which oversaw Great Britain's rail system after it was nationalized in 1948. Released between 1951-1980 (and running from 7-28 minutes), the shorts are all very professionally made, look splendid in the transfers from the BFI National Film and Television Archive, and cover a wide spectrum of topics using a variety of approaches. One 1975 film records a parade of old but well-maintained engines passing before an appreciative crowd, another follows a company staff outing to London, a third looks at the introduction of the diesel-powered train in 1959, a fourth presents an account of railway building in the early 19th century, and a fifth outlines the construction of a four-mile tunnel linking Gloucester and Wales beneath the Severn estuary—an ancestor of the Chunnel—during the 1880s. It's fun to compare 1952's “Train Time” (in which human controllers change schedules and reallocate cars to meet sudden needs) with 1972's “Cybernetica” (which celebrates the introduction of huge, building-sized computers to take over routing tasks). Equally entertaining is listening to narration presented entirely in verse in 1954's “Elizabethan Express,” and then accompanying a talkative poet laureate to the seaside in 1962's “John Betjeman Goes By Train.” Taken together, the films offer a substantial amount of information about British railways, but they're also fine examples of documentary filmmaking, providing a cinematic window into English social life during the second half of the 20th century that will appeal to historians of popular culture. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
On and Off the Rails
(2007) 2 discs. 247 min. DVD: $29.95. Kino International (avail. from most distributors). Volume 23, Issue 1
On and Off the Rails
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