| Runaway Railway | |
| Director: | Jan Darnley-Smith |
| Producer: | George H. Brown |
| Screenplay: | Michael Barnes |
| Editing: | John Bloom |
| Music: | Burnell Whibley |
| Starring: | John Moulder-Brown Kevin Bennett Leonard Brockwell |
| Cinematography: | John Coquillon |
| Studio: | Pinewood Studios |
| Runtime: | 55 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Runaway Railway is a 1965 British family adventure film directed by Jan Darnley-Smith and starring John Moulder-Brown, Kevin Bennett, Ronnie Barker and Graham Stark.[1] [2] The screenplay was by Michael Barnes from an original story by Henry Geddes.
A group of children manage to foil an attempted mail train robbery, with similarities to the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
It was filmed at Longmoor Military Railway, Paddington Station and Pinewood Studios.[3]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The opportunities afforded by railway trains for high speed and plenty of action are splendidly exploited. In its combination of farcical comedy and railway adventure, this is second only to Oh Mr. Porter!, and cannot fail to delight children. The one criticism that can be levelled against it (surprisingly, in view of the fact that a child audience is well known to be critical, and likely to be well-informed about railways) is that insufficient care was taken with regard to the railway detail. The robbery, for instance, takes place in full view of a nearby signal box, and, incidentally, a signal governing the adjacent track permanently signifies a clear track for a train that never comes. The models that the crooks buy to demonstrate to the children include outmoded raised-base track which, as many juveniles will know, has been off the market for some considerable time. The model Royal Mail van is correct, but the full-sized version in the robbery is an ordinary four-wheel closed van. Rolling stock and tender sides are lettered "L.M.R." (the Longmoor Military Railway was used for the film) but any pretence that this is a mythical "London Midland Railway" is shattered by a British Railways cap. One would have thought it possible to mask the offending lettering for the occasion, and it is easy to imagine indignant correspondence from young critics over these and other discrepancies. In all other respects however, this film is one out of the C.F.F.'s top drawer."[4]