The Titfield Thunderbolt
- NOT RATED
- Year:
- 1953
- 84 min
- 668 Views
(Whistle blows)
(Whistles blow)
(Whistles blow)
(Cock crows)
(Whistle blows)
(Train approaches)
(Whistle blows)
(Dog barks)
(Whistle blows)
Charlie! Here's your death warrant.
Stick it up when you've got the time.
- Good morning, Charlie.
- Good morning, sir.
- Morning.
- Morning, sir.
(Honks horn)
(Honks horn repeatedly)
Here you are, Charlie.
(Crash, clatter)
(Blows whistle)
Right away!
Can't go yet.
The squire's not here.
(Horn honking)
For heaven's sake, Harry!
What am I supposed to do,
hedge hop?
(Chickens squawk)
(Horse whinnies)
(Honks horn)
Dan!
Dan!
Dan! Spare a hand here.
Come on, Dan!
(Blows whistle)
Can't wait any longer.
- Three and a half, to be exact.
- I'm due in court at ten o'clock.
- Just going now, sir.
Can't go yet. Squire's here.
What's the idea of leaving me
behind on market day?
- Four minutes late.
- Church clock says four minutes early.
British Railways run
by Greenwich not Titfield time.
My great-grandfather built this
railway for Titfield not Greenwich.
(Whistle blows)
(Horn honks)
My, my! So they let you
have her on loan, eh?
- We've bought her!
- Railway's had it?
- Closure notice put up this morning.
- At last!
Nah, that's just the beginning.
Five years from now, they'll be
calling this place Pearcetown.
(Whistle blows)
(Doorbell rings)
(Muffled voices)
(Knock on door)
- Yes, Emily?
- The squire and Mr Blakeworth, sir.
Well, well, well! Come in!
- Emily, the ginger wine!
- We're not interrupting the sermon?
No matter. You'll find cigarettes
in the pocket of my cassock.
Sam, we've come to talk
about the railway.
- The railway!
- You haven't heard the news?
- The news?
- They're closing it down.
I cannot believe it. The oldest
surviving branch line in the world.
It's unthinkable.
They cannot possibly close it.
What about
the Canterbury-Whitstable line?
They closed that.
Perhaps there were not men
of sufficient faith in Canterbury.
Sam, we've got to fight this.
It'll be a virtual monopoly for
Pearce and Crump and their buses.
- The end of Titfield as we know it.
- It must never happen.
- Our railway must be kept running.
- But how?
There's no solution
short of buying up the line.
- My dear Mr Blakeworth!
- The railways are all nationalised.
The Transport Act of 1947
only nationalised existing railways.
wouldn't come under the Act.
(Sam) Well!
There'd be hundreds
of conditions to fulfil.
most won't apply.
How do we get
By means of a prayer to the Minister
of Transport. It's a legal term.
You'd need an engine crew,
signalmen, platelayers.
The railways are short-handed.
Good gracious, boy!
You, whose great-grandfather
built the railway?
What are you thinking of?
We'll run it ourselves!
- Good heavens!
- Yes, we will, Sam!
What a thought!
By heavens, we will!
- I'll drive the engine.
- I'll be the guard.
Oh, good heavens! Where are you
going to get the money from?
- Oh.
- We'll raise it.
We'll organise a raffle,
a jumble sale.
have a flag day, a silver collection,
a line of pennies,
put on The Mikado again.
Sam, you've done all that for the
organ fund. How much have you raised?
49, three shillings.
We'll need at least 10,000.
Oh!
But if we could interest
Mr Valentine...
Mr Valentine?
He's spent 40 years
standing people drinks.
- Why can't he stand us a railway?
- Impossible!
Sam, a railway of our own?
Good heavens!
- And a large gin for me.
- In your hand, Mr Valentine.
Oh! Ladies and gentlemen,
here's to our magnificent generals,
General Gordon
and General Booth.
(Laughter)
No, leave it there, my dear.
Time we all had another little drink.
Ah, our good chaplain!
I was just about to invite
the company to take wine with me.
- No, please let me.
- I've already staked my claim, sir.
You must accept defeat
like a gentleman. Mr Weech?
Well, it's very kind of you.
Perhaps a glass of sherry.
Yes. A sherry wine. For you,
Mr Chesterford, the same again?
- I haven't had one yet!
- Oh, well!
Let us not quibble over the lapse
of a few empty hours
since we last stood here together.
Was it not a blend of mild ale
and bitter beer?
- Mild and bitter.
- There.
- Mr Weech, you're looking solemn.
- Mr Weech has had a nasty shock.
- They're closing our railway.
- Oh, my dear padre.
All this time together and not
one word of sympathy from me.
You must think me
an unfeeling old man.
- Not at all.
- But I insist.
We're planning to take it over,
work it ourselves.
Indeed! And why not?
- I've the man for you! Mr Taylor!
- If we can find the capital.
Yes. Mr Taylor!
Mr Taylor! There you are.
Stop dodging about, sir.
You're going to drive an engine
for these ladies and gentlemen.
Oh, no!
Mr Taylor's a railway servant
of long experience.
- 41 years.
- Yes, I know. A platelayer.
I can drive an engine
better than what you can.
At what percent of piston travel
does an engine cut out
- Eh?
- He doesn't even know that.
- Come on, Mr Taylor, have at him!
- What's a Samson?
One doesn't need a knowledge
of slang to operate a locomotive.
- Hit for Mr Taylor!
- Get into him, Dan!
- What's a petticoat pipe?
- Come on, Mr Weech!
What's the purpose
- When does an engine bark?
- What's a stuffing gland?
- How long's your jay rod?
- How do you free a clogged blower?
- How do you treat a big end brass?
- Answer my questions, man!
Well, you answer mine,
and take your paws off me!
Gentlemen, order, please!
They must both drive the engine.
- (Laughter)
- If they ever get the chance.
Mr Valentine, we need 10,000
to float our company.
My dear Mr Chesterford,
what is 10,000 between friends?
- Nothing, we're hoping.
- Money is only a symbol. Come on.
Let's drink to your success.
Miss Hampton, dear, set them up.
- You'll finance us?
- I, dear boy? Charming gesture.
But what right have I to exploit
your enterprise for gain?
- I, a foolish old man?
- You certainly won't gain by it.
I, who already have enough
for my simple needs.
This line has been
losing money for years.
It's bound to go on losing money.
There's an honest man.
Thank you, my dear sir.
But for your timely warning, I might
have made a foolish investment.
Come along, Miss Hampton, dear.
Mr Valentine, what do you do in
the morning before this place opens?
I wait impatient for the day to dawn.
Suppose the day dawned
at 13 minutes to nine.
Mr Chesterford, you're a poet,
a dreamer of beautiful dreams.
There is nothing in law to prevent
a railway company opening a bar
in one of its trains
whenever that train is under way.
Give us your backing and we'll run
a bar on the Titfield-Mallingford line
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"The Titfield Thunderbolt" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_titfield_thunderbolt_21963>.
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