The 1970 E.M.I. Film

The Railway Children

Near the train we do stand,
Waving to that nice old man,
Peter, Phil and me,
Just waiting to see,
If we will ever come face to face,
With the old man who has helped us so much,
The man who has helped us with love,
He has always helped us in the past,
His love towards us will always last.
Every day we go out,
And we all do shout,
"Hello there!"
And wave flags like mad,
To the old man who we really do love.

The 1970 E.M.I. Film Production Cast list:

Jenny Agutter.....................................Bobbie
Dinah Sheridan...................................Mother
Bernard Cribbins..............Perks the Porter
Sally Thomsett.....................................Phyllis
Gary Warren............................................Peter
Iain Cuthbertson.................................Father
William Mervyn.............The Old Gentleman
Peter Bromilow.............................Dr Forrest
Ann Lancaster........................................Ruth
Deddie Davis.................................Mrs Perks
Paddy Ward......................The old cart man
Dominic Allan................................C.I.D. man
Gordon Whiting................Mr Sczcepansky
Christopher Witty......................................Jim
Beatrix Mackey...............Great Aunt Emma
David Lodge..............................Bandmaster
Sally James..............................................Maid
Eric Chitty...............................Photographer

Screenplay by.........................Lionel Jeffries
Produced by..............................Robert Lynn
Directed by..............................Lionel Jeffries
Director of Photography...Arthur Ibbetson
Musical Compositions.....Johnny Douglas
Production Manager...............David Griffith
Assistant Director................Richard Dalton
Editor.........................................Teddy Darvas
Art Director....................................John Clark
Set Dresser.........................Geoffrey Legget
Wardrobe Supervisor..............Elsa Fennell
Continuity...............................Angela Martell
Casting Director.........................G.B.Walker
Production Secretary................Joy Bayley
Location Manager.....................Richard Gill
Camera Operator......................Paul Wilson
Sound Recordist..................Peter Hanford
.....................................................Denis Porter
.........................................................Len Abbot
Sound Editor.................................Bill Creed
Make-Up...............................Jock Alexander
Hairdresser............................Helen Lennon
Still Photography................Ronnie Pilgrim
Special Effects.............................Pat Moore
...........................................John Richardson
K&W.V.R. Tech' Advisor......Robert Cryer

    Lionel Jeffries was sailing on the "Queen Elizabeth" to New York with his family, and at that time his daughter Martha was reading "The Railway Children" and said to her father "Daddy this is a lovely thing, surely it should be made into a film shouldn't it ?" He immediately read the story and he agreed with Martha that it would make an excellent film study.
    Upon his return from New York, Lionel set about writing the screenplay, which was ultimately accepted by EMI Film Productions.
    It was an early decision to shoot the film almost entirely on location. The opening sequence at "Edgcombe Villa" was to be relatively short, and was shot at an empty house in Hampstead, London, which was specially decorated and furnished in the Edwardian style, before the cameras moved in.
    The privately owned Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, in Yorkshire, was chosen as the location for the "railway shots". To get the Railway sounds just right, Robert Lynn hired the services of a great enthusiast, Peter Handford, as the Yorkshire location sound mixer. Locations nearby were used extensively for other scenes such as, the Vicarage in Howarth, where the Bronte sisters once lived (as the residence of Dr Forrest), also the cottage owned by K&WVR's Mr Mitchell, (who appears in the film, as does another K&WVR Official, Mr Cryer, (both as train-guards)), was used as "Perks" cottage.
    The film premiered in London in 1970, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret, and the then Royal Children, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
    In America, the film opened at the Radio City Music Hall, New York.
    The Queen and the whole Royal Family held a private showing at Windsor Castle at Christmas in 1970.
    Of the many celebrities that have expressed their admiration of the film, a noted few are, The Queen Mother, John Wayne, Noel Coward, John Gielgud, Ingrid Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock, Fred Astaire and Harold Wilson.
    The film was recently voted among the best one hundred British Pictures in the past century by the British Film Institute. It has been included in the Chicago Museum of Fine Arts as an example of the best of British Film Making.