Train of Events

I can't say that I was expecting a masterpiece in the form of "Train of Events." After all, I believe the film is attempting to cash in on the success of "Ealing's" "Dead of Night." The story lacks much in the way of momentum and narrative. Scenes are merely thrown together, even with a film which consists of different scenarios. Tedium had set in, long before the end. There are some good camera shots of London and a good cast. Jack Warner was his usual watchable self and Valerie Hobson did quite well. Too much emphasis is placed upon the previous 2 days before the crash in the film. The plot should have focused more upon events after the train tragedy, a bit of drama might have resulted but who knows? Not vintage "Ealing" by a long way.

As a train crashes, the story of a number of its passengers is told in flashback. A ex German POW on the run, a conductor having an affair, an actor who's murdered his wife and the train driving seeking promotion. This is very British film and often rather theatrical and over egged. Warner does his Huggett bit, the conductor and his wife take add the only humour such that it is, first timer Finch as the killer add the semi Hitchcockian thrills and the Dowling / Payne piece is deadly serious and frankly rather stilted and dull. Some ok bits then, but despite some prestigious directors, the stories are not engrossing enough and so finding out who survives the crash and it's aftermath doesn't hold as much interest as it could have done.

Ealing Studios portmanteau drama that starts with a train crash, then follows four separate stories, showing the backstories of some of the passengers, the events that led to them being on the train, and the aftermath of the crash. Some big names of the day (Jack Warner, Susan Shaw, Miles Malleson, John Gregson, Valerie Hobson, Michael Hordern, and 'introducing' a very young Peter Finch). Several directors and writers involved, including Basil Dearden (who had a hand in both). Made over 70 years ago, but it stands up well. 7/10.

TRAIN OF EVENTS is one of the lesser-known Ealing anthologies that were popular in the 1940s; my favourite of the bunch is DEAD OF NIGHT, but the quality of this one doesn't come close. The film tells four intertwined narratives following passengers who end up on a train that's about to crash via some nifty miniature special effects work. The stories range from so-so to disappointing, and none of them particularly stand out. The Valerie Hobson music-based story is entirely dull, while Jack Warner seems to be going through the motions in a Huggetts-style family drama. Peter Finch's murderer has the most interesting story, but not much happens to him. As usual, a worthwhile cast help to elevate the material and make it consistently interesting (even a young Leslie Phillips shows up) but this is undoubtedly a lesser Ealing film.

Compenium films such as these were very popular in the late forties.Naturally their success rides and falls on the quality of the story.Alas in this case only one of the stories is worth telling.The Valerie Hobson/John Clements story is truly awful.Jack Warners domestic problems seem more like an episode of the Huggetts.The ex German POW story has some promise but becomes repetitive.The Peter Finch/Mary Morris story is quite good but is undermined by the somewhat ridiculous proposition that a murderer would cart the dead body of his wife around in a theatrical basket.The fact that there is a good cast,and a strong band of writers and directors make it all the more disappointing.The most interesting aspect of the film is the considerable location work,which includes a view of the late lamented Euston arch.

Pitch for a movie: A London bus travelling in heavy rain crashes into a crane that falls from a building site; we then use flashbacks to explore the lives/personal problems of the passengers involved. Not a bad premise for the time, 1933, so not bad in fact that Gainsborough bought into it and shot it as Friday The Thirteenth and released it that year. Ealing liked it so much that they re-made it with a train in 1948 and renamed it Train Of Events which gave Jack Warner and Gladys Henson a rehearsal for their second husband-and-wife pairing in The Blue Lamp two years later. There are four sets of passengers equating to four stories and none of them inspire the pulse to reach double figures. We knew of course that John Gregson was as wooden as Pinnochio but to find Peter Finch on his debut giving us his impression of a giant Redwood was a discovery. The then-ubiquitous Susan Shaw is also on hand as is Michael Horden and Lesley Phillips and nostalgia buffs will enjoy a good wallow.

Although Jack Warner's domestic woes - or, more precisely, those of his daughter's boyfriend - keep getting in the way of far more meaty tales of murder, infidelity and post-war poverty this portmanteau movie from Ealing remains engaging throughout. A young Peter Finch receives his first screen credit as a murderer in the film's best story.