The Flying Scotsman

Like Hitchcock's "Blackmail" that came out the same year, this film has a silent opening sequence and seems to have begun as a silent picture before adapting the new technology after production began. This film doesn't merge the two quite as well, however. Blackmail's opening sequence filmed without dialogue comes across as an opening vignette intended to be silent, then the speaking comes when the story moves elsewhere (though it was in fact only after filming began that they switched, and then overdubbed the speaking parts). In this film the speaking was not overdubbed but seems to begin at an arbitrary point in the story.

While the plot is a bit thin and predictable, it is very well made, particularly the sequences on and of the train, the famous Flying Scotsman that runs from Edinburgh to London.

The tacked on love story angle is the weakest aspect, but the vengeful former engineer bent on getting even for being "wronged" is the strength of the movie and its momentum. Like Buster Keaton's "The General," they film and perform the stunts on the actual moving train and not with a filmed background, and some of the stunts are daring and impressive.

While the love story won't keep you interested, if you like well filmed thrillers and trains, this movie is good, though far from great.

This early train drama is impressive for its level of realism and excitement in the second half of the production. Until then it's a fairly typical potboiler of its kind, with a slow-moving narrative gradually unveiling the main players in the drama: Ray Milland's naive young newcomer, wooing a pretty blonde; her elderly and dependable soon-to-retire father; and a beefy scoundrel of a villain. The big twist is that halfway through it swaps from silent to sound, which must have been amazing for audiences of the era. There are some excellent train stunts later on, particularly from the main actress, in high heels and all.

The fireman of the fabled British train The Flying Scotsman gets reported by the engineer for being drunk on the job and he's given the sack as they would say in the UK. In the USA he'd be picking out a weapon of choice and going back to his job to start a massacre. But over there, being the civilized folks they are all he's going to do is wreck the train in vengeance while it's on it's run from London to Edinburgh.

Two things The Flying Scotsman is known for. The first is some very daring stunt work done on the train itself. The second is for the presence of young Raymond Milland in the role of the young engineer in love with the old engineer's daughter. It was only Milland's second film and there are certainly traces of the amiable light leading man he was throughout the Thirties in Hollywood.

The film was started while films were silent and midpoint in the story the players start to speak. Though it doesn't add or detract from the story in a dramatic sense and it isn't done with any sense of style as Blackmail was by Alfred Hitchcock, it makes far better sense than say the first sound version of Showboat where in certain scenes the players just speak and go silent without rhyme or reason.

The Flying Scotsman is a curious antique good for those who love old trains and old films.

Decent British part-silent about the life and love of cockney Ray Milland -- yes, that Ray Milland at the beginning of his career -- as the new fireman aboard the 'Flying Scotsman.' Of course he falls in love with the daughter of the Flying Scotsman's engineer, unbeknownst to any of the parties, and of course the old fireman, fired for drinking on the job, has vowed vengeance on everyone. The whole movie is photographed by Theodore Sparkuhl is Germanic, moody, shadowy lighting that produces an air of foreboding in every scene.

This film about the Flying Scotsman is made using the real Flying Scotsman of that time, so it has total authenticity. Train buffs will love it, and so will people who love train dramas (one of my own weaknesses). For those who do not know what the Flying Scotsman Express was, I must explain that it was the name of the steam train service between London and Edinburgh, known also as an 'overnight sleeper' because people could sleep during the journey and wake up in the morning in Scotland. The train went daily from Kings Cross Station in London to Waverley Station in Edinburgh and was owned by the London and North Eastern Railway Company. The IMDb entry for this film mistakenly says that the actor Gordon Harker was in it, but it is questionable whether he really appears in the film. I see that this film is listed on his personal credits on IMDb. One would have to watch the whole film a second time to look for him to be certain. I did watch the beginning of the film a second time to be certain that his name is not on the credits. The only acting credits given are Moore Marriott, Pauline Johnson, Alec Hurley, and Ray Milland. This was Ray Milland's second credited film, and he was 21 going on 22 at the time. He does very well. Moore Marriott, later famous for his wonderful comic acting in countless British films, here plays a straight dramatic role very effectively, as the engine driver of the Flying Scotsman, who is about to retire. Although he was only 45 years old, he was so successfully made up that he looked a convincing 60 to 65. His fireman on his very last run before retiring is Ray Milland, who is in love with Marriott's daughter, played by the intrepid Pauline Johnson, who had been appearing in films since 1920. After this she made one last film in the same year (ironically about a train wrecker), and retired in late 1929. (She would later die at the young age of 47.) Pauline Johnson in this film has what Americans call 'a lot of spunk', and English people used to call 'a great deal of pluck', in other words liveliness, verve, and initiative, not to mention fearlessness. She does her own dangerous stunts in the film, climbing along the side of the speeding express train, as well as leaping off the train to pull a switch at the last second to avert a disastrous full-speed train collision. I would say that after her departure in 1929 she was a great loss to the screen. Alec Hurley plays the embittered villain of the story. He has been sacked by Marriott because of being drunk while being the fireman of The Flying Scotsman. He vows to get even. He wants to wreck the Flying Scotsman on Marriott's last run, in order to discredit him and destroy his perfect record of having arrived safely on time every day for thirty years. The film is directed by Castleton Knight (1894-1970). It was his second feature film, preceded by another one the same year which was both his and Ray Milland's first, and which also starred Moore Marriott (who by the way had been in films since 1912). Knight only made three more feature films, the next being THE PLAYTHING (1929, a film which appears to be lost) also starring Ray Milland. But Castleton is very little known. The train episodes in this film only constitute about a third of its 57 minute duration, but are definitely worth seeing by anyone interested in old steam trains. This film began as a silent and some sound scenes were added, along with plenty of background sound and music. Some titles remain, so it is a hybrid silent-and-sound combination. It is well worth watching if only for historical reasons, but is entertaining as well.