Britflix: The Railway Children

The 1970 adaptation of The Railway Children is considered a quintessential family film for British audiences. A sequel is set to be released, so now seems like a great time to check out this beloved film.

The Waterbury family is an affluent family in Edwardian London. However, their fortunes take a turn for the worse when Charles (Iain Cuthbertson), the family patriarch is taken away by two mysterious men. The Waterburys are forced to move to Yorkshire. The children, Roberta, better known as Bobbie (Jenny Agutter), Phyllis (Sally Thomsett), and Peter (Gary Warren) make the best of their new surroundings and become interested in the local railway which plays a major part in their adventures.

The current landscape of family films often focuses on spectacle. There are special effects, bright colours, and comedy. Even more heartfelt films like the Paddington series did have a fair amount of slapstick. The Railway Children was a gentile, charming, if quaint little film, and that’s why it has endured for so long. It’s comfort viewing for the whole family during Christmas or on a wet Sunday.

What made The Railway Children stand out was its main trio. The Waterbury children were shown to be a nice set of kids who were trying to do the right thing. They weren’t brats who needed to be taken down a peg or learn humility. They did complain about things like their new house being cold at night but that was just a natural reaction to their circumstances. They weren’t snobs and didn’t go around saying to the locals they could do this or that in London.

The children did have to learn moral lessons. Peter stole coal from the train station to heat the family home and his sisters chastised him for stealing. The children got gifts from a wealthy passenger and their mother (Dinah Sheridan) told them off for it. She was a typical Brit, someone who had a stiff upper lip and said they won’t ask for handouts.

Bobbie was the main character of the trio. She was the oldest and the natural leader. The film was told mainly from her perspective, and she acted as the narrator. It was the role that made Jenny Agutter’s name. Even though Agutter has had a long career, appearing in projects like Logan’s Run, An American Werewolf in London, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, she’s still recognised for this film. She keeps coming back to the Railway Children property. Before the 1970 version, Agutter played Roberta in the 1968 BBC series. She played the mother in the remake for ITV in 2000, and she’s coming back for The Railway Children Return.

One of the most famous bits of trivia about the film involved Sally Thomsett. Thomsett was 20 years old when she made The Railway Children, yet she was playing an 11-year-old girl. She was older than Agutter and Agutter was playing the older sister. Thomsett wasn’t allowed to drink or go out with her boyfriend. She was convincing in the role, aided by her short status, youthful face, and the Edwardian costumes.

The Railway Children does have some iconic scenes. One of the most memorable was when the Waterbury children tried to warn a train about a landslide. There was plenty of tension to ensure the children succeed, especially when Bobbie stood in the middle of the track as the train approached. The ending where Bobbie finds her dad on the station platform was one of the most memorable.

The biggest issue with The Railway Children was the story structure. It came across like it was telling many small stories instead of a big overarching story. In the film the mother becomes ill, the children befriend Albert (Bernard Cribbins) and try to throw him a birthday party, they help a Russian exile and save a boy from the train tunnel. It felt like chapters from a book or episodes in a TV series.

The Railway Children was a wholesome film that would be hard for anyone to hate. It was a film with likeable characters, a sense of charm, and there was enough peril to make sure there was a level of tension.