Train of Events

A Liverpool-bound train departs from Euston station in London in the period immediately after World War II. After dark, the train is travelling north at speed when a light being waved by the trackside is seen by the driver. He applies the brakes, but a road tanker stalled across a level crossing is looming up just ahead. Plainly, there is not enough room to stop but, just as the collision is about to occur, there is a fade out succeeded by a view of the locomotive sheds at Euston three days earlier.

Personal stories of passengers are then told in flashbacks which make up the "train of events" in the title. The first story, "The actor", is about Philip (Peter Finch), who has a dark secret. He has been visited by his estranged wife, and we learn that she has been unfaithful while he was in the Army. She jeers him, and he is roused to revenge, strangling her while a gramophone plays These Foolish Things. The theatre party to which he belongs is on the train, en route to Canada. Also on board is a costume hamper, with the body of his wife. He is hoping to "lose" it on the transatlantic crossing, but detectives have been tracking him, and are on the train.

The second story, "The Prisoner-of-War", is about Richard (Laurence Payne) and Ella (Joan Dowling). He is a prisoner of war (POW) on the run, who dislikes returning to Germany. They have endured a miserable secret life in assorted seedy lodgings, and Ella is hoping they can start again abroad. However, Ella has stolen money from her landlady to pay her fare, and there was only enough for one of them to emigrate. Selflessly, she intends it be him. The third story, "The Composer", is of composer Raymond Hillary (John Clements), who is travelling to a performance with his star pianist, the temperamental Irina (Irina Baronova). Although married, he has a string of dalliances, and Irina is the latest. The fourth story, "The Engine Driver", is centred on engine driver Jim Hardcastle (Jack Warner). He is facing his own crisis, because he is a candidate for a management job at the locomotive sheds. This would take him off the footplate and allow him to work office hours, the heartfelt wish of his wife Emily (Gladys Henson). However, to cover for his daughter's future husband when he was accidentally absent, Jim illicitly worked his shift and this could cost him the promotion.

The film returns to the train, roaring through the evening. Again, there is the light by the track, and the tanker just ahead – but this time, we see the collision. The derailed and damaged train is lying in ruins. Jim Hardcastle groggily recovers consciousness in a pile of coal from the overturned tender, and shocked passengers wander about. One of them is Richard, but his Ella is on a stretcher, evidently badly hurt, and dies before she can be taken away. Richard runs from the scene (and the attending police), unaware of the steamship ticket in Ella's handbag, which blows away. Philip seems unhurt and makes a dash for freedom. But, as he tries to evade the detectives who were on board, he runs dangerously close to the wreckage, and an unstable coach collapses on him. Irina and Raymond are only bruised, and their company is able to continue, albeit in bandages. There is a happy ending for driver Jim. The final scene shows him waving goodbye to his wife, as he prepares to cycle across to the locomotive sheds on his first day in that nine-to-six job.

"The Engine Driver" (directed by Sidney Cole)

• Jack Warner as Jim Hardcastle
• Gladys Henson as Mrs Hardcastle
• Susan Shaw as Doris Hardcastle
• Patric Doonan as Ron Stacey
• Miles Malleson as Timekeeper
• Philip Dale as Hardcastle's fireman
• Leslie Phillips as Stacey's Fireman

"The Prisoner-of-War" (directed by Basil Dearden)

• Joan Dowling as Ella
• Laurence Payne as Richard
• Olga Lindo as Mrs. Bailey

"The Composer" (directed by Charles Crichton)

• Valerie Hobson as Stella
• John Clements as Raymond Hillary
• Irina Baronova as Irina
• John Gregson as Malcolm
• Gwen Cherrell as Charmian
• Jacqueline Byrne as TV Announcer

"The Actor" (directed by Basil Dearden)

• Peter Finch as Philip
• Mary Morris as Louise
• Laurence Naismith as Joe Hunt
• Doris Yorke as Mrs Hunt
• Michael Hordern as Plainclothesman
• Charles Morgan as Plainclothesman
• Guy Verney as Producer
• Mark Dignam as Bolingbroke
• Philip Ashley as Actor
• Bryan Coleman as Actor
• Henry Hewitt as Actor
• Lyndon Brook as Actor

Jack Warner was permanently injured while making this film. He had insisted on learning how a steam engine is driven to get his posture right, but fell into a locomotive turntable pit and injured his back. He had a slight limp ever afterwards as a result, which became noticeably worse as he aged.

One quirk of the film is that the number of a locomotive featured in one of the early scenes is painted out (presumably to avoid worrying passengers who might fear that it really would be involved in an accident) but is still clearly readable because the numbers themselves were made from raised metal.

The locomotives used in the film included two LMS Class 3F "Jinty" 0-6-0Ts Nos. 47327 and 47675, and LMS Royal Scot Class No. 46126 Royal Army Service Corps.

The film premiered on 18 August 1949 at the Gaumont Haymarket in London,[1] and the reviewer for The Times didn't appreciate the four-in-one storyline : "The contrivance at best is clumsy, and there are not any inherent virtues in "Train of Events" to compensate for the inevitable distraction and division of attention."[2]

• Train of Events at the British Film Institute
• Train of Events on IMDb