The Flying Scotsman (1929)

Fantastic!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This film was made by British International Pictures who with the Indian of the talkies decided to turn their unreleased ailments into part sound.Instead. of inserting sound sequences they turned the second half into a complete talkie.They also did this on The Informer and Kitty.By 1931 ailments were dead,and any cinema that could not afford the equipment closed.The sequence where the actors are walking along the outside of the train was truly hair raising.The actors had no doubles and there were no process shots.You could see the looks of sheer terror on the face of the actors.The cast is interesting.Ray Mill and is a rather cocky engineer in one of his early films.Moore Marriott is the train driver before he found fame with Will Hay a few years later.No doubt this film is popular with train enthusiasts for its many views of the steam era over eighty six years ago.

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.

I recently picked up a VHS copy of The Flying Scotsman and found it rather interesting. It is available in the UK on VHS as part of the Steam Cinema Series on DD Video.The first half of this obscure movie is silent and we don't see any railway action. This starts in the second half, as does the sound. The engine's fireman sets out on his last trip before retirement. The previous day, he reported his driver for being drunk and gets suspended for this. He is on the train to get his revenge. The driver's daughter is also aboard. The suspended driver gets out of his carriage and goes to the engine by walking along the roof of the train, followed by the fireman's daughter. A fight breaks out when he arrives and the loco is uncoupled from the rest of the train, a points change just avoids a collision. After things have calmed down, the train continues its journey and arrives in Edinburgh on time, despite the delay.This movie used the correct loco, 4472 Flying Scotsman as well as the train of the same name. I believe some of the stars did their own stunts, including walking down the side of the coaches when it was at speed.The cast includes a young Ray Milland in one of his first movies.This is a must for railway enthusiasts and fans of old movies like myself. A treat.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

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.