Blue Pullman (film)

Blue Pullman
Blue Pullman at Cheadle Heath railway station
Directed by	James Ritchie
Written by	James Ritchie
Produced by	Edgar Anstey
Cinematography	David Watkin Jack West
Edited by	Hugh Raggett
Release date	1960 (1960)
Running time	23 minutes
Country	United Kingdom

Blue Pullman is a 1960 British short documentary film directed an written by James Ritchie. ^{[1] [2] [3]} It was produced by British Transport Films and follows the development and preparation of a train journey from Manchester to London on new British Railways Blue Pullman diesel multiple units.

Premise

The film includes coverage of engineers conducting the train's technical trials, and the Manchester Piccadilly to London St Pancras journey filmed from the driver's cab and from the air.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "It is a pity that the producers, for some inexplicable reason, appear reluctant to show the train starting and stopping properly: the arrival at St. Pancras in particular is sadly botched and comes as a let down after the vivid presentation of the Blue Pullman in motion. A very nicely made informational film which has the distinct virtues too of an effective score by Clifton Parker, stylish editing and a commendable inclination to let the visuals speak for themselves: how pleasant indeed not to have an incessantly chattering commentator and, instead, to have descriptive comments kept to a minimum." ^[4]

Accolades

The won several awards, ^[5] including the Technical & Industrial Information section of the Festival for Films for Television in 1961.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "Blue Pullman". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
2. "Blue Pullman (1960)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
3. "The Value of the Factual Film". The British Journal of Photography. 114 (5606): 1116. 29 December 1967 – via ProQuest.
4. "Blue Pullman". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 27 (312): 117. 1 January 1960. ProQuest   1305827368.
5. "Blue Pullman". BFIplayer . Retrieved 19 October 2025.

External links

• Blue Pullman at IMDb
• Blue Pullman on the British Transport Films site
• Watch Blue Pullman on BFIplayer
• Blue Pullman at David Watkin's page (archived from the original on 29 May 2011)