Night Train for Inverness | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ernest Morris |
Written by | Mark Grantham |
Produced by | |
Cinematography | James Wilson |
Edited by | Spencer Reeve |
Music by | Albert Elms |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Paramount British Pictures (UK) |
Release date |
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Running time | 69 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Night Train for Inverness is a black and white 1960 British drama film directed by Ernest Morris and starring Norman Wooland, Jane Hylton and Dennis Waterman. [1] [2] [3]
It is notable as the film debut of Dennis Waterman [4] and was referenced in an episode of The Minder Podcast (about the ITV series 1979–1994, 2009, featuring Waterman). [5]
Roy Lewis, just released from gaol, kidnaps his young son Ted and takes him on a train bound for Inverness. However, Lewis doesn't know that Ted is diabetic and faces death without regular insulin injections. Meanwhile, a police manhunt is launched.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The action pointedly plays for suspense and pathos, but a contrived script and self-conscious, heavy-handed direction prove insurmountable obstacles. The net result is extremely mild, with the wife – effectively played by Silvia Francis – emerging as by far the most convincing character." [6]
Kine Weekly wrote: "The picture extracts human sentiment from the young diabetic's plight and creates penultimate suspense, but whether or not this is mis-applied showmanship depends on the individual viewer. It could give some audiences the needle! Denis Waterman is quite natural as Ted, Jane Hylton and Silvia Francis score if contrast as Marion and Ann, Norman Wooland registers as Roy, and Irene Arnold convinces as the interfering Mrs. Wall. The settings are suitably varied, and the vital train journey anything but uneventful." [7]
TV Guide gave it two out of four stars, calling it an "average drama." [8]
The List gave it three out of five stars, and wrote, "this tight, train-bound 1960 thriller has a lot to commend it... Gutsy (for its time) and very watchable." [9]
The film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane wrote that the film "generates genuine suspense from a neatly plotted screenplay". [10]
Dennis Waterman was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks, singing the theme tunes of the latter two.
Norman Wooland was an English character actor who appeared in many major films, including several Shakespearean adaptations.
The Painted Smile is a 1962 British second feature thriller film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Liz Fraser, Kenneth Griffith, Peter Reynolds and Tony Wickert.
Jane Hylton was an English actress who accumulated 30 film credits, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving into television work in the latter half of her career in the 1960s and 1970s.
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The Traitor is a 1957 British drama film directed by Michael McCarthy and starring Donald Wolfit, Robert Bray, Jane Griffiths and Anton Diffring.
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Burnt Evidence is a 1954 British second feature thriller film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Jane Hylton, Duncan Lamont and Donald Gray. It was produced by Ronald Kinnoch for ACT Films.
The Master Plan is a 1954 British second feature espionage thriller film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Norman Wooland, Tilda Thamar and Wayne Morris. It was based on the teleplay Operation North Star by Harald Bratt.
Three Steps to the Gallows is a 1953 British second feature crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Scott Brady, Mary Castle and Gabrielle Brune. It was released in the USA by Lippert Pictures as White Fire.
The Flying Scot is a 1957 British 'B' crime film produced and directed by Compton Bennett and starring Lee Patterson, Kay Callard and Alan Gifford. The screenplay was by Norman Hudis based on a story by Jan Read and Ralph Smart.
Not to be confused with the 1951 re-release of It Happened in Leicester Square (1949), re-titled Hello London.
Never Back Losers is a 1961 British 'B' crime film directed by Robert Tronson and starring Jack Hedley, Jacqueline Ellis and Patrick Magee. The film is based on the 1929 novel The Green Ribbon by Edgar Wallace. It was one of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series, produced at Merton Park Studios in the early 1960s.
Feet of Clay is a 1960 British crime film directed by Frank Marshall, written by Mark Grantham, and starring Vincent Ball, Wendy Williams and Hilda Fenemore.
Edward J. Danziger (1909–1999) and Harry Lee Danziger (1913–2005) were American-born brothers who produced many British films and TV shows in the 1950s and 1960s.
Escape Route is a 1952 British black-and-white second feature thriller film, directed by Seymour Friedman and Peter Graham Scott, and starring George Raft, Sally Gray and Clifford Evans.
Snowball is a 1960 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring Gordon Jackson, Kenneth Griffith and Zena Walker. It is based on the 1958 novel of the same name by James Lake.
Death Over My Shoulder is a 1958 British 'B' crime film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Keefe Brasselle, Bonar Colleano and Jill Adams. It was written by Norman Hudis based on a story by Alyce Canfield.
Devil's Bait is a 1959 black and white British "B" drama film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Geoffrey Keen, Jane Hylton and Gordon Jackson. It was a second feature made by the Rank Organisation.
Profile is a 1954 British second feature thriller film directed by Francis Searle and starring John Bentley, Kathleen Byron and Thea Gregory. A murder mystery set in a magazine publishers.