Review for The Flying Scot

There’s something magical about getting your hands on so slight a release which, whilst I’m sure it felt very ephemeral when it aired as a support picture back in the day, is a wonderful time-capsule to a time gone by.
‘The Flying Scot’ (1957) will of course have some appeal to train-spotters. There are some very good and detailed scenes set in Paddington and Kings Cross stations for starters, as well as some wonderful footage of the steam trains of the day on the move through rich Berkshire countryside.
For the rest of us there is still much to enjoy in this B-movie which has a duration just North of an hour.


It’s essentially a heist movie, terribly popular at the time, which in part might even have inspired the so called ‘Great Train Robbery’ of 1963. After all, the first 15 minutes of this movie shows the heist in full, dialogue-free and perfectly executed without a hitch, possibly taking a leaf out of ‘Rififi’, a popular 1955 French film which also starts with a well-executed heist. It must have seemed a very attractive idea to the wrong sort!


Despite its low-budget (just £18,000 with a three week filming schedule) the film boasts some impressive crew. It was penned by Norman Hudis, who wrote half a dozen of the earliest Carry On films, based on a story by Ralph Smart, perhaps best known for his many scripts for ‘Danger Man’. It’s all ably directed by jobbing Director Compton Bennett (‘The Seventh Veil’ ‘King Solomon’s Mines’) who was actually nearing the end of his professional life.


The cast were perhaps less well-known (this was a low-budget picture after all) featuring a confusing mix of American’s and English actors which had the net effect of making some of the noirish dialogue a bit out of place on occasion.

Ronnie (Canadian Lee Patterson) is the headstrong leader of the small gang of thieves and the rail heist is the result of his meticulous planning. He’s ably abetted by glamourous café girl Jackie (Canadian Kay Callard), and Phil (American Alan Gifford). With half-a-million-pounds of banknotes on-board The Flying Scotsman express train, all they need to do is have the perfect ruse to have the overnight cabin next door to where the money is stored, and simply lift of the seat panelling and work their way through to the loot next door. The perfect excuse to keep the curtains and doors shut is for Ronnie and Jackie to pretend that they were ‘Just Married’. Once they got the loot, with Phil’s help, they would throw it from the train at an agreed point to Gibbs who would be waiting near the rail lines with a van. Simple!


Or is it? Not if one of the gang has got a stomach ulcer that’s threatening to burst; there’s a nosy child poking his nose in; a drunk who keeps rapping on the door in search of alcohol and an over-friendly guard who wants to give a gift of champagne to the young couple. And that’s just for starters. What if the seats are fixed with rivets instead of screws? And what if everything goes so slowly that they’re too late to jettison the cash? What if indeed!


There are some amusing comedic moments from the on-board supporting cast including a sniffy scarf-wearing intellect penning the word
B-a-s-t-a-r-d in a crossword after repeatedly having his foot trodden on by an unruly child in his carriage. Very Carry On!


All in all a very nice, tightly directed piece that rattles along for its 65 minute duration. The transfer is very impressive – good detail, excellent contrast with deep unpixelated blacks and generally a very vibrant, photographic look throughout with hardly any signs of wear and tear.
British film fans with a penchant for the late fifties will love it!