The Flying Scot (film, 1929)

Engineer Bob White is about to retire after many years of excellent service. On the last day of work, he decides to take revenge on the former fireman Crowe, who was fired for drunkenness at the denunciation of Bob. Revenge should be the catastrophe of the Flying Scotsman train.

Bob's new fireman, young boy Jim Edwards, falls in love with a girl who also boarded a train to prevent a catastrophe. The stoker does not know that the girl’s father is Bob.

The film is notable for the fact that the Welsh actor Ray Milland , who became famous in Hollywood in the 1940s, made his debut in it. Milland, whose real name is Alfred Jones, was seen by director Castleton Knight among the extras of the film The Informer , which was shot on a nearby platform.

Milland in his autobiography recalls that it was in this film that he was asked to come up with a stage name ^[4] . Milland starred in two more Knight films: The Lady from the Sea and The Plaything . ^[five]

Pauline Johnson, who played a major female role, was one of the leading English silent film actresses of her age, although after 1930 she appeared in only a few films. Moore Marriott, who played in the movie of the old machine, was only 41 years old at the time of filming.

• Moore Marriott - Bob White
• Pauline Johnson - Joan White, His Daughter
• Ray Milland (as Raymond Milland) - Jim Edwards
• Alec Harley - Crowe (villain)

The film was shot in collaboration with the railway company London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), which provided the steam locomotive of its flagship series A1 - 4472 Flying Scotsman , as well as the Hertford Loop Line ^[6]. This locomotive was widely used by LNER for advertising purposes, he participated in the British Imperial Exhibition of 1924 set several speed records. At the time of its appearance in the film, the engine belonged to the A1 series and was rebuilt into the more modern A3 series only in 1947. He is the only representative of his class, preserved to date ^[7] .

All the tricks in the film are performed on a moving train by the actors themselves. The most dangerous sleep was the passage of Pauline Johnson on the outside of the train from the wagon to the steam train in high-heeled shoes ^[8] .

It is believed that Nigel Grezley , LNER’s chief engineer and steam locomotive designer, was so worried about the unsafe tricks shown in the film, for example, disconnecting the locomotive from the train while moving, that he insisted on the impossibility of such things in the LNER in the opening credits ^[9] . A similar explanation is given: “For the purposes of the film, some artistic conventions were adopted regarding the safety of equipment used in The Flying Scots. ^[10] Movie historian John Huntley claimed in a BBC broadcast that Grezli subsequently banned any further filming of LNER.

Along with " Blackmail " by Alfred Hitchcock , the film became one of the first British sound films . Initially, he was shot as dumb , and the decision to make a soundtrack was made during production. As a result, the initial scenes are accompanied by captions and music instead of the recorded voice, and the dialogue of the characters sound only towards the end of the film ^[11] . It is not established whether it was originally released with sound: some historians, such as John Huntley, claim that Flying Scot became the earliest British sound film, ahead of Blackmail. ^[12] According to the BFI database, a voiced version of the film was released in March 1930.

• The Flying Scotsman on the Internet Movie Database