Art & Hue
The Titfield Thunderbolt stylish pop art print.
The Titfield Thunderbolt
A classic Ealing comedy, much-loved by film fans and train enthusiasts alike, “The Titfield Thunderbolt” was the first Ealing Comedy to be made in colour, Technicolor in fact, and the fourth to be directed by Charles Crichton.
Pre-empting the savage cuts to the railways made by Beeching’s axe in the 1960s, “The Titfield Thunderbolt” sees a group of villagers attempting to keep their branch line running after it’s earmarked for closure.
Inspired by the Talyllyn Railway, which was restored and preserved as a heritage railway, the charming film features a regular Ealing trope of the underdog, in this case the villagers, battling a larger bureaucratic enemy, represented by the freshly-nationalised British Railways.
A picturesque snapshot of rural England in the 1950s, the film stars Stanley Holloway, John Gregson, George Relph, Naunton Wayne, Sam Kydd, Hugh Griffith, & Sid James.
“The Titfield Thunderbolt” had its Gala Premiere at London’s Leicester Square Theatre on the 5th of March 1953, as part of the British Film Academy’s award ceremony, before going on general release from the 6th.
Art & Hue had the pleasure to delve into the archives for the Ealing Comedy “The Titfield Thunderbolt” to create this stylish pop art print of John Gregson & George Relph in front of the locomotive, available in three sizes and 20 colours.
Also available as part of a group of four prints:
George Relph
George Relph played the vicar, Sam Weech, in “The Titfield Thunderbolt” and also appeared in another Ealing comedy, “Davy” with Harry Secombe, Bernard Cribbins, Joan Sims, Bill Owen, Kenneth Connor, & Liz Fraser.
Some of Relph’s other film credits include “Give Us The Moon” with Irene Handl, “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby” with Stanley Holloway, “I Believe In You” with Cecil Parker, Joan Collins, Laurence Harvey, & Sid James, “Doctor at Large” with Dirk Bogarde & Shirley Eaton, and, his final film credit as Tiberius Caesar in the epic “Ben-Hur” with Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Cathy O’Donnell & Hugh Griffith.
John Gregson
In “The Titfield Thunderbolt”, John Gregson plays the village squire Gordon Chesterford and was his third appearance in an Ealing comedy, after roles in “Whisky Galore!” with Joan Greenwood & Gordon Jackson, and “The Lavender Hill Mob” with Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, & Audrey Hepburn.
Some of Gregson’s other credits in his busy film career include “London Belongs to Me” with Richard Attenborough & Alastair Sim, “Saraband for Dead Lovers” with Joan Greenwood, Barbara Murray, & Sandra Dorne, “Genevieve” with Dinah Sheridan & Joyce Grenfell, “The Weak and the Wicked” with Diana Dors, Sid James, Sandra Dorne, & Irene Handl, “The Frightened City” with Sean Connery & Herbert Lom, “Fright” with Honor Blackman & Dennis Waterman, “To Dorothy A Son” and “The Captain’s Table”, both with Joan Sims, “Three Cases of Murder” with Orson Welles & an uncredited Patrick Macnee, and “The Battle of the River Plate” with Patrick Macnee, Christopher Lee, and John Schlesinger as an extra, who would later go on to direct Julie Christie in both “Billy Liar” & “Darling”.
A couple of Gregson’s television credits include “Gideon C.I.D.” with Gordon Jackson, and “The Saint” with Roger Moore.
Watch the film
Order “The Titfield Thunderbolt” from Amazon on DVD or Bluray or watch on iTunes now.
The Titfield Thunderbolt Pop Art
Available in A4, A3, and A2 sizes to fit standard-size picture frames. Please note that black frame is not included – for a guide on choosing a frame size take a look here.
An official collaboration with Studiocanal, this print is part of the Trains & the Ealing Comedies collections of stylish pop art prints inspired by the classic British comedy films made at Ealing Studios, featuring Art & Hue’s signature halftone style (halftone is an age-old technique that uses dots to make up the printed image, similar to newspapers or comic books).
“The Titfield Thunderbolt” Copyright © STUDIOCANAL Films Ltd. (1953). All rights reserved.
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