The railroad in silent pictures...

Guess I better make that a bit more clear: I was looking for good
cinematography of trains. The films don't have to be from any particular
country or genre. TIA
"George Kincaid" <gkincaid000.TakeThisOut@centurytel.net> wrote in message
news:ILudnTkfZOArzIDanZ2dnUVZ_j2dnZ2d@centurytel.net...
>I watched The Great K&A Train Robbery again last night, and marveled at the
>train scenes (and Tom Mix's stunt work). From the Great Train Robbery on,
>the motion picture camera operators had a love affair with the railroad,
>and I started to wonder what other films feature that particular form of
>transportation. I've seen The General and The Iron Horse, and the two films
>I just mentioned. What other pictures should I see that feature trains?
>Thanks. GK
>
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

"George Kincaid" <gkincaid000 DeleteThis @centurytel.net> wrote in message
news:ILudnTkfZOArzIDanZ2dnUVZ_j2dnZ2d@centurytel.net...
>I watched The Great K&A Train Robbery again last night, and marveled at the
>train scenes (and Tom Mix's stunt work). From the Great Train Robbery on,
>the motion picture camera operators had a love affair with the railroad,
>and I started to wonder what other films feature that particular form of
>transportation. I've seen The General and The Iron Horse, and the two films
>I just mentioned. What other pictures should I see that feature trains?
>Thanks. GK

There are quite a few- Helen Holmes made a career of doing railroad thrill
pictures, though I don't know if any are on video. One available film is
Monty Banks' comedy "Play Safe" which is available on the Slapstick
Encyclopedia set as a 2 reel cutdown called "Chasing Choo-Choos" (all the
plot was cut leaving the best part- the comic thrill climax on an out of
control train). One film that's not out on video except as a private issue
is "The Dixie Flyer" a 1926 Cullen Landis poverty row film with surprisingly
exciting thrill sequences- again it's a runaway train with the girl trapped
on it- will the hero save her from certain death? It's available here:
http://www.gldnge.com/main/lnkdir/00100910.htm in DVD-R format, no musical
score. Not a great issue, but it's the only one.

Eric Stott
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

The 1913 silent short "Race For a Life," starred Mabel Normand and
race-car driver Barney Oldfield. The film showcases the quintessential
theme of damsel tied to the train tracks by the villain and the
dramatic rescue chase.
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

HelpMeCope filted:
>
>The 1913 silent short "Race For a Life," starred Mabel Normand and
>race-car driver Barney Oldfield. The film showcases the quintessential
>theme of damsel tied to the train tracks by the villain and the
>dramatic rescue chase.

And then there was "Teddy at the Throttle"....

But if you'd like to go back as far as possible:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000012/

.....r


--
"He come in the night when one sleep on a bed.
With a hand he have the basket and foods."
- David Sedaris explains the Easter rabbit
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

It appears you're looking for feature films but since I'm not quite
sure, try this documentary from a popular British series on
transportation.
http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?film_id=878
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

> There are quite a few- Helen Holmes made a career of doing railroad thrill
> pictures, though I don't know if any are on video.

You can watch one here:

http://www.archive.org/details/hazards_of_helen_wild_engine
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

On Oct 23, 1:05 am, R H Draney <dadoc....RemoveThis@spamcop.net> wrote:

> But if you'd like to go back as far as possible:
>
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000012/

I looked at the link, but it says the plot synopsis is "empty." Can
you tell me what happens? ;-)

I also recommend BEGGARS OF LIFE for some nice train imagery, and
VALLEY OF THE GIANTS for a good runaway train sequence -- neither is
on video, to my knowledge, so support your local film festival. I
second the HAZARDS OF HELEN, of which a few episodes are available on
video collections.

Rodney Sauer
Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
www.mont-alto.com
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

While this isn't a silent film, "The Grey Fox" with Richard Farnsworth
has wonderful train photography. And of course, the plot of the story
is that Farnsworth's character was a train robber who gets released
from prison as the trains are dying out. He doesn't know how to do
anything else, and seeing "The Great Train Robbery" in a theatre
(which is also new to him) convinces him that a train robber is what
he was meant to be.

Neat movie!

TT

On Oct 22, 6:40 pm, "George Kincaid" <gkincaid....DeleteThis@centurytel.net>
wrote:
> I watched The Great K&A Train Robbery again last night, and marveled at the
> train scenes (and Tom Mix's stunt work). From the Great Train Robbery on,
> the motion picture camera operators had a love affair with the railroad, and
> I started to wonder what other films feature that particular form of
> transportation. I've seen The General and The Iron Horse, and the two films
> I just mentioned. What other pictures should I see that feature trains?
> Thanks. GK
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

And don't forget D. W. Griffith's THE LONEDALE OPERATOR and its remake
THE GIRL AND HER TRUST, not to mention THE MOTHER AND THE LAW
sequences from INTOLERANCE.

For talkies about trains, you can't beat THE PHANTOM EXPRESS or DANGER
LIGHTS dealing with railroading specifically, among numerous others
that feature trains prominently like PRISON TRAIN, TWENTIETH CENTURY,
NORTH BY NORTHWEST et al.

--Christopher Jacobs
http://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/cjacobs
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

Not sure if this would interest you, but there is an entire book on
the topic of railroads in silent cinema. It's "Parallel Tracks: The
Railroad and Silent Cinema," by Lynne Kirby. Here's a link to
Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Parallel-Tracks-Railroad-Silent-Cinema/dp/082231...3/ref=s

--Jason Liller
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

On Oct 23, 10:54 am, christopher_jac... DeleteThis @und.nodak.edu wrote:
> And don't forget D. W. Griffith's THE LONEDALE OPERATOR and its remake
> THE GIRL AND HER TRUST, not to mention THE MOTHER AND THE LAW
> sequences from INTOLERANCE.
>
> For talkies about trains, you can't beat THE PHANTOM EXPRESS or DANGER
> LIGHTS dealing with railroading specifically, among numerous others
> that feature trains prominently like PRISON TRAIN, TWENTIETH CENTURY,
> NORTH BY NORTHWEST et al.
>
> --Christopher Jacobshttp://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/cjacobs

Just watched "Union Pacific" (1939) yesterday - it was pretty fun too,
and lots of good footage of old V&T RR equipment charging along at
high speed.

Bruce Jensen
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

rodney.DeleteThis@mont-alto.com filted:
>
>On Oct 23, 1:05 am, R H Draney <dadoc....DeleteThis@spamcop.net> wrote:
>
>> But if you'd like to go back as far as possible:
>>
>> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000012/
>
>I looked at the link, but it says the plot synopsis is "empty." Can
>you tell me what happens? ;-)

If you look *really* close, you can just make out the word "FROY" written on one
of the windows....r


--
"He come in the night when one sleep on a bed.
With a hand he have the basket and foods."
- David Sedaris explains the Easter rabbit
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures... 

A few weeks ago, I watched Grapevine's DVD of The Arizona Express. A
real gem of a little picture with Pauline Starke and Evelyn Brent.
Starke must save her brother after he is framed with the murder of his
father. Lots of action and a thrilling race-to-the rescue with the
train playing a very prominent role. There's lots of railroad action
in Fairbanks' The Matrimaniac.

James








On Oct 22, 11:18?pm, "Eric Stott" <estott@localnetoSPAMcomMODE> wrote:
>
>
> There are quite a few- Helen Holmes made a career of doing railroad thrill
> pictures, though I don't know if any are on video. One available film is
> Monty Banks' comedy "Play Safe" which is available on the Slapstick
> Encyclopedia set as a 2 reel cutdown called "Chasing Choo-Choos" (all the
> plot was cut leaving the best part- the comic thrill climax on an out of
> control train). One film that's not out on video except as a private issue
> is "The Dixie Flyer" a 1926 Cullen Landis poverty row film with surprisingly
> exciting thrill sequences- again it's a runaway train with the girl trapped
> on it- will the hero save her from certain death? It's available here:http://www.gldnge.com/main/lnkdir/00100910.htmin DVD-R format, no musical
> score. Not a great issue, but it's the only one.
>
> Eric Stott
 >> Stay informed about: The railroad in silent pictures...