Object of the week: Douglas Slocombe’s home movie from the making of Ealing comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt

Shot by ace cinematographer Douglas Slocombe on the set of the Ealing comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt, the 16mm home movie offers an informal window into the human side of production – the faces and the places involved in bringing a British classic to life.

Douglas Slocombe during production of The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)Estate of Douglas Slocombe
Josephine Botting
By Josephine Botting
Inside the Archive
Object of the week

Douglas Slocombe was one of Britain’s most distinguished directors of photography, with a career in film spanning nearly 50 years. He worked on classic British titles as varied as The Servant (1963) and The Italian Job (1969), as well as huge Hollywood hits such as the first three Indiana Jones films.

But his first opportunities and training came at one of the UK’s most famous studios: Ealing. He stayed there for 16 years and clearly enjoyed the camaraderie and atmosphere of creativity involved in making titles like Technicolor historical drama Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948), as well as several of the much loved comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951).

In June 1952, he was in north Somerset, filming railway comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt, and he took his own 16mm camera to record the activity behind the scenes. As you’d expect from an Oscar-nominated DP, the footage he shot paints a lively picture of the people and places involved in the production and even reveals some of its secrets.

Action! is called during the shoot of The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), as captured in Douglas Slocombe’s 16mm footageEstate of Douglas Slocombe
The Titlfield Thundebolt in situEstate of Douglas Slocombe

For instance, we find out how the ‘runaway train’ that bowls across country is propelled: Slocombe taking a shot showing the head of the man driving it visible next to the boiler. There’s also footage of the crew setting up the model train for the derailment sequence.

Shot showing how the runaway train sequence was achieved

But more interesting than the major events on set are the hidden aspects of filming that he captures. So actor Stanley Holloway is seen consulting script supervisor Felicia Manheim as she types notes at her makeshift desk. 

Actor Stanley Holloway consulting with script supervisor Felicia ManheimEstate of Douglas Slocombe

We get glimpses of the lighting team holding reflectors to direct the early summer sunshine on to the action, and Slocombe himself carrying the unwieldy camera that holds the three strips of film needed to create the Technicolor image.

Camera operator Jeff Seaholme and director of photography Douglas Slocombe with the cameraEstate of Douglas Slocombe

Director Charles Crichton can be seen pacing out the disused line past the former station of Monkton Combe, and on the streets of Freshford, just south of Bath, which doubled as the fictional village of Titfield. There’s also footage of John Gregson’s fight scene and the sound recording crew with their equipment.

Charles Crichton wandering on locationEstate of Douglas Slocombe

The footage came to the BFI National Archive in autumn 2024, donated by Slocombe’s daughter. Along with it, we received a film of the location shoot of the 1954 Ealing comedy The Love Lottery at Lake Como in Italy and footage from the filming of Helmut Käutner’s Ludwig II (1955) at various stunning German royal castles.

Georgina Slocombe with Douglas Slocombe’s home movie collection

Produced with the support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

Footage from the home movie is included as a special feature on the Blu-ray of The Titfield Thunderbolt, available from StudioCanal.