2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Hotwok2013 Based on the book by Edith Nesbit & the directorial debut of Lionel Jeffries, "The Railway Children" is a movie of immense charm. After the arrest & imprisonment of their father on charges of spying, a middle-class mother, (played by Dinah Sheridan), & her three children are forced to move to humbler surroundings. The Waterbury family move to a cottage in the Yorkshire Dales close to a railway which the three children Bobbie (Jenny Agutter), Phyllis (Sally Thomsett) & Peter (Gary Warren) frequently visit most days. They befriend the local station porter Mr. Perks (Bernard Cribbins) & an "old gentleman" passenger (William Mervyn). The latter helps to secure the eventual release of the children's father from his incarceration. Towards the films end when the father (Iain Cuthbertson) travels to Yorkshire to be re-united with his family, we witness what is probably the most moving "tear-jerking" scene in movie history. His eldest daughter Bobbie awaits at the station uncertain as to what is about to happen. Her father alights from a train in thick smoke from the steam engine. As the smoke clears & Bobbie slowly realises who it is standing on the platform she runs toward him & shouts "Daddy, my daddy". I must have seen this scene 20 times & it still brings moisture to my eyes. Jenny Agutter many years later narrated a documentary on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway at Howarth in Yorkshire where the movie's railway scenes were filmed. We learnt from the people in charge of its preservation that this movie was the single biggest shot in the arm for tourism that it has ever had in its short history!.

classicsoncall Wrongfully convicted of treason, Charles Waterbury (Iain Cuthbertson) is sentenced to five years of penal servitude. His family in dire straits moves to the English countryside from London with most of their worldly possessions left behind. What follows is a genuinely heartwarming story that focuses on the three Waterbury children who, in an effort to maintain a positive outlook, develop personal relationships with the citizens of Yorkshire and more than a passing acquaintance with riders on the steam train that travels daily past their new home.Now I'm not sure if most siblings would be this outgoing, but the Waterbury children seem to have hearts of gold. It appears second nature for them to take in a stranded Russian with a broken leg, prevent a serious train accident due to a landslide, and nurse back to health an injured runner when they find him unconscious. All the while, they keep an unspoken promise never to inquire of their missing father so their mother (Dinah Sheridan) can be spared further grief.The takeaway for most viewers will certainly be the unselfishness of the Waterbury children, and from them we can all learn a lesson of selfless charity and humility. Particularly impressive was the way they won over station agent Perks (Bernard Cribbins) who initially railed at what he considered a snipe at his family's circumstances. With gentle touches of humor and old fashioned family values, "The Railway Children" is well recommended for families with it's lessons of positive attitude, selfless charity and a conviction that negative circumstances don't last forever.

Jackson Booth-Millard I will admit I possibly missed tiny moments when I wasn't paying proper attention, but I got enough of the story to agree that it is a great family film, from director Lionel Jefferies, who played Grandpa Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Basically it starts with a happy upper-middle class family living in Victorian London. One night the Father (Iain Cuthbertson) is visited by two strangers, and he leaves with them, and does not return. They move to a cottage in the country, and here the children; Bobbie (Jenny Agutter, who I first saw in Child's Play 2), Phyllis (Sally Thomsett) and Peter (Gary Warren) keep their spirits up, with their fascination for the nearby railroad. Everyday they wave faithfully to the passengers in the passing trains, and with courage and vigilance they also avoid an accident and are made heroes. Their kindness makes them friends, including important people who can help find the mystery of their missing father. Also starring Dinah Sheridan as Mother/Mrs. Waterbury, Bernard Cribbins as Albert Perks, William Mervyn as Old Gentleman, Peter Bromilow as Doctor Forrest, Ann Lancaster as Ruth and Gordon Whiting as Russian. It was number 29 on The 100 Greatest Family Films, and it was number 24 on The 50 Greatest British Films. Very good!

Neil Welch The Railway Children was on TV again this weekend, and I had forgotten how good it was.If I have a criticism, it is that the episodic structure sometimes shows a little too clearly, there being little narrative flow from sequence to sequence. The charm and beauty of the film are such that this matters very little, however.I won't revisit the comments of others, other than to add my vote for the final scene on the platform as being possibly the single most emotional scene in the history of British cinema: as a cynical old git passing through middle age rather too quickly I, too, find I cannot even think of that moment without being hit with a severe case of "I've got something in my eye." In fact, it's not just something in my eye, it moves things around inside me, too, with that beautiful happy pain we sometimes feel.And Jenny Agutter was exquisitely beautiful in this film, standing with one foot in childhood and one in young womanhood, and bringing qualities of both to her portrayal of a girl having to grow up rather too quickly.Plus a quick plaudit for Bernard Cribbins. Regarded mostly as a lightweight actor, he deftly created a Perks of great humanity.