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Railroad Movies, A to Z
back on page one: collections •
movies, A thru F •
movies, G thru O
here on page two: movies, P thru S • movies, T thru Z
browse DVDs about trains at Amazon
"Paradise Express" [Republic Pictures Feb 1937]
 | A small railroad is being squeezed out of business by a trucking company owned by gangsters. Directed by Joseph Kane; starring Grant Withers, Dorothy Appleby, Arthur Hoyt, Maude Eburne, Harry Davenport & Donald Kirke Alpha Home Ent. b&w DVD [9/2008] for $7.98 full credits at IMDb |
"The Polar Express" animated feature
[Castle Rock/Warner Nov 2004]
"Prison Train" [Equity Pictures Oct 1938]
 | A gangster steps in to protect his sister, and kills the son of the crime boss; convicted of murder, he is sent to Alcatraz. The girl learns of a plan to kill her brother on the train to prison, and so she stows away on the train; but before she can warn her brother, shooting breaks out between the gangsters and F.B.I. agents guarding the prisoners. Directed by Gordon Wiles; starring Fred Keating, Dorothy Comingore, Clarence Muse, Faith Bacon, Alexander Leftwich, James Blakeley, Sam Bernard, John Pearson, Nestor Paiva, Val Stanton, Peter Potter & Franklyn Farnum
Alpha Video b&w DVD [6/2004] for $7.98 full credits at IMDb |
watch "Prison Train" online at The Midnight Palace
"The Railroad Man"
aka "Il Ferroviere" [Italy Aug 1956; USA Oct 1965]
![Railroad Man [Italy]](covers/dRailroadManPG.jpg) | After an accident on the railroad, the engineer [engine driver]'s family life falls apart, and his friends reject him when he becomes a scab during a railroad strike. Produced by Carlo Ponti; co-written & directed by and starring Pietro Germi; co-starring Luisa Della Noce, Sylva Koscina, Saro Urzì, Carlo Giuffrè, Renato Speziali & Edoardo Nevola
NoShame Films subtitled b&w DVD [6/2005] 2 disks for $26.99 full credits at IMDb |
"The Railroad Raiders"
15-chapter silent serial [Signal/Mutual 1917]
 | Chapter Titles: 1. Circumstantial Evidence; 2. A Double Steal; 3. Inside Treachery; 4. A Race For A Fortune; 5. A Woman's Wit; 6. The Overland Disaster; 7. Mistaken Identity; 8. A Knotted Cord; 9. A Leap For Life; 10. A Watery Grave; 11. A Desperate Deed; 12. A Fight For A Franchise; 13. The Road Wrecker; 14. The Trap; 15. The Mystery of The Counterfeit Tickets Directed by J.P. McGowan; starring Helen Holmes, Thomas G. Lingham, Leo D. Maloney, Paul Hurst & William Brunton video/DVD not available; full credits at IMDb 11"x17" poster available at AllPosters.com |
"The Railrodder" aka 'The Railroader'
[25-minute National Film Board of Canada short 1965]
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Starring Buster Keaton [1895-1966]
full credits from IMDb plus 'Buster Keaton Rides Again' [docu 1965] (55-minute NFBC documentary on the making of 'The Railrodder') full credits from IMDb (both) Image Ent DVD [2/2001] for $22.49 (both) Kino Video VHS [11/96] for $29.95 |
"Rails & Ties" [Malpaso/Warner Bros. Sept 2007]
Directed by Alison Eastwood; written by Micky Levy; starring Kevin Bacon,
Marcia Gay Harden & Miles Heizer; official moviesite;
full credits at IMDb
"The Railway Children"
The father of a family in Victorian London is taken away by two strangers; the wife & three children
fall on hard times and move to a country cottage beside a railway. The kids' faith and vigilance and
courage prevent an accident on the railway, leading to solution of the mystery of their missing father.
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M.G.M.-E.M.I. feature film [U.K. Dec 1970; USA Oct 1971]
Adapted & directed by Lionel Jeffries, from the E. Nesbit novel; starring Jenny Agutter, Dinah Sheridan, Bernard Cribbins, William Mervyn, Iain Cuthbertson, Sally Thomsett, Beatrix Mackey & Gary F. Warren Anchor Bay widescreen color DVD [5/2003] for $17.99 full credits at IMDb |
 | Masterpiece Theater tv movie [Carlton TV/P.B.S.; U.K. April 2000, USA Nov 2000] Directed by Catherine Morshead; starring Jenny Agutter, Jack Blumenau, Clare Thomas, Jemima Rooper, Michael Kitchen, Georgie Glen, Clive Russell & Richard Attenborough P.B.S./WGBH letterbox color DVD [10/2002] for $17.99 P.B.S./WGBH color VHS [3/2001] for $18.95 full credits at IMDb |
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magazine serial 1905; novel 1906 by Edith Nesbit [1858-1924]
Puffin 7¾x5 pb [11/94] for $3.99 Dover 8¼x5¼ pb [5/2000] for $4.49 Pearson 8x4¾ pb [2/2000] for $8.67 SeaStar 9¼x6½ hardcover [7/2005] for $9.72 Everyman's Library 8¼x6½ hardcover [5/93] for $10.46 Edith Nesbit entry at Wikipedia • Edith Nesbit credits list at IMDb official booksite |
"The Real Story of Casey Jones" [indep short 2009]
 | 9½-minute silent movie, "featuring toe tappin' railroad music, a train wreck, romance, and fast railroad action with a twist" Directed by Karen Cunningham, written by Morgan Ilversen; won Audience Choice Award at the 2009 Local Shorts Film Festival in Albuquerque, NM DVD/Blu-ray not available • not listed on IMDb |
"Riding The Rails" episode of "American Experience" [P.B.S. April 1998]
 | The Great Depression forced four million Americans away from their homes and onto the railroads in search of food & lodging; of this number, a disturbing 250,000 were children. Filmmakers interview now-aged survivors of that time and of that transient lifestyle.
Co-produced, co-written & co-directed by Lexy Lovell & Michael Uys; narrated by Richard Thomas; won Peabody Award, won DGA Outstanding Director-Documentary Award; won 3 awards at Canyonlands Film Festival & Silver Hugo at Chicago; won award at Great Plains Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, WorldFest Houston
P.B.S. color DVD [2/2003] for $12.99 WGBH-TV Boston color VHS [3/2000] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • official movie site |
"Rome Express" [Gaumont U.K. Nov 1932]
 | After a valuable painting is stolen from a Paris gallery, a mysterious man and his sidekick board the Paris-to-Rome train and search for it. Directed by Walter Forde; starring Esther Ralston, Conrad Veidt, Harold Huth, Cedric Hardwicke, Joan Barry, Gordon Harker, Hugh Williams & Donald Calthrop VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
[G.F.D. U.K. Oct 1948, USA April 1949]
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An almost shot-for-shot remake of the 1932 "Rome Express", although the 'MacGuffin' is a diary stolen from an embassy and then stolen again. Directed by John Paddy Carstairs; starring Jean Kent, Albert Lieven, Derrick De Marney, Paul Dupuis & Rona Anderson VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | Apparently a quite-different plot, so not a French-language remake of the 1932 film. Directed by Christian Stengel; starring Hélène Perdrière, Jean Debucourt, Denise Grey, Saturnin Fabre, Arthur Devère, Jacqueline Pierreux, Charles Dechamps, Robert Pizani, Jacqueline Dor, Roger Caccia, Mario Podesta & Jean Tissier color 11"x17" poster {as at left} from Amazon for $3.66 black-on-cream 27"x40" poster from Amazon for $8.49 black-on-cream 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $3.66 VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • credits at IMDb |
"Shanghai Express" [Paramount 1932] /tt0023458/
Filmed in California; directed by Josef von Sternberg; starring Marlene Dietrich
"Silver Streak" []
A Los Angeles editor gets mixed up with art forgers and murder, on and off a train to Chicago.
"The Southbound Limited" silent short [1923] /tt0248469/
"Super 8" [Amblin/Paramount June 2011] 
 | Not every railfan may appreciate train wrecks, but the filmed train wreck here is magnificent. The rest of the film is about the teenagers who are making a movie on a Super 8 camera at Midnight and accidentally film that event, which turns out to be a dangerous top secret U.S. Air Force project. Co-produced by Steven Spielberg; co-produced & written & directed by J.J. Abrams; starring Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Riley Griffiths, Gabriel Basso, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Glynn Turman & Noah Emmerich DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"The Taking of Pelham One Two Three"
[United Artists Oct 1974]
Directed by Joseph Sargent; script by Peter Stone, based on the novel by John Godey; starring Walter Matthau,
Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo & Earl Hindman;
full credits at IMDb
"The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" remake
[M.G.M./Columbia June 2009]
Directed by Tony Scott; script by Brian Helgeland; starring Denzel Washington, John Travolta,
Luis Guzmán, Victor Gojcaj & Gbenga Akinnagbe;
official movie site;
full credits at IMDb
"Terror By Night" [Universal Feb 1946]
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The owner of a fabulous diamond hires Sherlock Holmes to protect the gem during transport by train from London to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Co-produced & directed by Roy William Neill; starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Alan Mowbray, Dennis Hoey, Renee Godfrey, Frederick Worlock, Mary Forbes, Skelton Knaggs, Billy Bevan & Geoffrey Steele
Focus Films b&w DVD [2/2001] for $14.95 M.P.I. Home Video b&w DVD [1/2004] for $17.99 Hollywood Movie Classics b&w VHS [1/85] out of prodn/many used full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 27"x40" poster from Amazon for $19.99 |
"Terror Train" [1980]
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode; starring Jamie Lee Curtis & Ben Johnson;
full credits at IMDb
"Terror Train" remake [Steamroller Productions for 2009]
current status at IMDb
"Terror Train" remake [for 2010]
current status at IMDb
"This Gun For Hire" [Paramount May 1942]
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A kindly hitman is paid off in 'hot' money, and flees on a train, where he meets the undercover girlfriend of his cop pursuer. {After the sequence on the 'Coaster' train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, much occurs in the L.A. railyards along Figueroa Street north of Chinatown.)
Directed by Frank Tuttle; script by Albert Maltz &
W.R. Burnett from Graham Greene's 1936 novel; starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, Tully Marshall, Roger Imhof & Frank Ferguson
Universal b&w DVD [7/2004] for $12.99 Universal b&w VHS [10/95] out of prodn/many used credits from IMDb blonde 11"x17" poster {above} available at AllPosters.com
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"The Titfield Thunderbolt"
[Ealing/Universal 1953]
 | When the government decides to close the local railway branch, residents rally and take over operation of the line; but the competing bus company decides to use ruthless tactics to prevent their success.
Directed by Charles Crichton; starring Stanley Holloway, George Relph, Naunton Wayne, John Gregson & Hugh Griffith
DVD available only as part of The Ealing Comedy Collection 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $9.99 27"x40" poster from Amazon for $19.99 full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train"
aka "Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train"
[France May 1998; U.S.A. August 1999]
 |
A Paris painter asks that his remains be buried in Limoges; the body is transported by car while a group of mourners travel by train.
Co-written & directed by Patrice Chéreau; starring Pascal Greggory, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Charles Berling, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Bruno Todeschini, Sylvain Jacques, Vincent Perez, Roschdy Zem, Dominique Blanc, Delphine Schiltz, Nathan Kogen, Marie Daëms, Chantal Neuwirth, Thierry de Peretti, Olivier Gourmet, Geneviève Brunet & Didier Brice; won César Awards for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actress (Blanc), nominated for Best Film, Best Writing, Best Actor (PG), Best Supporting Actors (VP & JLT), Best Production Design, Best Editing & Best Sound
Kino Video widescreen color DVD [4/20000] for $26.99 Kino Video letterboxed color VHS [12/2000] for $23.70 full credits from IMDb |
"The Train" [1964]: full credits at IMDb
"Train" [NuImage/LionsGate 2008]
Directed by Gideon Raff; starring Thora Birch;
full credits at IMDb
"Train Master" [indep 2008]
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When a railroad in the East buys up an Oregon shortline, the owner's son clashes with 'train master' Jeremiah, who is quickly fired – two years short of his retirement. The owner's visiting grandson holds Jeremiah's grandson's favorite toy dinosaur for ransom, and demands a ride on a locomotive, which turns into a runaway with five children on board.
Co-produced, co-written & directed by Phil Bransom; railroad locations in Oregon; starring Michael Biesanz, Jonathan Hall, Elijah Nelson, Daniel Nelson & Mercedes Rose video/DVD not yet available • full credits at IMDb • official movie site |
"Train On The Brain: The Ultimate Railroad Movie" [Channel 4 2000]
 | British filmmaker Alison Murray rode the rails across Canada and the U.S.A. gathering footage for this 50-minute documentary, which shows the beauty and the freedom and the danger of life along the rails, with the music of Beck in the background
Hollywood Can Suck It! color DVD [6/2008] out of prodn/used bare credits at IMDb |
"Train Ride To Hollywood" [1975] /tt0078412/ also >> musicals
"The Train Robbers"
[Batjac/Warner Bros. Feb 1973]
 | A widow hires an old cowboy and his pals to go to Mexico and find the gold that her husband stole from the railroad, so she can return the loot for the reward and clear her family's name. Written & directed by Burt Kennedy; music by Dominic Frontiere; staring John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, Christopher George, Bobby Vinton, Jerry Gatlin & Ricardo Montalban Warner Home Video widescreen color DVD [5/2007] for $11.49 Warner Home Video widescreen color DVD [5/2005] for $13.49 Warner Home Video color VHS [2/93] out of prodn/used 14"x11" poster from Amazon for $9.99 28"x22" poster from Amazon for $19.99 full credits from IMDb |
"Twentieth Century"
[Columbia Pictures May 1934]
 | The actress protege of a Broadway director decamps for Hollywood; her career soars and his fades. When he meets her on the train to the West Coast, he tries to persuade her to return to the stage. Co-produced & directed by Howard Hawks; script by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur, based on their Broadway play; starring John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, Ralph Forbes, Charles Lane, Etienne Girardot & Edgar Kennedy
Sony b&w DVD [2/2005] for $12.99 Sony b&w VHS [6/98] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • credits on Broadway |
"Tycoon" [R.K.O. 1947]
Starring John Wayne;
full credits at IMDb
"Union Pacific" [1939]
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring Joel McCrea, Barbara Stanwyck & Robert Preston
full credits at IMDb
"Union Station" [Paramount Oct 1950]
 | Mostly filmed at Union Station in Los Angeles (playing Chicago), with exterior shots of the Third Avenue Elevated in New York City (playing Chicago) and on-board shots using cars of the Pacific Electric Railway in Los Angeles. A commuter notices some suspicious men on her train, and she reports to security at Union Station, who discover that the men have kidnapped a blind girl for ransom. Directed by Rudolph Mate; starring William Holden, Nancy Olson, Barry Fitzgerald, Lyle Bettger, Jan Sterling, Allene Roberts, Herbert Heyes, Don Dunning, Fred Graff, James Seay & Parley Baer
Olive Films b&w DVD [7/2010] for $22.49 full credits at IMDb |
"Unstoppable" [Fox Nov 2010]
 | Filmed in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania & West Virginia; a half-mile-long freight train hauling dangerous chemicals and with no crew aboard speeds roward the destruction of a major urban area.
Co-produced & directed by Tony Scott; written by Mark Bomback; starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine & Rosario Dawson DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site |
"Von Ryan's Express" [1965]: full credits at IMDb
"Water For Elephants" [Fox April 2011]
 | Just at graduation from college in 1931, Jacob's life falls apart; he finds work with the struggling Benzini Brothers traveling circus and falls in love with the wife of the ruthless circus owner. Filmed in California, Georgia & Tennessee, especially on the Tennessee Valley Railroad near Chattanooga (with Engine #18 clearly visible).
Directed by Francis Lawrence; script by Richard LaGravenese, based on Sara Gruen's bestseller novel; cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto; starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz, Hal Holbrook, Jim Norton, Paul Schneider,
Richard Brake, Mark Povinelli & Tai The Elephant
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | "Water For Elephants: A Novel" [2006 bestseller] by Sara Gruen Algonquin Books movie tie-in mass pb [3/2011] for $5.50 Algonquin Books 8¼x5½ pb [8/00] for $8.22 Algonquin Books 9½x6¼ deckle-edge hardcover [5/2006] for $16.29 book entry at Wikipedia • author's website |
"West Bound Limited" [1937] /tt0029755/
"The West-Bound Limited" [Film Booking Offices April 1923]
 | A railroad engineer rescues the daughter of the president of the company from a speeding train; after he is rewarded, he becomes involved in the villainous schemes of the president's personal secretary. Directed by Emory Johnson; starring Ralph Lewis, Claire McDowell, Ella Hall & John Harron DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb |
"The Western Limited" [1932] /tt0023683/
"Western Pacific Agent" [1950]: full credits at IMDb
"Where The Hell's That Gold?!!?" [CBS-TV Nov 1988]
Co-produced, written & directed by Burt Kennedy; starring Willie Nelson, Delta Burke, Jack Elam,
Alfonso Arau & Gerald McRaney; filmed at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad in Chama
& at Eaves Movie Ranch in New Mexico /tt0096434/
"Whispering Smith" [Paramount Dec 1948]
 | A railroad detective's friend is fired, and joins a gang of train robbers; Smith is assigned to bring the man to justice, and matters are complicated by a mutual attraction with the man's wife. Directed by Leslie Fenton; based on the Spearman novel; starring Alan Ladd, Robert Preston, Brenda Marshall, Donald Crisp, William Demarest, Fay Holden, Murvyn Vye, Frank Faylen, John Eldredge, Ward Wood, J. Farrell MacDonald, Will Wright, Don Barclay, Eddy Waller, Ray Teal & Bob Kortman; WGA nomination for Best Western Script; filmed at the Sierra RR 1948 feature: Universal color DVD [6/2004] for $12.99 1948 feature: full credits at IMDb 1948 feature 11"x17" poster from Amazon for $15.81 1916 silent feature: full credits at IMDb 1926 silent feature starring H.B. Warner: full credits at IMDb 1961 TV series starring Audie Murphy: full credits at IMDb |
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"Whispering Smith" [1906 novel] by Frank H. Spearman [1859-1937], illustrated by N.C. Wyeth Renegade railroad employees are wrecking and robbing the trains running thru the rugged Rocky Mountains, so the railroad sends in their best detective. Kessinger Publng pb [3/2005] for $28.08 Forge mass pb [9/99] out of print/used Buccaneer Books 9x5¾ hardcover [6/95] out of print/used |
 | "Whispering Smith: His Life & Misadventures" [2007] by Allen P. Bristow Western author Bristow covers the legend, the conflicting facts, and the Hollywood versions of real-life railroad detective James L. 'Whispering' Smith [18??-1914]. Sunstone Press 9x6 pb [7/2007] for $16.47 publisher book page article at Legends of America |
"The Wild Wild West" feature film
[Warner Bros. June 1999]
Filmed in Technicolor in California, Utah & Idaho, at Old Tucson, Arizona, and in Abiquiu, Cook Ranch, Santa Fe
& Stanley in New Mexico; railroad footage shot in Idaho & at Old Tucson; directed by Barry Sonnenfeld; starring
Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek, M. Emmet Walsh, Ted Levine, Frederique Van Der Wal,
Musetta Vander, Sofia Eng, Ling Bai, Garcelle Beauvais, Mike H. McGaughy, Rodney A. Grant & Clayton Moore;
swept the Razzie Awards, with 5 'wins' •
full credits at IMDb •
movie entry at Wikipedia •
official movie site
"Without Reservations" [R.K.O. 1946]
The female author of a novel in a similar tone as Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" meets a tough-guy actor on a train
bound for Hollywood where her novel is to be made into a movie; she actively pursues him for the lead role,
though he's read the novel and openly mocks it as ridiculous nonsense.
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy; starring John Wayne & Claudette Colbert;
full credits at IMDb
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