The Railway Children

The Railway Children is a children's and youth book by Edith Nesbit, originally was published in 1905 as a serial in The London Magazine under the English title The Railway Children and 1906 was first published as a book. The first and so far (2010) only German-language edition is from Irene Muehlon and was first in 1959 in the Steinberg -Verlag, Zurich, published. The book has been filmed several times; the most famous film is the 1970 movie created each morning keeps the same train ( The Railway Children ) by Lionel Jeffries.

Summary

Mother and three children Roberta, Peter and Phyllis move to the country because father goes to prison for alleged spying for Russia and the expensive townhouse can no longer afford. The three children no longer go to school and deal with it to roam the area. She especially likes to keep the railway station and the railway tracks, where they watch trains and travelers waving. They make friends with Perks at, the station porter, and get to know an old gentleman who runs regularly in the city with the 9:15 train. As a rockslide buried the rails, it is possible the children, the engineers to warn on time and prevent a great calamity. For this they receive from the old gentleman who turns out to be director of the railway company, a reward. Thanks to their kindness and helpfulness they have many good friends in their new home. The Russian exiles Szezcpansky they take on well with him as a boy who is in a game in the railway tunnel breaks her leg. It turns out that the old gentleman is his grandfather. Finally, the old gentleman to make thanks to his good contacts with other Russian exiles not only the family of Szezcpansky locate, but also prove the innocence of her father. The book ends with the happy reunion of the family.

Background

The theme of the man who sits innocently in prison for espionage and is ultimately acquitted, is possibly due to the Dreyfus Affair, which had some years previously experienced a lot of attention. The Russian exile, who is pursued by the Tsar because he is a wonderful book about poor people and how to help them wrote, and help the children, was probably inspired by the dissidents Sergius Stepniak and Peter Kropotkin, both with the author were friends.

Films

The story was filmed six times: four television series, a feature film, and a television movie.

BBC television series

The story was filmed by the BBC four times as a series. The first series of 1951 consisted of four 30 -minute episodes. A second series used parts of the first series, but also included new material with slight changes to the cast. This series consisted of four episodes of 60 minutes each in length.

The BBC produced again later series in 1957 and 1968. The series of 1968 reached the 96th rank in the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes audience vote of BFI in 2000. Therein Jenny Agutter played as Roberta and Gillian Bailey as Phyllis. Of all the television series exists only the series of 1968, it is available on DVD; the rest are considered to be lost.

Movie

After the successful BBC series of the 1960s, the actor Lionel Jeffries bought the film rights, wrote the screenplay and directed the film version in 1970. Jenny Agutter and Dinah Sheridan played lead roles in the film. The music was composed, arranged and conducted by Johnny Douglas.

Television Film

In October 1999, ITV produced a new television movie history. This time Jenny Agutter played the mother. Other actors were Jemima Rooper and JJ Feild. Were used steam locomotives and rolling stock of the Bluebell Railway and the North British Railway C Class 0-6-0 " Maude " the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway.

Theater

In 2005, the musical was first presented in Sevenoaks Playhouse in Kent, UK. The cast included stars such as Nicholas Smith from Are You Being Served as an old gentleman, Paul Henry from the series Crossroads as Perks and West End star Susannah Fellows as a mother. Richard John wrote the music, Julian Woolford script and lyrics. The music was recorded by TER / JAY and publishes the musical by Samuel French Ltd..

A new stage adaptation by Mike Kenny was presented under the direction of Damian Cruden in the National Railway Museum in York in 2008 and 2009. The film starred Sarah Quintrell, Colin Tarrant and Marshall Lancaster ( 2008 only ), and a Stirling Single steam locomotive (GNR 4-2-2 No.1 ) built in 1870. She spun around on the rails to the museum and was part of the stage. Therefore, an elevated stage was built for the performance. The York Theatre Royal led the project through the participation of its young actors.