Runaway Railway

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The opportunities afforded by railway trains for high speed and plenty of action are splendidly exploited. In its combination of farcical comedy and railway adventure, this is second only to Oh Mr. Porter!, and cannot fail to delight children. The one criticism that can be levelled against it (surprisingly, in view of the fact that a child audience is well known to be critical, and likely to be well-informed about railways) is that insufficient care was taken with regard to the railway detail. The robbery, for instance, takes place in full view of a nearby signal box, and, incidentally, a signal governing the adjacent track permanently signifies a clear track for a train that never comes. The models that the crooks buy to demonstrate to the children include outmoded raised-base track which, as many juveniles will know, has been off the market for some considerable time. The model Royal Mail van is correct, but the full-sized version in the robbery is an ordinary four-wheel closed van. Rolling stock and tender sides are lettered "L.M.R." (the Longmoor Military Railway was used for the film) but any pretence that this is a mythical "London Midland Railway" is shattered by a British Railways cap. One would have thought it possible to mask the offending lettering for the occasion, and it is easy to imagine indignant correspondence from young critics over these and other discrepancies. In all other respects however, this film is one out of the C.F.F.'s top drawer."^[4]

Kine Weekly wrote: "This is a crazy, good-humoured tale and Matilda's mad chase is guaranteed to keep any young audience delightfully excited. Rattling good matinée stuff. Steam locomotives, particularly those that are elderly and decorative, have a special appeal, and there is no argument that Matilda, the engine, is the real star of this very pleasant film. The explanatory preliminaries of the plot are lightened by a mixture of sentiment and humour, and villainy is presented with humorous inefficiency by Sidney Tafler and Ronnie Barker. Other smaller parts give chances to the comic talents of Hugh Lloyd, Graham Stark and Jon Pertwee. The four children are attractive and the dialogue is apt, but the real joy of the picture is Matilda's madcap career along the lines, cunningly photographed to provide the maximum of thrills."^[5]

• Runaway Railway at IMDb