Watch The Railway Children For Free

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN is the most famous film to have been based on a book by the great Victorian author Edith Nesbit, a woman who was equally happy writing ghost stories and stories for children. This 1905-set story see a trio of children with an unhappy background going to live in a run-down house in Yorkshire. They befriend a local station master and most of their adventures are centred around a local railway line and station. The attention to detail is spot on and there's instant nostalgia from the depiction of a long-forgotten world.Lionel Jeffries was an expert at his craft and this was obviously a labour of love for him, given that he served as both writer and director. And THE RAILWAY CHILDREN is a classic for a reason: it's a pure feel-good film that manages to create a cheerful, joyous atmosphere without ever coming across as twee or schmaltzy. Jenny Agutter and the other children are the focus of the story, but it's Bernard Cribbins as the lovable Perks who really steals all of the scenes in which he appears.What I particularly liked about this story is that it isn't sugar coated. Injustice, illness, and injury all play a big part here, and it's noticeable how all the best children's films deal with adult themes alongside the kiddie stuff. One scene, involving an injured boy on the line, is more than reminiscent of a public safety film from the 1970s. Overall THE RAILWAY CHILDREN is pure feel-good entertainment and a film it would be tough for anybody to dislike.

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.

The book "The Railway Children" is a children's book published in 1906 by Edith Nesbit, an early British socialist who had very strong views about the importance of family values for the upbringing of children, and the story it told was presumably intended to be contemporary. Somewhat surprisingly, it seems to retain a significant appeal for today's children a hundred years later.A film adaptation of an Edwardian classic children's story with the principal roles those of the children, does not sound very exciting to most film-goers in this day and age. But a really great performance by Jenny Agutter who (near the start of her long and distinguished acting career) played the part of the oldest girl Roberta (Bobby), combined with remarkable work by the script-writer and director Lionel Jeffries and outstanding photography by Arthur Ibbetson, have made this a film that is still not to be missed, and one which most of its viewers find quite memorable. It is remarkable that this book, set in the year 1905, was filmed five times between 1951 and 2000, (four of them by the BBC for British television), and all of these versions are not only still greatly admired but also very highly regarded (something that user comments on this database will confirm), even though this may seem almost inconceivable for a nostalgic period story designed to appeal primarily to children. Since I have not seen the four BBC TV versions, these comments relate exclusively to the 1970 film version produced for showing in cinemas. Unlike most films of children's books, 'The Railway Children' may appeal more to adults than to children. The structure of family life has changed so much in the last century that many children may feel totally lost by the way in which it is depicted in the film, whereas many older adults may find it has a considerable nostalgic appeal. Perhaps compensating for this, the children featured in the film are full of life and vitality, whilst the adult characters although well rounded tend to mostly be 'stuffed shirts'. The story is a mature one, which deals with love, support and encouragement, it is not only timeless but capable of appealing to all ages. It can fairly be described as sentimental and more than a little idealised, but it is never in any way mawkish, and that rarely justified adjective 'uplifting' fits it like a glove.Spoiler Ahead.The film starts with its upper middle class Edwardian family celebrating Christmas in a comfortable and fairly spacious London home when two unexpected visitors call and take Father (who is a senior government officer) away with them. Mother has to move to a very small cottage alongside the railway in a remote part of Yorkshire and the children gradually build a new life mainly associated with the railway and the few trains that pass. This life proves quite eventful in small ways and the elder daughter Bobby grows up rapidly as she takes over more responsibilities from her mother. At one point she averts an accident to the train when her sharp eyes spot that a landslide has created a natural hazard. Father's story is never given much emphasis, but he is never forgotten and it gradually becomes apparent that he is incarcerated and suspected of treason. Finally these suspicions are cleared up (we are not told how or why) and he reappears unexpectedly at the local station to rejoin his family.For many years this film was not available in any home video format in North America, but Anchor Bay created a DVD from it three years ago, so they clearly recognised that this quite simple film has not yet lost its appeal. For anyone who has not got one already, I would very strongly recommend rushing out to buy a copy of this DVD whilst it is still available - you would be most unlikely to be disappointed unless you have become totally cynical, or your minimum requirements for a film include buckets of blood and/or intense sex scenes.

The Waterbury children have a great live; a wonderful home with all mod cons in London town, a loving mother, a fun father and servants in every room. One night their father is taken away to do some "business" and things are turned upside down. Forced to move away from London and up to Yorkshire, the children suddenly find themselves with a lot less money, no hired help and a strange new culture to deal with. They try to keep their heads up and continue to be friendly and kind no matter what the challenges and learn the importance of keeping outward focused.Although it has been decades since I last saw this film, I had it in my mind that this was a rather stiff and clunky film – not sure why I thought this but I decided to watch it again before unfairly writing an opinion on it. However I was very pleasantly surprised to find that, for all its unreal "niceness", this is a comforting, sweet, amusing and charming little film that is well worth seeing. The narrative is simply about the importance of having a good heart and it has enough stuff going on to keep it moving forward without getting bogged down – I didn't find it sentimental in a sickly way mainly because it did feel quite fresh. Of course many will rightly say that this is pure sentimental fantasy, with everyone being lovely to each other, goodness winning out, idyllic childhoods, sweetly innocent children and so on – certainly it does tend to make you reminisce for an England that may never really have existed (and definitely doesn't anymore). This was a slight problem but I think I was in the right mood to watch it because I found it charming rather than syrupy but if you are in a bitter or cynical then I would suggest you put off watching this till later.The cast are all good – too sweet to be convincing perhaps but they don't overdo it and everyone has good humour. Agutter, Thomsett and Warren are the kids that everyone wants, they play wholesome really well without turning themselves into real annoyances in the way some "All-American" performances by kids recently have done; they are still quite real people. Support is good from the cast, in particular a nice performance from Cribbins.Overall this may not represent a reality or even politeness that many of us will recognise (nowadays the kids would be in baseball caps and would be chucking stones and cans at the train) but it is sweet and sentimental without overdoing it and making it sickly so and, although not hilarious, has a nice touch of humour and a fresh pace that makes it a very enjoyable family film.