Passenger Trains > Train movie phony sets

I enjoyed reading the earlier post "Another Hollywood Blunder Murder in Greenwich". The usual excuse given for using inaccurate locations is costs. I have a DVD of Murder on the Orient Express staring David Suchet ans Hercule Poirot. It appears use actual rooms onboard the Orient Express. Other films staring Suchet as Hercule Poirot that we shown on Public TV had vintage rail and airport sites that appeared to be very accurate. Best regards, Frank Corley

Many studio sets have been researched by rail consultants working with the art department, and use real fittings and other hardware.

The most common (and practical) objections to shooting on a moving train are:

- no control over lighting
- no control over stray noise -- clunks, squeaks and thumps which interfere with clean dialogue tracks
- no control over speed, so matching scenes is impossible (train moving fast in wide shot, moving slow in closeup, etc.)
- no control over tight angles -- a studio set can be built with "wild walls" which are removable so the camera can pull back.

These are all budget reasons, because lost time is lost money. But location shooting on a live train can also inhibit creative freedom for the director and cinematographer. If the vision and budget allow, sets can be as authentic as possible.

~ BZ

Hitchcock, the cinema master, showed his deft hand in the filming of "North by Northwest." Proper track sign at Grand Central Terminal, normal consist shown, only station stop shown was for engine change at Croton-Harmon. The scenes in the 20th Century diner were type-accurate, with the scenery out of the train appropriate to the point of the journey at the time of year intended. The close clearance curve at the lumberyard in Peekskill taken at a reduced speed is a good example. Also, the Bedroom was accurate in layout and detail.

But probably the best use of reality was the arrival into Chicago -- the NYCRR used LaSalle Street Station, perhaps the least opulent and most cramped of the long-distance train stations in Chicago. Hitchcock stayed true to form by having the train arrive at its proper terminus, and having the protagonist and femme fatale (so to speak) have to complete a long walk along the narrow platform passed the consist to get to the headhouse.

Whether done on set or on train, it was an accurate account of the train, the equipment, the route.

Unlike some fluff film I re-saw the other night, in which people allegedly on an AMTRAK train were riding in a six-passenger compartment in the European side-aisle style.

RevRandy Wrote:
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> Unlike some fluff film I re-saw the other night, in which people allegedly on an AMTRAK train were
> riding in a six-passenger compartment in the European side-aisle style.

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There's a prototype for almost everything.

The original TALGO Pendular 200 set, which was temporarily operated by Amtrak under an FRA waiver
until production TALGOs in the Pacific Northwest could be placed into service, had a sleeping car
that could have been similarly configured. The car was in the TALGO consist during the its
national tour. I rode it over Donner Pass, on an up-one-day-back-the-next demonstration trip
between Oakland and Reno. I think it was removed for revenue service.

How about Amfleet with steam heating? We have seen that in a number of movies.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

AMRAIL Wrote:
..... I have a DVD of Murder on the Orient
> Express staring David Suchet ans Hercule Poirot.
> It appears use actual rooms onboard the Orient
> Express.

In that version the railway scenes were filmed in Australia, and are very inaccurate. The 1974 film version [ with Finney as Poirot ] was much better, filmed with the full co-operation of SNCF and Wagons-Lits apparently. Sure, even it has some errors with 'reality', but they are trivial by comparison.

Best rgds, SZ

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Train
They didn't even try.

sp219 Wrote:
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> http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Train
> They didn't even try.

Ahhhahaha!
I gotta see this movie!

"The interior of the train resembles the inside of old 1940's streamliners, very timeworn and resembling early Amtrak trains. The train's exterior is inconsistent due to the use of stock footage: the train appears to change multiple times, ranging from a full Bombardier bilevels to an Amfleet set to a Superliner. At no time do the exteriors match the set interiors (which remain consistent throughout)."

Posted from iPhone

sp219 Wrote:
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> http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Train
> They didn't even try.


From reading the Wiki article, it sounds like inconsistent train shots are the least of this movie's problems.....lol

Boardwalk Empire (2011). Train roars by outside; is obviously a diesel.

The movie "Ray" was very accurate to the period, mostly 50's. Anybody
else notice the double stack train in the background of one scene?

One of the best scenes----from Breaking Bad last year--nothing Phony here---best show on television!
http://www.amctv.com/breaking-bad/videos/inside-episode-505-breaking-bad-dead-freight

sp219 Wrote:
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I couldn't make it through the first 20 minutes of this POS! Landfill fodder at best.

Michael Perkins


> http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Train
> They didn't even try.