STK-ID 16885

Film about a day (and night) in mail transport by railroad. Shots of postmen handling mailbags at railway station. Shots of trains leaving station, speeding across hilly countryside at night. Various CUs of nets catching mail as train speeds by. CUs of trains wheels moving. Shots of engineer shoveling coal in engine. Shots of country from moving train. Shots indicating morning, dawning sky, smoking chimneys of houses in town. MS of dog racing alongside train. TRAVELLING SHOTs of tracks as train speeds along. CUs of train wheels in motion. Shot of huge factory chimneys, belching smoke. ESTABLISHING SHOT of town. Shots of men boarding train, of men riding train, smoking. LACSs of telephone wires. Interior shots of shunting station, man manning levers. CSs of morning newspaper being thrown from train, of mailbags on handcarts, of telegraph office, of railway signal wig-wagging, of switches in railway yard. Shots of soldier riding train, looking at pictures of war damage to railroad facilities. TRAVELLING SHOT of shadow of train on ground as seen from moving train, including TRAVELLING SHOTs of countryside and of shadow of plane flying over moving train.

DETAILS

Excerpt from
Night Mail
Location
England
Year
1943
Collection
National Film Board
Available formats
Digital Video Disk, Digital Bétacam, Reel 35 mm
Shooting format
35mm fine grain b&w
Aspect ratio
4/3
Available resolutions
720 x 486