Night Mail - (1936) - Part 3

[shubus]

What Britten does with such a small instrumental ensemble is absolutely amazing. One of the regrettably few Britten-Auden collaborations.

[rvaughanwilliams1988]

the more I watch this, the more I realize it's kind of amazing

[roadragecafe]

The 1936 british train wrap at 3:16 is awesome.

[bayougrande]

This was incredible. Thank you so much for posting.

[mrmts]

So much for mailing glassware and presents :P

[skube]

This what I have been dreaming about for fast-food drive thru service.

[granskare]

a superb film..I had an friend who worked like this, we called it rpo, railway post office...many collect letters with such postmarks...I was a letter carrier for nearly 2 years when the extreme cold made me think of uni lol:)

it will be nice when the colouring process is improved. thanks for a great series :)

[mkposhfan]

my father used to work on the night sorting shift - this brings back memories

[cyfrin01]

I loved that

[mossie60]

What can you say about this wonderful film,I agree with all the above comments.Thanks for posting it.

[arthurfanatic]

What an awesome film from the 1930s. It even has the now preserved No. 6115 Scots Guardsman. That's one celebrity I'm gonna dress up as for Halloween.

[wingco214]

Patriarchal views produced a rail and postal system vastly more efficient than we "enjoy" today. Oh, and if you haven't handed that essay in yet, do check your grammar and spelling - I've counted five errors - one per line!

[choirboyfromhell1]

Back in the 1930's one could mail a letter from my hometown anytime before midnight on the B&O Chicago Night Express and the letter would be in Chicago before 8 AM the next day, 450 miles away. Fed-Ex and UPS just can't do that justice, not by a long shot.

[RaveFarie]

The Patriarchal veiws of the thirties is rife in this documentary, and it was a down right corporate promo so much that the first few scenes of this vid are staged cos they couldent lug thair massive cameras on the train properly . I hate it cos i have to do a 2000 word essay on its codes and conventions and ive seen it at least thirty times in the past week grrrrrr!!!

[macguffincanada]

This film is listed in Liz-Anne Bawdens 1975 Oxford Companion of Film

[ricadus]

Gor blimey! :-D

[Thephenom52]

Jonny7trainspotting I think it's John Grierson.

[danlefou]

The drummer is playing the four beats of coach wheels over rail joints, the strings are playing the 'Royal Scot' class loco's three-cylinder exhaust, and there's a guy rapping pentameters over it all.

And, guess what - it works, brilliantly! What a classic.

[TheSteamdriver]

@danlefou I belive it was a royal scot for the 1st part and a half they then swap engines and a black five backs down on to the train for the next part and a half

[iluvwordsiluvwords]

Thank you, I have wanted to watch this for many years. Very much appreciated.

[ketmaniac]

First film ever to be called a "documentary". In fact John Grierson, who made the film, invented the word. Now it defines a whole genre.

[kingkandy]

Thanks for posting this. I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness for the loss of a bygone age. "And none will hear the postman's knock without a quickening of the heart". There used to be five deliveries a day back then!

[denisxx61]

Wonderful film - all three parts. I saw this film in the Children's section at the Science Museum, London in the very early 1950's. Great memories relived.

[clearly]

We saw this at school in the late 50's

[Jonny7trainspotting]

Blimey, this sure brings back fond memories, i enjoyed the trio of videos very much,especially the last two minutes or so, trying to remember the poet who penned the words to music, I know he was a staunch railway lover and has his bust on a railway station somewhere, two posers there, any answers? Thank for posting these brilliant videos and for the memory kick

[xtelectro]

W. H. Auden wrote the poem, and the music was by Britten

[ketmaniac]

Poem by W.H. Auden, music by Benjamin Britten. Both commissioned especially for the film.

[montfortlamaury]

W.H. Auden wrote verse commentary for Night Mail.

[lexo30]

Brilliant stuff. Many thanks for posting it.

[lexo30]

Brilliant, brilliant stuff. An official government documentary about the postal service morphs into a poem about the need for human companionship ("For who can bear to feel himself forgot?"). Okay, he should have said "themselves", but it wouldn't have fitted as well. Great filmmaking, great writing, and many thanks to you for putting up here.

[graemejwsmith]

Total Classic from my childhood - the BBC used to show it as an afternoon "filler" in the days when there only was "BBC Television".

Great Post - wherever you got it from!!

[stefjohannson]

This is the Night Mail crossing the border,

Bringing the cheque and the postal order,

Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,

The shop at the corner and the girl next door.

Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:

The gradient's against her, but she's on time.

And the rest...

Genius! These blokes invented rap music!

[ivorramsbottom]

Great.I feel better for that.

[34Bbridgeboy]

The whole film is a classic.

[readikus]

This is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for posting this :) It has made my day.