A Switchback Railway

A Switchback Railway is an 1898 British short black-and-white silent actuality film, directed by Robert W. Paul, featuring patrons riding on a switchback railway at a fairground at Alexandra Palace, where Blandford Hall can be seen in the background. "This dynamically composed actuality," according to Micahael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "was clearly a success, so much so that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback railway films only a few months later." It is included on the BFI DVD R.W. Paul: The Collected Films 1895-1908. It is arguable that the filmmaker, R.W. Paul, missed a trick by not placing the camera inside one of the moving cars to simulate the ride from the passenger's perspective, although he might have had difficulty keeping the camera steady. Nonetheless, the film was clearly a success, so much so that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback railway films only a few months later.[1][2]

A Switchback Railway
Screenshot from the film
Directed byRobert W. Paul
Produced byRobert W. Paul
CinematographyRobert W. Paul
Production
company
Paul's Animatograph Works
Release date
  • 1898 (1898)
Running time
39 secs
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageSilent

References
  1. Brooke, Michael. "Switchback Railway, A (1898)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  2. "A Switchback Railway". BFI Film & TV Database. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2011.


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