Night Train for Inverness – 1960 | 69 mins | Thriller, Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Uninvolved Danziger Brother b-movie that takes a pseudo-documentary approach but fails to generate any suspense around the dreary premise of a diabetic boy kidnapped by his misunderstood father.

Ex-convict Roy Lewis (Norman Wooland) on release from jail heads to London to see his estranged wife Ann (Silvia Francis) and 7-year-old son Ted (Dennis Waterman). Despite Ann wishing to see Roy, when he visits the family home her mother dishonestly claims they want nothing to do with a jailbird and will call the police if he doesn’t leave.

Frustrated by a lack of access to his son, Roy hatches a plan to kidnap Ted with the assistance of close friend Marion (Jane Hylton) and take the night train to Inverness for a holiday in Scotland. Unbeknown to Roy, Ted is a diabetic and without regular insulin injections his health is in serious danger.

When Ted fails to appear after school, his distraught mother contacts the police and an inspector (Valentine Dyall) masterminds the public appeal and manhunt for the abducted boy. As the police search flounders, at Crewe station a kindly doctor enters the fugitive trio’s carriage but fails to recognise the boy’s worsening condition before departing at Carlisle. Next, Marion walks out on Roy realising she is being used and he holds no true affections for her, and after hearing the public appeal on the station platform she anonymously tips off the police. The medical services are quickly despatched to intercept the train and rush the boy to the nearest hospital.